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Me:
Me too! I'm trying to think of a time I can get away this week. Maybe tomorrow morning? Or if not, next Monday morning.
Owen:
It's whatever you decide. Tomorrow is great but just let me know. I'll meet you whenever you can.
Me:
Thank you, Owen.
Owen:
I'm about to be out of service range for a few hours. Text me and let me know what you decide.
Me:
I will.
I put a heart emoji after the text, hit send, and put my phone down. I knew I was going to decide to see him tomorrow. I wanted to give myself a minute to think about it and not agree right away, but Owen seemed like he wanted to see me as soon as possible and I definitely felt the same way. I almost agreed to go to him tonight, but there was just no way I could get away without coming up with a gigantic explanation for my mom and Stanley. It was already going to be an issue for me to try to meet him in the morning.
I spent the next couple of hours working and thinking about it. I contemplated what I could say to my mom and Stanley to explain my sudden urge to go hiking in the morning again.
I was sitting at my workbench, attaching clasps and rings to brass chains when I heard the door open at the store. My initial thought it was that it was Owen. I had been thinking about him all day and my mind went to him when I heard the door.
It was not Owen, however.
It was my mother.
"Hey, Mom, what are you doing here?" I asked, coming around the corner to find her in the doorway of the store.
I smiled at her, looking behind her and half-expecting to see John.
"How did you get here?"
"I drove."
"Why? I thought it hurt your back to drive. Is your back doing better?"
"No, it's not. It hurt, actually, to make the drive." Her expression was intense, like she was angry.
"Why did you do it?" I asked, my smile falling now that I realized she wasn't here for fun. "Is everything okay?"
"Are you texting someone with a phone number in Memphis, Tennessee?"
Her question was so point-blank that I panicked.
"Yes," I said, knowing better than to lie. "Stanley got alerted about the texting. He's worried sick. We've been arguing about it for the last two hours. He told me to call the phone company and try to get a record of the conversation."
My heart stopped when she said that because I had texted so many things. "You could have just called me," I said. "It's no big deal. It was a customer."
"Stanley told me to go ahead and get you and bring you on home… make sure you come home with me."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I said.
"We're leaving. Stanley wants to talk to you about the texting. And we agree that we should just break the lease for this place. This was a bad decision. We made more money when we were selling out of the house. The overhead is ridiculous."
"Why are you upset?"
