Salvaged (26 page)

"Saturday?"

"Sure." What was the point in saying no? The boy was going to
needle me to death until I said yes.

"It's a date!" He headed back toward the exam room.

"Uh, it's not a date," I mumbled after him. "It's technically more
of a lesson."

He didn't hear a word.

The day continued on as I checked in patients, answered phones,
and cleaned out cages all while "pretty boy Truman" stood back and
watched Gramps work. I felt like Cinderella getting stuck doing all
the grunt work while the chosen daughters lounged around. Tues days and Thursdays would be horrible. Cooper Truman had a dazzle
about him, and Gramps was buying everything that Cooper tried to
sell him. It was disgusting.

Lunchtime finally came, and Tammy and the girls waltzed into
the clinic.

"Hey, Attie! Ready to go to lunch?" Tammy asked.

"Hi, girls."

"Hello, ladies!" Cooper greeted as he came to join us in the
reception area.

I rolled my eyes at his fake friendliness. At least, I think it was
fake.

"Fancy seeing you here. Are you the friends who stole my lunch
date?" he asked.

"Oh, had you already made plans with Attie?" Anne asked.

"No, just hoping to," Cooper replied.

"How sweet," Tess said.

"We're going on Thursday instead," he announced.

"Oh great! Good for you," Tammy said in mock interest. "I betcha can't wait, Attie."

"Yes, and she's coming over on Saturday to go for a ride."

"A ride? Really?" Tammy looked at me with a cocked eyebrow
and sly grin.

"Horses. We're going to ride horses," I clarified. "Cooper wants
to go riding."

"I'm sure he does," Tammy replied. "You two are becoming fast
friends, aren't ya?"

"Yes. Isn't it great?" Either the boy was deaf or he was a complete
moron because Cooper didn't catch on to Tammy's palpable sarcasm.
"Well, you ladies have a great time and bring Attie back safely."

"Oh, we'll do our best," Tammy said in a fake sappy voice as she
rolled her eyes.

Cooper was oblivious that he was the butt of our joke.

"Would you like me to take Baby from you, Attie? I'll watch
after her while you're gone."

"Uh, sure." I handed her over to Cooper assuming he would take her back to her cage, but he reached over and removed the sling from
my shoulder and put in on himself.

"I'll be the surrogate," he said proudly.

"Great," I lied for the umpteenth time in half a day. "Let's get
out of here!" I begged.

As soon as we got out of earshot, the girls broke out laughing
in hysterics.

"What in all that's good and holy was that?" Anne asked.

"He's kind of stalkerish, isn't he?" Tess added.

"Oh my gosh, you guys, good grief, it's worse than you can ever
imagine!" I couldn't even believe it myself.

"So what, is he working there now or something?" Tammy
asked.

"Yes, twice a week!"

"He sure knows how to weasel himself in, doesn't he?" Anne
replied.

"What does Riley think about that?" Tess asked softly.

"Riley doesn't know yet."

Tammy climbed into the car. "He's gonna blow a gasket."

"Oh no he won't," I said.

"Oh yes he will! You didn't see him at that party when you went
into the house with Cooper. Riley was flipping out."

"Get out!" Anne screamed.

"I swear, Anne! I thought the boy was gonna come unhinged,"
Tammy said, laughing.

I shook my head at her. "Oh, Tammy, you're exaggerating."

"If I'm lyin' I'm dyin'! I swear, girls, it was pathetic!" Tammy
couldn't contain her amusement. "I've gotta be a witness when Riley
finds out about Cooper."

"Well, he's picking me up at 4:45."

Tammy pounded on the steering wheel in excitement. "I'm so
there!"

"Me too!" Anne and Tess agreed.

"Want to hear the worst part?" I asked.

The girls couldn't contain their curiosity. "Yes!"

"Coop peeked around the corner and asked me if I'd ever ridden
a stallion. My mind totally went to the gutter; I about died!"

