Page 109 of Out of the Storm

It hurt his heart whenever he considered calling her.

But it hurt his heart even more knowing that she wasn’t calling him too.

What a miserable situation this was.

One day, when Gary had been feeling particularly low, memories of the happy times he’d had withbothof his parents playing repeatedly in his head, Gary had called Jeff for support. And the two of them had talked for hours. And then, when Gary had hung up so that he could hostTell Me S’more, Jeff had called in to weigh in on the show’s silly conversation topic of the evening—the best type of Girl Scout cookie. Gary knew that Jeff didn’t really give a rat’s butt about the Girl Scout cookie flavors. Jeff had only called in so that Gary could continue to hear his voice. And, wow, was that ever sweet. Jeff calling in to talk about cookies had been one of the nicest, most supportive things anyone had ever done for him. And that support had helped him make it through the rest of the evening.

On the third day since their agreement not to see each other in person, Gary was finishing up relaying some local news on the air when his phone started to ring. Glancing at the clock—ten minutes ’til ten—he blurted out a wonky-sounding apology to his listeners and then threw on “Let It Be” by the Beatles before hurrying into the kitchen to answer away from the studio.

“Hello?”

“Gare.”

It was Jeff, but his voice seemed strange—hoarse, maybe, and kind of small—and a ripple of worry rolled through Gary’s body.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re calling before the end of my program for nothing.”

“Just . . . uh . . .”

Gary tried to be patient through Jeff’s silence, but his palms were starting to sweat.

Finally, right before Gary was about to prompt him again, Jeff said, “Don called.”

“Oh.” Gary’s heart clenched. He leaned against the wall for a moment before slowly sinking to the floor. “What’d he...”What did he want?What a stupid thing that was to ask. Again. “What, uhm, what’d you say?” He couldn’t really be sure if that was any better.

“He wanted me to come to O’Henry’s. Said he’d bring some of my stuff.”

“Tell me you’re not going.”

“I’m not.”

“Okay. Good.”

With an irritated-sounding sigh, Jeff said, “I wish he’d stop calling.”

“Why’d he start up again?”

“Probably because he saw us together.”

Gary frowned. “So, what, you think he’s jealous?”

“Who wouldn’t be jealous of you, Gare?”

“I think you need your head checked. Did you smack it on something lately? Or, hey, maybe you need your eyes checked instead. Imagine both of us with big, silly frames like mine,” Gary said, tapping his glasses with his index finger. “How cute would that be?”

“I think I’ll hold off on the eye check. I’ll wait for my eventual, inevitable reading glasses.”

“Geez, by then I’ll have bifocals.”

“And you’ll still be the hottest one in Niles, radio man.”

Gary smiled a little. “Thanks, Jeff. You really are too sweet sometimes.” He stretched his legs out in front of him. “Do you think he’lleverstop calling?”

“I hope so.”

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