Page 7 of Heart of Dixie
Comfortable. Yes, it seemed to be. It hadn’t been this well-tended since before my mama left. And I wouldn’t classify it asnice, but I wouldn’t have been ashamed to live here. Pushing my plate away, I rose and ambled through the living room to where framed photographs covered every available surface.
I poked my head in the bathroom; nothing out of place there. I stepped into Cooter’s room at the end of the hall, and noticed the backyard two-story building through the uncovered window.Cooter’s garage turned studio with an upstairs apartment. How much extra work would it be to clear that out?
I turned my attention back to his bedroom, but there was no sign of a shopping bag anywhere. Whatever Elsie brought over, she found a home for. I closed the door behind me, backtracked to open the only remaining door and gasped as if the breath had been knocked out of me. I leaned against the door frame until my shaking knees were steady again.
While the living room had been upgraded with leather upholstery and modern electronics, here I stood at the threshold to a time warp. The paneling I painted a pale mint green so many ages ago was still papered with oversized posters of Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, and Johnny Depp. My twin bed was still pushed against the far wall and covered with the patchwork quilt I tucked back in before I departed, leaving only a note for my daddy to find when he returned home from work.
Whether it was caused by the surprise transformation of my daddy’s house or by my to-the-bone weariness I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t have the fortitude to remain here any longer; I was down the hallway and to the door within minutes.
I paused before I hit the landing outside. Only a sucker would turn and look back, yet the temptation was irresistible. For once the house was clean and neat. Which should have been simple enough to accomplish, even for two people who shared it but didn’t necessarily live together. But there was something else, an impression I sensed as I stood there with the door wide open, letting out the bought air. The mama cat appeared and wound herself around my ankles, meowing for attention, and something warm and comforting settled around me. Something that had been sorely lacking in this house while I was a resident.
It felt like a home.
Deke
I should have guessed my morning would drag. How could it not when all I could think about was the upcoming evening? Dixie and me alone in my house . . . what could possibly go wrong?
Oh, Christ, the list was endless.
“Dude, you’re acting like your dog just died.”
My buddy Blake had been sitting across from me for the past fifteen minutes, chuckling at every deep sigh and grumble I made while my lunch went uneaten. “Back off. My life would be easier if my dog just died.”
Always the smartass, he pushed his empty tray aside and opened a binder, ready to take notes. “All right, I’m here for you. Tell Doctor Andrews all about it.”
The cafeteria was crowded and noisy, one of the reasons I’d chosen to sit there. I didn’t want to talk about Dixie. Hell, I didn’t even want tothinkabout Dixie right now. I had to get my act together before the entire day was a loss. “There’s no way I’m opening up like a damn girl.” I picked up my tray and dumped the trash on my way out the door. I had a granola bar in my desk that was more appetizing than today’s mystery casserole.
Blake scrambled to keep up. “C’mon, be a pal. Somebody’s been stealing clothes off my ma’s clothesline; the most exciting thing in my life right now involves installing an electric dryer this weekend. I live through you.”
“Blake, I like your mother, I really do. But I’m still not talking aboutfeelings.” I strode down the corridor, pausing briefly to separate a young couple checking out each other’s tonsils—withtheir tongues—before moving past Blake’s classroom and into mine. Maybe he’d get the hint and detour into his own room.
He followed me in and stacked his books on a corner of my desktop. “So, what’s got your panties in a twist?”
So much for taking a hint. “You just can’t let it go.” He looked eager rather than ashamed, so I fished a granola bar out of my stash without offering him one and bit off the end. Maybe if I chewed slowly he’d get bored with this little game and leave. He took a seat at a front row desk and crossed his ankle over his knee. Looked like he was planning to wait me out.
Ah hell!My chair creaked when I leaned back in it. “Shane saw Dixie today.”
His foot hit the floor. “No shit.”
I nodded. “Drove past her and Beth pulled over on the side of the highway.”
“And he didn’t back up and run her over?”
Trust Blake to drum up the resentment I’d been searching for all morning. “I passed them on my way into town, too. Then I ran into her before school.”
His low whistle cut through the quiet room. “Tell me you invited her to turn around and leave the way she came.”
“Not exactly.” I cringed as his eyes narrowed. “I invited her to dinner instead.”
Blake surged to his feet. “Dude. What were you thinking?”
Exactly what I was wondering.My shoulders lifted in a useless shrug. “I’m not sure there was a lot of thinking involved.” I leaned forward and braced my elbows on the edge of my desk. “One minute I was wondering why the Wilkey kid missed an easy question on yesterday’s quiz; the next minute, there she was—Bam!—agreeing to come to dinner.”
Blake folded himself back into the student desk. “Are you sure this is a good idea? Because Deke, I was there to pick up the pieces the last time. Don’t want to have that fun again.”
Blake found me the day after Dixie left, already cried out, already hungover. He missed thefun. Just drove me to the hospital so they could patch up the gash in my side; didn’t even ask where it came from.
I pulled out two bottles of water from the little fridge in the corner of the classroom, tossed one to him, twisted the lid off mine and raised it in a toast. “I’m with you there. Cool and collected is the name of the game this time. We say hi, we eat, I usher her out the door.” I washed down the remaining granola crumbs and twisted the cap back on. “We’re not the kids we were back then. Hell, we probably don’t have anything in common anymore.”
