Page 6 of Take Me Home

“Kind of? I don’t know. It’s not really a big deal. We’d seen each other out once before and he just said he wished he’d gotten my number.”

Eli grimaced. “Yikes. Sorry, Darce. I can tell him to back off. Or do you not want to hire him?”

No, I liked how my body felt hot when he said it. How his eyes went a little drowsy. I wanted to chase that feeling even if it couldn’t lead anywhere.

“No, it’s not that. It’s nothing I can’t handle. I made it clear that I expected him to work,” I assured him.

“Well, just say the word if you need me to do something.” Eli shifted. “I never said it, but I’m real sorry about your job and the way things went with Rob. I don’t know all of what happened, but I’m sure you did what you had to do.”

I gave him a wry smile. “Thanks. It’s hard, but I think things are working out the way they should. Rob needs someone more compatible with his lifestyle and I need…well, I don’t know what I need, but when it’s time, it’ll happen. My job wasn’t the most challenging anyway. I needed the shakeup. How’s school going for you?”

“Oh, not bad. Glad I can knock out some classes this summer before everything gets crazy again.”

“Still doing economics?”

“I was kinda afraid there wouldn’t be any jobs when I was done. I’m not in a rush to move away, particularly with Beth still having a couple years of school to finish. I’ve been working toward engineering now.”

“I could see that for you,” I said, cocking my head to show support. I was proud of him for sticking it out at Marshall, even though he wasn’t following the classic four-year track. He worked and paid his tuition as he went. Smart. Meanwhile, my mountain of student debt wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Eli rose and dusted his hands on his pants. “I guess I’d better get on up the road,” he announced. “Got anything going on this weekend?”

“Ha! Not particularly. Probably just getting the trailers ready for the boys to move in on Sunday.”

“Alrighty then.” Eli gave me a sweaty side hug before walking out to his car, leaving me alone with the sun setting over the pond, bathing the scene in waning pink light.

* * *

“I’mdyinggggg not being able to text you all the time,” Brianna whined.

“I’m sorry! You remember how shit the signal is out here. I’m calling you from a house phone like it’s the 90s.” I was catching up with my best friend since grade school, Brianna. “If the wind blows right, I can text you from my bed.”

“Well, I forgot you were incommunicado all week. When you get back to civilization, you’ll have a million texts from me,” she warned.

Brianna had moved to Kentucky for college, and like me, never looked back. Our days in Catholic school together solidified an untouchable bond that never wavered over time or distance. Our employers always knew about us, because if our phones were out, we were probably texting each other. It had been hard not talking to Brianna since I’d been on the farm.

“Should I send emails? Carrier pigeons? The pigeons might be faster than the emails.”

“Get down to it. Who have you seen? Did you get everybody hired, or do I need to quit my job and rush to your aid?” Brianna sounded hopeful on that last part.

“As much as I’d love to have you here with me, I don’t think your boss would let you take a sabbatical and come right back in the fall. I haven’t seen anyone yet except Eli. We hired three people. Eli knows them all.”

“Score any hotties? Any fall-in-love boys?” Brianna pushed.

I giggled because that’s exactly how we would have talked in middle school. Fall-in-love boy was a term we had coined for our annual crushes: a new boy to obsess over each year.

I was not ready to talk about Jake, because Brianna would be all over me about it.

“No one’s bad looking, but I don’t even know if that’s on my radar right now.”

“Liar. When’s the last time you got laid?” Brianna accused.

“Oh, ya know, probably before I told Rob that I didn’t think I was what he really wanted. That kinda killed the vibe.”

Brianna pulled away from the phone and made a loud BOO sound.

“And anyway, I’m their boss. I can’t be banging the help.”

Brianna booed again.

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