Anne and Tammy started laughing, but Tess sat shaking her
head. "I don't get it."

"That's why we love you, Tess," I said, giving her a playful pat
on the back.

"Are you gonna tell me the joke? I don't get it," she repeated.

"Ask Chase. He'll get a jolt out of it," Tammy suggested.

"Riley's just freaking out because of the whole Melody thing,"
Anne said.

"What Melody thing?" I asked.

"Melody and Cooper dated for awhile when she was a sophomore
and he was a senior. He took her to Winter Formal, remember?"

"Shut up!" It was the loudest I'd ever heard Tess speak.

"Oh yeah," Anne continued, "Melody was crazy about him,
and they were together all the time. Then rumor has it that Melody
found him in his car after school one day with ... none other than
Tiffany Franks."

"Get out!"

"I can't believe you guys didn't know this!" Anne was excited to
share such juicy gossip. "Anyway, Riley found out and knocked the
soup out of him."

"He did not!" I shouted.

"He did! He punched him in the face after a basketball game.
Tammy, you don't remember this? That was when Riley got suspended from school for that week."

"I didn't know that was why."

"Yep." Anne nodded with a big smile on her face.

"Oh man, that's good stuff," Tammy said with a smirk. "You
couldn't pay me enough money to miss the fireworks that'll be going
off at 445."

"You'll be disappointed, Tammy. Riley's not going to care a bit,"
I assured. "He'll be fine with it."

From behind the reception desk I looked over at the girls as they sat
in the orange chairs in the waiting area. Tammy's elbows were on her
knees and her chin on her fists, and Anne sat Indian style in her chair
next to Tess, whose eyes were about to pop out of her head. They had
invited Jen along to enjoy the show, and she sat curled up in a ball on
a chair with her knees pulled up to her chest. If they'd had popcorn,
they would've looked like they were watching a horror movie.

Gramps was hiding out in his office.

"Truman?" Riley's voice sounded disgusted. "What are you
doing here?"

"Hello," Cooper said coldly as he kept his distance. "Didn't Attie
tell you I was working here?" His eyebrows were lowered and he
glared back across the room.

Riley and the girls looked at me and waited for me to respond. "I
hadn't had a chance yet. I was going to tell you tonight."

Riley's face turned crimson and his jaw grew tight. He and the
girls looked back at Cooper. "What do you mean you're working
here now?"

"I'm doing an internship of sorts."

Riley and the girls looked back at me. "Really?"

"I didn't know until I showed up this morning. I had no idea."

Riley and the girls looked back at Cooper again. "For how
long?" Riley's teeth were now clinched. "How long is this internship thing?"

"All summer." Cooper folded his arms across his chest.

"All summer?" Riley practically screamed. "How did you hear
about this internship?"

"Attie's dad told me," Cooper replied as he rolled back and forth
on the heels of his feet.

Riley and the girls looked back at me again. I shook my head. "I
didn't know that Cooper called him."

They looked back at Cooper.

"You talked to Attie's dad? On the phone?" Riley's arms were also
across his chest, but his hands were tightly gripping his upper arms.

"Yes, I picked up the phone and called him, no big deal."

Riley took a deep breath. "Do you even know him, Truman?"

"Our dads know each other. Plus, Attie told me that he would
be more than happy to give me information about Cornell."

Riley and the girls turned their gaze back to me. "Did she now?"

"I briefly mentioned it at the pool party."

Riley held my gaze for a long moment. I couldn't tell what was
going through his mind, but his eyes tightened in the corners, which
sent a shiver down my spine.

The girls' eyes shifted back and forth between Riley and me as
he glared at me. "Well, I guess I better go," Cooper announced,
looking at me.

I noticed Riley turning his glare back to Cooper as he spoke.

"Attie, let me know what time you want to come over on Saturday. I'll have the cook make us some food."

Riley's head snapped back my direction, and I could see the girls
recoil as if someone just got punched.

I shut my eyes and instantly started biting my thumbnail as I
managed to squeak out an "All right" in Cooper's direction.

