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“Well, I’m not. So...what’d you think of Veronica?” he asked, trying to change the subject.
“I don’t know.”
Leo didn’t sound too enthusiastic about Veronica. He didn’t dislike anyone, but Hendrix could tell that Veronica hadn’t made much of an impression—certainly nothing like the impression Ellen had made. “You didn’t say much to her,” he said.
“She doesn’t have any pretty pictures on her arm, Hendrix. Ellen has a dragon right here.” He indicated his left arm. “And a guitar up here. She has the solar system somewhere, too. She told me.”
Hendrix couldn’t help wondering where that was, couldn’t help conjuring up an image of what she might look like naked. “You know what the solar system is?”
“She said it was where we belonged in the universe.”
“And the universe is...”
“I asked her that, too. She said it was everything around us.”
Both good answers. Hendrix gripped the steering wheel that much harder. “I’ll tell you what.”
“What?” Leo said eagerly.
“If you don’t mention Ellen to me again for the rest of the day, I’ll take you to get a chocolate donut next week.”
He covered his mouth as if Hendrix had just said something naughty. “What about Mom? She told me no more chocolate donuts.”
“As long as I don’t have to hear Ellen’s name again, it’ll be worth it.”
“Okay,” he said.
But it was only fifteen minutes later that he forgot their bargain. “Ellen let me use the sprayer,” he piped up as Hendrix turned into his own driveway. “And she said I could come back. Can you take me back?”
“Someday,” Hendrix said.
“Tomorrow?”
They’d already been over this. Hendrix didn’t answer. He called Stuart instead. “What time did you say you’d be back?” he asked.
“Not until later tonight,” Stuart replied. “Why? Is everything okay?”
Hendrix swallowed a sigh as he glanced over at Leo. “Yeah. Everything’s fine,” he insisted but as soon as they walked into the house, he put on a Disney movie for Leo, hoping that would be enough to finally make him forget about Ellen.
Aladdinseemed to work. Leo was so caught up in the genie’s antics that he didn’t mention her again. Hendrix would’ve been relieved, except he couldn’t get her off his mind even without Leo constantly reminding him. And that gave him even more reason to be annoyed.
Five
Talulah knocked on Ellen’s door holding a box of French macarons she’d purchased in Bozeman. She and Brant had just returned from their day trip. While he relaxed and caught up on sports news at home, she was eager to check with her friend to see how everything had gone at the diner and to thank her for filling in.
But when Ellen opened the door, Talulah was so surprised she forgot to hand over the cookies. Ellen was wearing a dusty pink dress that fell to just below the knee and had a high neck and no sleeves. This was nothing like what her friend normally wore. Ellen typically wore work boots, tank tops, flannel shirts, denim cutoffs and ball caps. And that wasn’t a bad thing. She was good at mixing opposites—masculine with feminine, lace with camouflage, work boots with cutoffs and that sort of thing. She put them together in a way that was unexpectedly stylish. But Talulah had never seen her hit the bull’s-eye for “feminine.” Not like this. Where was the contrast that revealed so much about her personality? “Where’d you getthat?” she asked, gesturing.
Ellen’s cheeks bloomed red as she stepped back to give Talulah enough space to walk in—and her reaction came as another surprise. Ellen didn’t blush often. She was good at hiding embarrassment along with all her other emotions, except perhaps anger. But Talulah, who knew her better than most people, believed her tattoos and piercings—even what she did to her hair—was mostly an attempt to look tough. She wanted to put the world on notice, to essentially say, “You can’t hurt me,” even though it wasn’t true, of course. She’d been hurt badly over the years, by her fatherandher mother. The bravado she exhibited was just an attempt to protect her soft heart.
“In town,” she replied.
“Is someone you know getting married?”
“No. I just...saw it in the window of the store down the street when I went to grab some Chinese takeout and I bought it on impulse. I shouldn’t have. I don’t really have anywhere to wear it. Not in this town. And with my mom needing help again...it was a mistake to spend the money.”
And yet she’d wanted it badly enough to buy it, anyway. What had triggered such an uncharacteristic purchase? “Did you get it at Linda’s? Or Cammie’s?” Both shops were down the street from the diner, along with a few others that were less likely to have this type of clothing.
“Linda’s. She was already closed for the day. But when she saw me standing on the sidewalk, gazing at the mannequin while she was cleaning up inside, she walked out to say hello—and eventually convinced me to come in and try it on.” She smoothed the delicate chiffon-like fabric over her hips before checking the tags, which were still attached under one arm. “I could take it back, I suppose...”
