Ah, shit. I’d forgotten that part. Well, not forgotten it, but I hadn’t really thought through that she wasn’t going to have time to sit around doing nothing in a recording studio.
“Marion suggested it,” I said, like that mattered.
“Did she now?”
“What doesthatmean?” Ireallypreferred Jack when he was silent. And if he wasn’t going to be silent, could he at least speak plainly?
“Nothing,” he said in a way that seemed to mean the opposite of nothing.
“Well,” I said firmly, “if Gretchen can’t do it, she’ll probably know someone who can.”
And if she didn’t?
Then it really would be goodbye.
“So where am I dropping you?”
“You don’t have Gretchen’s number?”
“I don’t have Gretchen’s number,” Jack confirmed. “I can’t imagine why you’d think I would. I also can’t imagine whyyoudon’t.”
“We, ah, agreed not to keep in touch.”
He cracked up, which… was fair.
“Doesn’t she have a dance studio? Miss Miller’s or something? Why don’t you look it up and I’ll drop you there?”
“Or I could just ask Marion for her number.”
“Yeah, but I think a declaration of love is better done in person.”
“I’mnotdeclaring my love for her. I’m asking her to chaperone a recording session.”
“Right. Still, it would be nice to see her.”
I… could not argue with that. And if I had Jack with me, it would, hopefully, seem a little less weird that I was showing up unannounced.
“Fine.” I looked up the address and directed him to a highway that would take us to the western suburbs. Soon we were pulling into the parking lot of a strip mall in a place called Minnetonka.
Well, shit. This was one of those fancy strip malls where all the businesses had the same type of understated sign, and there she was, nestled between a dentist and an ice-cream parlor. The sign that read “Miss Miller’s” didn’t look any different from its neighbors, but there was something about seeing it, about being poised to enter Gretchen’s real life, that threw me for a loop. There was no temporary “context” here; this was just her life.
Would I fit into it?
Whoa. All I was doing was asking if she would hang around in the studio with Anna and me.
Jack was out of the car and on his way to the door while I was still all up in my feelings about contexts. I had to hurry to catch up.
Gretchen’s friend Rory was behind the front desk. There didn’t appear to be anyone else around.
“Hi!” Rory exclaimed.
“Yeah, uh, hi. I’m looking for Gretchen.”
“Hi, Teddy. I’m Rory. We met at camp.”
“I remember.”
She looked me up and down. “Gretchen isn’t here. I’m about to lock up. There’s a party at the new building tonight. Gretchen closed on it this morning, and it’s her birthday, and she’s having a party to celebrate both occasions.”