"See you Thursday, Attie," Cooper said as he walked out the door.

We all sat in silence as the girls watched Riley glare at me.

Cooper stuck his head back in the door. "Attie, go ahead and
decide where you want to go to lunch on Thursday, my treat."

Riley jerked his arm in Cooper's direction as if he was about to
strike him. Cooper quickly turned and walked away.

"You're going to lunch with him on Thursday?" He could barely
speak. "And to his freakin' house on Saturday?"

"What was I supposed to say, Riley? He asked me."

"You could have said no! That would've covered it!"

The girls sat completely still and stared at us.

"I've got to work with the guy. I can't be a jerk."

"Well, you don't have to act like a jerk, but holy moly, you don't
have to agree to go out with the guy twice in one freakin' week!" His
voice became louder the more he spoke.

"Don't you get mad at me, Riley Bennett!" I shouted back. "I
was being nice."

As he glared back at me, his right eye twitched. I'd never seen
him angry.

"Look, he asked me if I'd ever ridden a stallion-"

"Did he now?" he practically screamed.

"He wants to go riding, that's all."

Riley's veins about popped out of his neck. "I'm sure he does!"

"That's what I said," Tammy said.

"I still don't get it," Tess said softly.

My own anger was rising. "You two stop it right now! I'm going
to lunch with a coworker, and then I'm getting a riding lesson-an
English-style horseback riding lesson." I spoke slowly and clearly so
there was no confusion. "It's no big deal."

"No big deal?" He started pacing and opening and closing his
fists. "It's no big deal?"

I glanced over at the girls. They were in awe of the spectacle. I
then noticed that Gramps was peeking his head through the door.

"Good grief, Riley, you don't get to be mad. It's not like you and
I are dating or anything." I immediately regretted saying the words.

He spun around to face me. He looked devastated but angry.
"You're right, Attie."

I gulped. It stung to hear him call me Attie.

"You're right; we aren't dating." He shook his head as he continued to glare at me. "You can do whatever the heck you want with
whoever you wanna do it with, and I can't say a thing."

"Riley-"

He cut me off. "I'm so glad you spelled things out for me. I guess
I'm fortunate to know where I stand."

The girls loudly inhaled.

"That's not what I meant! You're misunderstanding my words."

"I'm not misunderstanding anything." His voice was cold. We
stared at each other for a moment before he spoke again. "Let's go."
He turned and walked toward the door.

The girls stood up.

"No," I said softly.

He spun back around and walked toward me.

The girls sat back down.

His eyes were dark. "What do you mean `no'?"

"I don't want to go with you if you're angry like this."

"Come get in the car, Attie," he ordered.

"No," I shouted back.

"How are you gonna get home?"

Tammy quickly stood up. "I'll take her." Riley glared over at her,
and she sat back down.

"Yes. Tammy will take me."

He stood glaring at me for several more seconds before he spun
around and stomped out of the clinic. The girls finally let out the
breath they inhaled earlier.

"Okay, I'd say that went well," Tammy said sarcastically.

"Well, we said we wanted a show." Tess looked incredibly sad. "I
guess we got one."

"Oh my gosh, I've never seen him that angry," Anne said, shaking her head slowly.

I immediately started crying. "He had no right to talk to me like
that."

"No," Jen agreed. "No, he didn't. Jerk."

"He's hurt, Jen," I said. "I've hurt him."

The girls tried to comfort me, but it was useless. I was inconsolable.
Nobody had ever talked to me that way, and the fact that Riley was
the first to do it was beyond painful. They accompanied me to the car, and Tammy drove me home. Riley hadn't made it home yet when she
dropped me off, so I went straight up to my room and shut the door. I
surmised that there would be no Tom Cruise-a-pa-looza tonight.

Three hours passed before I heard him pull into the driveway. It
took several minutes, but I heard him make his way up the stairs. I
could hear the crackling of grocery bags as he walked.