I shower then slip on my favorite jeans. Pulling a school sweatshirt over my head, I slip out of my house. I’m greeted warmly by my students that are already settled into the stands. It turns out to be a fun morning cheering on the team.
It reminds me of all of the times Izzy and I sat in the stands through college cheering on our friends. Hours of watching Lily and Claire scoring goals in soccer or Dia cheering in her uniform and pom poms. It’s almost enough to make me forget to think about Colin for a little while. Almost. By lunch, I have the beginning of a headache so I congratulate my students on their wins then make my escape.
I know I still don’t want to go home to just sit, but I don’t know where else to go. Inspiration hits me. I run by a local nursery to pick out some fall flowers then return home to work on my mom’s flowerbeds.
I change into old work clothes, splattered in paint and mystery stains, then head outside. Unloading the flowers, mulch, and tools out of my car, I make a mental note of everything that needs done. I clean out the old mulch, pull out the old plantings then start working the soil.
I’ve been working at it for several hours when I hear a car pull up behind me. Turning around I’m met with a very perfectly put together Lily.
“Hey!” She bounces up the sidewalk, sitting down on my porch step by where I’m working covered in dirt smudges.
“Hey, yourself. What are you up to today? We didn’t have plans together that I forgot, did we?” Rarely does Lily show up anywhere without prior notice or invitation. I rack my brain for some activity I’ve stood her up for.
She sits still, studying me for a couple minutes. Just long enough to make me sit back on my heels raising my eyebrow. She tries to pull off the innocent friend thing for a second until she finally rolls her eyes.
“Did you and Colin hook up?” Holy shit! Where did this come from?
“Good God, Lily! No! Where did you hear that? I haven’t seen Colin since last weekend. You were there, we left separately.” She doesn’t need to know about the texting I decide. It’s all in the name of friendship anyway. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
“He’s been acting really weird. He asked if I’d seen you. I told him we put away a bottle or two of wine on Thursday. He said you have been texting each other.” I guess I didn’t realize Colin had such a big mouth!
“He’s been asking me for reading recommendations is all.” I didn’t tell her he asked to see me this weekend. I go back to planting bulbs in my flowerbed.
Lily watches me for a while before saying, “I think I might have given Colin a bad rap the other night. It just seems like he’s been adrift for quite a while. He has a really good heart, Maggie. He’d never intentionally hurt someone he loves.”
I can’t help but wonder what all he’s said to her. I see how sweet he is to his sister, the respect he always shows to his parents. I stop what I’m doing.
“I know Lily, but nothing’s going on. I can’t go down that road again.” She gets up from the stoop, crosses to me, and throws her arms around me in a hug.
“I know.” She stands, turning to walk back to her car. “Girls’ night next week?”
“You know I’ll be there.” She stops, looking at me intently.
“Okay. I’ll tell Colin I did what he asked. I checked in on you.” With that, she hops back in her car and leaves. What does that mean? Why would he have his sister check up on me? I stand up, crossing inside to get my phone off the kitchen table.
“Why are you having me checked on?” I blurt out when the phone is answered. There is dead silence on the other end of the phone from Colin. “Well?” I can hear a lot of what sounds like construction in the background.
“You’ll have to give me a minute. I’m trying to concoct a logical explanation.” Of course, I can’t hold a laugh back. It’s hard to hang onto my righteous indignation with him. He really does have this charm thing in the bag.
“Damn it, Colin, I’m trying to be angry! Where are you anyway?” It sounds like he’s demolishing a building in the background.
“It’s just a construction zone near me. I’m in Kansas City, just so you still don’t think I’m stalking you. Unless you want a stalker, then I’ll be on the next plane out.” I shake my head.
“I think I’m good, thanks. But why was I just paid a visit from Lily? She said you sent her.”
“I should have known better than to trust that big mouth. You said you didn’t want to see me, so I just wanted to make sure you were okay this weekend. Did you have big plans?” I set down my spade, walking back into my house for some water.
“The craziest. There was an orgy involved featuring male strippers, someone had a bag of coke, got a new tattoo, the usual. And I never said I didn’t want to see you, I said it wasn’t a good idea.” I can actually hear him growl.
“Calm down, I attended a high school basketball game then came home to do some gardening. I might even go so far as to order pizza and watch some Netflix tonight. Whoo, call me a party animal,” I add.
“Is that sarcasm I hear, Miss Emerson? Wait! Do you already have a tattoo?” I laugh with the knowledge I caught Colin completely off guard. Leave it to him to pick up on that one thing.
“What? Me? Surely not.” Pretty sure the growl is back. “What do you have planned for your exciting Saturday night? Or maybe a better question is who do you have planned?” He laughs quietly but somehow it sounds pained.
“I haven’t been seeing anyone. I’ll probably follow your lead by ordering a pizza. I’m working my way through the book, so I’m sure I’ll spend the night reading. I’m about halfway through it.” Wow, he’s a really fast reader. Even by my standards. We lapse into silence for a few minutes. “Hey, Maggie. I’d better get back to what I was doing.”
“Of course, I’m sorry to have disturbed you. Take care, Colin.”
