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Carine rolled her eyes. “They only paid tuition and for lodging. I had to feed myself and buy all those ridiculously expensive textbooks that I couldn’t even sell back at the end of the term.”
“Know that feeling. College textbooks are a scam and a racket.”
Kevin nudged his earbuds back in and stared down at his dirty hands and picked at one particularly ragged nail.
Valerie looked to Carine again, who shrugged and mouthed, “I have no idea,” behind his back. Then aloud, she said, “I got a missed call from your sister. I’m going to go see what she wanted, but I suspect I know.”
Valerie didn’twantto know. It was Friday night and Clay was probably already getting his kinky door prizes all lined up. She looked at Kevin again. “Weren’t interested in college this year, huh?”
He shrugged. “Naw.”
“How about next year?”
“Nuh-uh.”
Huh.Rubbing her chin, Valerie suddenly had a thought. “Does…yourdudeknow that?”
“No.”
“Does your dude knowanything?”
“He builds boats and makes money.”
“He’s good at that. Successful.” Tim certainly didn’t need Valerie coming to his defense, but for some reason, she wanted to make sense of the kid. It was going to drive her nuts if she didn’t get to the bottom of his mystery.
“Yeah.”
“What are you good at, Kevin?”
Kevin stared at the road silently for a few seconds before murmuring, “I dunno.”
He sounded like he meant it, and that broke her heart a little. She knew pretty early on where her talents were. From there, it was just a matter of using them in something she could make a living at.
She drummed her fingers against her thighs some more and stood up when a familiar loud pickup truck engine entered the circle.
Kevin headed toward Tim’s truck, shoulders slumped and stuffing his phone into his pocket.
She called after him, “Hey, dude?”
He stopped. Turned. Both of his eyebrows crept upward. “Yeah?”
“On Monday, if you’re gonna wait in front of my office door, could you tilt your phone away from the glass? The reflection creates a glare.”
“Shit. Sorry. I can wait at the curb.”
“You don’t have to wait at the curb. Sit in the shade if you want. Just don’t blind me with your phone.” She turned to go inside the office, but snapping her fingers, turned back, “Oh, and maybe you could try listening to some music from this decade. Maybe some Hozier or Little Big Town or something.”
He made a face and then turned on the heel of his construction boot toward Tim’s truck.
She glanced at the big growling beast and saw Tim lean forward. He waved her over.
She pretended she didn’t see it and walked into the office to join Carine.
Not today, Tim.
She didn’t want to talk about why she wasstillthere and why she hadn’t taken his calls.
Being in limbo, she didn’t know what to do with him. She was entertaining other opportunities, so chances were good that she was still leaving. It made more sense for her to tread carefully and not get attached. Not so much anymore for the sake of her job—because fuck that—but because now she was running out of reasons to not have a go at something meaningful, at least for a while.
