“I’m not moping,” she said defensively, then huffed. “Okay, maybe. But it’s not that simple. She doesn’t want anything to do with me. I waved to her the other day, and she just turned around and walked off.”
“Could she maybe be frustrated with you and want more than a wave? Have you called her or tried to speak to her in person?”
Her cheeks burned. She couldn’t bring herself to look up from the soil in front of her. “No.”
“Don’t you like her?” asked Kenny.
She looked up then. “Yes, a lot. Like, really a lot. She’s the first woman I’ve ever wanted something, something real, with.”
“Then go to her.”
“It’s not that easy,” she protested.
“But it is. Going over there is easy. Talking, probably not so much, but it’s the least you both deserve.”
“Kerrie! I got another bag,” Bette shouted from the front of the house.
“Well, that’s my cue.”
“Want me to call you back here in a few to get a break?”
Kerrie shook her head with a sly grin on her face. “Don’t you dare. I like watching her bend over.”
Matty laughed. “Have fun.”
“Have fun,” Kenny echoed.
The conversation had made her belly uneasy. She changed the subject before Kenny remembered what they were talking about. “Tell me about what you’re wearing to the wedding.”
Kenny launched into the mildest tirade ever about dress shoes that pinched his toes, leaving her safe from having to talk anymore about Reese.
***
The wall clock ticked louder and louder. She’d given up on being productive. Even reading sounded unappealing, so she changed and went to bed early. All that managed to do was cause her covers to tangle around her legs from tossing and turning.
Her phone read 9:37 p.m. Only nine minutes had passed since the last time she checked.
“This is ridiculous.”
The covers were pushed off her body. She couldn’t go on like this. It was finally do something or lose her mind.
She dressed quickly. If she paused for too long, she was afraid she’d lose her nerve. It took less than five minutes to dress and head out the door.
The walk to Reese’s house was warm. The sun had long since set, but the heat didn’t go with it. The anxiety coursing through her didn’t help. This was either going to reconcile them or she’d go home single and broken, but it had to happen.
Her footsteps echoed loudly in the quiet neighborhood as she approached Reese’s house. She felt just a fraction of relief to see that Reese’s bedroom window was still lit up.
She took the familiar cracked concrete, making sure to avoid the spot that she had tripped on before. That felt like a lifetime ago.
When she got to the front door, her closed fist hovered. How would Reese react? Was it fair to come by that late at night?
There was only one way to find out. She knocked hard, knowing they still hadn’t fixed the doorbell and Reese was on the second floor.
A full minute went by, and she heard nothing.
“Motherfucker,” she swore to herself. She raised her fist once again and laid into the door. Several seconds later, she thought she heard a noise behind the door. It took another two minutes before Reese’s muffled voice came from the other side. “Who is it?”
“It’s me, Matty.”
