Page 135 of Love in Riverbend
“Should it be a video call? Do we need props?”
A laugh comes as my response. “What if I waited too long? What if I’m terrible at this?”
“Okay,” Jill says. “I’m fully awake now. This? Did you see Justin again? Is he pushing you…? Talk to me.”
“Yes. He’s not. I think I need advice and help. That’s why I called.”
Chapter 15
Justin
I pull my truck up to the middle school. While classes are out for the summer, there always seems to be a few cars. Devan says the janitorial staff is painting walls and replacing carpet squares. And then there are people like her, working to set up their classrooms. With the newer schedule, summer break isn’t as long as I remember. Students will be back in the building by the end of July. That still gives Devan a little over six weeks to make her room exactly what she wants.
Yes, over the last few weeks, we’ve been talking, mostly on the phone, which she said is new for her. I’m curious what else is new for her. Checking my phone, I see the text message she sent earlier.
* * *
“COME IN TO THE SCHOOL. I WANT TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING. TEXT AND I’LL COME OPEN THE DOOR.”
* * *
Unable to resist, I send a reply.
* * *
“TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT TO SHOW ME.” Winking face emoji.
* * *
Devan doesn’t take the bait. She replies.
* * *
“ARE YOU HERE?”
* * *
Instead of texting, I hit the call button. Devan answers on the first ring. “You are old. No one calls.” Her voice is light, sweet, and enthusiastic, so I’m going to ignore the comment about my age.
“I’m in the parking lot.”
It’s great to hear the happiness in her voice. Last week, when she first visited the school, she was devastated that her classroom was an empty shell. Even the posters and charts she’d seen at the time of her interview were gone.
“I’m headed toward the front doors,” she says.
Stepping out of my truck, I glance around the parking lot. At this time of evening, the paved lot has few cars. And the nearby baseball field has only a sparse number of kids on it. While part of me is ready to make things official with Devan, as of yet we’re keeping our relationship a secret. In a small town, that’s no easy feat.
Peering through the glass doors, I catch the last few seconds of Devan’s approach. She positively bounces down the hallway and through the first set of doors. Her stunning smile brightens to a radiant glow as she pushes the bar on the outside door. Her cheeks are pink, and her long hair is in one braid that goes down the middle of her back. She’s wearing a spaghetti-strap sundress that shows less leg than her shorts a few weeks ago. With her flat sandals, Devan is easily ten inches shorter than I.
Opening the door, she cranes her neck until I see the soft suede of her eyes. “Hi.” Her volume is low and sexy.
“Hi,” I say, my voice coming out huskier than usual.
“You’re all cleaned up.”
She is right.
After I got done working, I took a shower and even shaved. Today I spent most of the day working on our old tractor. My nails became filthy with grease as I got the tractor’s timing back on par. Getting a new tractor isn’t an expense I want if we’re considering buying the Dunn farm.
