The big-screens in the bar caught my eye and gave me an idea for changing the topic.
I said, “Your father found the picture-in-picture function on the TV.”
“Good for him.” He kept frowning. “Hey, so what's happening with you and Sawyer?”
I shrugged.
“He asked for your phone number, but I told him I'd check with you first.”
A lump rose in my throat, and I swallowed it down. “He did? I guess you could give him my number.”
Bruce nodded. “I may have already given it to him yesterday. We were hitting the vodka pretty hard.”
“Uncle Bruce, I'm starting to think you don't even drink.”
He grinned. “That's what some people choose to believe.”
“Thanks for the check,” I said, splitting the cash evenly between my two pockets.
“Off to get Annabell? What do you girls have planned for tonight?”
“Oh, we have a play date.”
“How very normal,” he said, nodding appreciatively.
I thanked him again for cashing my check, and got going so I wasn't late to meet Natalie at the school.
Going to her house empty-handed seemed rude, so I stopped at a convenience store to buy her flowers. I spent about ten minutes agonizing over what to get. And why hadn't Sawyer called? Did he lose my number immediately after getting it? Fuck.
Finally, I picked out an orchid. It looked fancy, but wasn't much more to buy than the little pot of tea roses I'd been considering. Would Natalie think I was stupid? Probably. Whatever. Natalie was cool.
Why did I always argue with myself? It made even the simplest decisions that much harder.
I paid for the orchid, careful to pull only one bill from my pocket, and not to take out the wad of cash and peel one off. That was something big, muscular guys did. You didn't flash your money if you were a woman, even if the tiny old man behind the store counter was almost as scared of you as you were of him.
Chapter Fourteen
I was running and out of breath when I finally got to the front door of the school. Natalie was there already, and Bell was sitting on the step, tying her shoelaces as Taylor watched.
Taylor said, “Your shoes have way too many holes in them. You should wear different ones.”
Bell said, “But I like these ones! They're just how I like them, and we're saving up for Disneyland.”
Natalie gave me an exaggerated curious look, raising her thin blond eyebrows high above her funky plastic glasses. “Planning a trip this summer?”
“Maybe not this summer.”
She winked at me. “Gotcha.”
Bell finished tying her shoes, and we walked together along the front of the school to find their vehicle, which was a large SUV. Why was I not surprised?
We got the girls into the back seat together, and before Natalie walked around to her side, she stopped by me and said, “Listen, how about I start hyping something a little closer to home. We can get her switched off Disneyland. Did you know there's a zoo out in Abbotsford? Oh, and there's a water park in Tsawwassen. Oh, screw my life. What is that place called? Splashing Mountain? Something like that.”
“That's really sweet of you, but I don't know if I can afford either of those.”
Natalie looked sad, her forehead furrowing. She had her curly blond hair tied back in a loose braid, and she looked so mature, yet still girlish. With her little jean jacket, striped shirt, and her leather boots, she looked like a style icon compared to me, in my boring old don't-look-at-me clothes. I never bought clothes with stripes or loud patterns, because I didn't want people to notice I wore the same things week after week.
“I'll keep an eye out for coupons,” she said as she walked around to her side.
As I got into her nice truck, I felt a rush of gratitude. I didn't deserve to have people being so kind to me, but I swore one day I'd make it up to everyone.
When we got to their house, I understood why Natalie had been so crushed about selling it. Except for the For Sale sign posted in the front yard, with the smiling face of a goatee-wearing real estate agent named Kewal beaming out, it was a perfect house, with a bright yellow door that smelled of fresh paint.
We got the girls set up with some after-school snacks, and they ran off to play in Taylor's room.
“They grow up too fast,” Natalie said. “Everyone says it, but it's true. I do look forward to her being a teenager. I have this daydream of us sharing clothes, like I did growing up with my big sister.”
“That sounds nice.”
“How's Bell fitting in with the new school and all the changes? I heard she was so quiet the first few weeks at school. During recess, she'd hide in a corner with her nose facing the school. I guess she thought if she couldn't see them, they couldn't see her.”
“Who told you that?” I used my thumb to pick up some loose crumbs on Natalie's nice granite counter. Nobody had mentioned Bell was hiding during recess. My heart broke for her, and I felt awful that I had no idea. I should have stopped in more often.
“Oh, I get full reports from Taylor,” Natalie said. “She'll be a reporter when she grows up. That day Bell got upset and threw up on herself, that was the story of the century.”
“That wasn't very funny.”
Natalie looked aghast. “No, I didn't mean that it was funny. Taylor told me, and she was very sorry she'd taken the game, and wanted to make it up to Bell. I think it all worked out.”
“You're kidding. That was Taylor, and now they're the best of friends?”
Natalie ushered me toward the living room. “That's girls for you.”
We sat in the living room, using the ample-sized coffee table to hold a plate of the same squares we'd given the girls, plus sweet tea that Natalie called iced tea, though it was already sweetened.
Natalie continued, “That's how it is with girls. Don't you remember? All those dramatic fights with your girlfriends? Especially in high school?”
“I guess I was more of a loner. We lived outside of town a fair ways, so I took the bus home and didn't get into much with the other girls.” The other girls being the ones who called me trailer trash.
“How about boyfriends?”
I helped myself to a square and some tea. “Hey, did you have an open house or something over the weekend? For selling the place? How did that go?”
“Fine. We got an offer. They're doing an inspection this week, then they'll remove subjects.”
“Do you mean you're in escrow?”
She laughed. “You're so American. We don't call it that.” She pulled at her braid, removing the elastic band then finger-combing out her curly blond hair. “What about now?” she asked. “You don't have a man living with you, but you wear that ring, so how are you supposed to find a boyfriend?”