Page 82 of Apple of My Eye
My heart sinks. ‘It’s OK.’ I wave it off.
‘I’m making my roast chicken.’
‘I think she’s busy tonight,’ I lie, barely able to choke the words out of my throat.She never wants to see me again,I think.
‘OK.’ Betsy tsks before getting back to the salad she’s making.
We sit out on the porch after dinner and watch the fireflies light up the sky. Betsy asks me what I’m most looking forward to in the city and I tell her I really miss driving my own car. That gets a chuckle out of Joe, who asks why his old blue pickup isn’t good enough.
‘We’ll be fine without you,’ Betsy whispers to me when Joe goes inside to refill his drink.
‘I know,’ I tell her. I mean it.
‘Then what’s got you so down?’ she asks, her eyes wide with concern.
I open and close my mouth. It’s not my place to gossip about Eloise, especially to Betsy who notoriously can’t keep her mouth shut. ‘Is it Eloise?’ she prattles on, almost talking to herself. ‘I thought it was curious you didn’t want to invite her. Lord knows you’ve spent enough time over there.’
I pinch the bridge of my nose long enough to gain composure. ‘Yes,’ I say quietly.
‘Because you’re leaving?’ she asks.
Lying is easier than the truth, so I nod.
‘Hmmm .?.?.’
‘What?’
‘That girl wasn’t meant to stay here.’
‘Betsy,’ I say, turning to face her profile, which is illuminated in the early moonlight, ‘I don’t think anyone bothered to tell her that.’
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Eloise
Things I’m Grateful For
–I found a new home for JJ (mixed feelings about this, trying to be grateful)
–Living in a place where I can hear the birds sing.
–Gas is cheap here
–U-Pick is busy
–The air isn’t polluted. The air isn’taspolluted as other places
–I’ve finally won a round of gin rummy
–I don’t have to cook (even though I have to clean)
–Shari, for making me start this. I guess
Nick: If you ever come visit Linden, you know where to find me.
Nick: That is, if you change your mind.
‘I’m beginning to think doing all the social media marketing for the farm has made you addicted to that thing,’ Dad grunts as he fills up his coffee.
