Page 46 of The Good Guy on My Porch

CHAPTER NINE

Dilly

“How was Disney?” I asked Carrie. I’d found her in the bookstore in the memoir section. We were supposed to meet out front, but I wasn’t surprised not to find her there. I knew how susceptible she was to the siren song of books.

She turned and smiled, then threw her arms around me in a tight hug, the three books in her right arm pressing into my gut. “Ouch.” I pushed her away. “What you got there?”

She showed me two fiction books and a memoir, and of course I had to read the back covers. The memoir looked so good I pulled a copy from the shelf for myself. “Disney was exhausting,” Carrie said. She was talking to me, but her eyes were trailing over the spines on the shelf. I was a book-lover, but Carrie was whatever was more in love with books, a book stalker or a book obsessive.

“Why don’t we get some coffee and come back to the books later?”

She grinned sheepishly. “Good idea.”

The bookstore was one of three in Catalpa Creek, and the only independent. The owner, Willow, had set up a little coffee bar in the front corner, with a few comfy chairs to help her compete with the chain store and the university bookstore. We didn’t need incentives to get us into her bookstore, but the free coffee was definitely a bonus. Liddy, one of the book club members and a close friend of Mary’s, was behind the counter and she made her way over to us as we settled into armchairs with our coffee.

“It’s nice to see you girls. How is your mother doing, Dilly?”

“Great,” I said, blowing on my coffee and avoiding eye contact with either of them. “She’s all healed up and getting back to what she loves, working and being alone.”

I looked up to see both Carrie and Liddy staring at me with wide, saucer-like eyes. What had I said?

“Are you okay?” Carrie asked.

“Of course. Why?”

“Dear,” Liddy said. “You sounded like a chipmunk on cocaine.”

That image made me laugh, but I laughed alone because they were both still staring at me. Okay, so I may have been acting a little crazy, but the past few days, four since I’d gone to the play with Oscar, it seemed like everywhere I went someone was asking about my mother. I was having to lie more and more, and it was stressing me out beyond belief. I’d never been one to hide, I loved to be out and about and amongst people, but I was seriously considering finding a cave in the mountains and moving in. The only time I felt I could relax and not have to feel like a horrible, dirty liar was during my evening sunset-watching with Oscar, something we’d done every night lately. I swallowed the rest of my hysterical laughter and smiled. “I’m just so excited to see Carrie,” I said. “Did you know she’s just back from Disney?”

“I got back Sunday,” Carrie said. “Dilly’s just been so busy she hasn’t had time to see me.” Why was Carrie eying me suspiciously? I had been busy.

“She’s been spending a lot of time with our Oscar,” Liddy said, her smile wicked.

“That’s what I’ve heard,” Carrie said, leaning in. “From other people.”

Oh, crap. Carrie was mad because I hadn’t told her about Oscar, but at least that meant she wasn’t going to ask any questions about my mother. Fingers crossed. Liddy blew me a kiss and returned to her station behind the counter. I shivered. It was never a good sign when the elderly ladies of Catalpa Creek focused their energy on you. Never.

“Oscar and I are just friends. I have a boyfriend.” I may have gotten a bit squeaky with those last words. It never got easier to lie to Carrie. In fact, it had only been getting harder and harder lately. She was my best friend and I wanted to talk to her about what was really going on. I wanted to tell her everything. Then, she’d tell me I was a horrible person and refuse to ever see me again. Which was why I lied.

“Norma Jane tells me your boyfriend is never around. No one’s seen the two of you out at dinner or at a club. But everyone’s seen you out with Oscar. At the play last weekend, at dinner, on your front porch.”

“Jerome lives in Richmond. He can’t make it here often and, when he does…” I waggled my eyebrows. “When he does make it here, we’re not interested in leaving the bedroom.”

Carrie sipped her coffee and narrowed her eyes. “Norma Jane said Jerome lives in Carmichael.”

“Right.” I was starting to sweat. Why was everyone suddenly interested in my life? They’d never paid this much attention before. “His church is in Carmichael, but he lives in Richmond.”

“Wow,” she said, eyes still narrowed. What the hell? “That’s some commute.”

“He likes to drive. But you don’t want to hear about that. Tell me about Disney. What’s it like?”

She paused, her coffee halfway to her lips. “Haven’t you been?”

I rummaged through my memory. In high school, there was a time my mother had kept me home because she was terrified I would be killed at school. I’d thought it was cool at first, getting my mom’s permission to play hooky. It had quickly become very uncool when she wouldn’t let me leave the house. Had I told my friends I’d been to Disney World? Shit. Maybe I should have been writing this stuff down. “Um, yeah,” I said, just in case. “But that was a while ago, I’m sure It’s changed.”

Her suspicious look faded and she grinned. She told me all about their week and how much the kids, even Kayla, had loved it. Carrie’s parents and Cody’s mom had spent a couple days at the resort with them and I felt a pang for what I’d never have. I’d never have a mother who’d travel anywhere to spend time with her grandkids, should I ever have them. She’d probably suspect them of being aliens posing as grandkids and bar them from her apartment all together. I pushed aside my own pity party and listened to Carrie’s stories. They’d crammed as much as humanly possible into the week, and Carrie claimed she still hadn’t caught up on her sleep or her energy, but she looked gorgeous and well-rested and so, so happy.

I was happy for her, because no one deserved happiness more than she did. She’d taken care of her parents after her sister had died unexpectedly and then she’d taken care of her sister’s son after his horrible father had kicked him out. She was finally getting to live a life for herself and I wasn’t going to burden her with my problems.

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