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“Once you walk on that foot.”
“I will. I’ll walk on it a lot. In fact, I think I might run up to the diner. I was excited about the strawberry cream cheese cobbler, and that’s enough to make anyone run. Even though I’m not normally a runner.” Sally clamped her mouth shut. She had a tendency to ramble on when she shouldn’t.
But she also had a tendency to be nice to the point of being what Norma Jean called a doormat. She didn’t really see a problem with being nice. She saw more of a problem with taking advantage of people who were nice. But that wasn’t her area. Her area was just to be kind, since that’s what God’s command was. And she wasn’t commanded to police anyone who wasn’t following what the Bible said.
“I’m not normally a runner either, but I feel the same way about strawberry cream cheese cobbler. Would you be interested—”
“Oh my goodness. Look at the time. Norma Jean!” Sally said, interrupting Peter who seemed to be on the verge of asking her to head to the diner and eat with him. Norma Jean would go ballistic if she heard that. Especially when she was over there waiting for Peter to get back to her. She’d never talk to Sally again.
“Norma Jean! Didn’t you say that you had to be down at the band practice at twelve o’clock?”
“No. It was one thirty,” Norma Jean said, scrunching up her face like she was thinking about it.
“No. I’m sure you said it was twelve o’clock,” Sally said, trying to look around Peter to givethat lookto Norma Jean. The look that said if she wanted to go with Peter, she needed to pretend to need to get to band practice. Sally wasn’t very good at that look. She wasn’t very good at subtlety at all. She was much more of a straightforward, I’ll just be nice to everyone, I don’t want to make any waves, I’d rather be kind, kind of person.
“Oh!” Norma Jean said, jumping up, running over, and grabbing onto Peter’s arm. “I totally forgot about that. Oh, Peter, I need you to help me walk to the grandstand where the band is practicing. Please. I don’t want to be late.”
“I don’t see anyone over at the grandstand.” Peter gave Sally a look, and Sally thought that maybe he seemed a little disappointed.
Disappointed because she was friends with Norma Jean? Or disappointed because he had hoped to go to the diner with her?
She wasn’t sure. And she had to dismiss it. There was no way she could have anything to do with Peter while she and Norma Jean were friends and Norma Jean was infatuated with him.
She wouldn’t do that to her friend. Peter was off-limits to her.
“Please. Can you please help me walk over? I just don’t think I can do it on my own,” Norma Jean said as she slipped her arm around Peter’s waist and started to limp toward the grandstand. Peter had no choice but to follow along with her, steadying her.
“I’d appreciate it if you take care of that foot. Get it looked at,” Peter said over his shoulder.
Sally nodded, not looking at his face, but rather her eyes were caught on the hand that hung at his waist. It was big and brown, with long fingers, a hand that knew how to work.
She liked that kind of hand.
But she stared at it for a few moments before she remembered what she’d just thought. Peter was off-limits to her.
