Sass & Serendipity (15 page)

The springs in the old sofa let out their familiar squeaks as Gabby settled onto the cushion beside her mother and handed her a cup of coffee.

Her mom’s flight left Houston at ten-thirty, which meant she had to leave Barton at six to check in at the airport two hours early. Luckily, the Sandbornes made occasional trips to Houston during the week for salon supplies and had offered to give her a lift. That way there was no need to pay for parking, and Gabby could use the car during her mother’s absence.

Of course Daffy couldn’t bother to get out of bed long enough to kiss her mother goodbye. Gabby wasn’t surprised, and she was kind of glad to have her mom to herself, but it still irritated her that Daphne had, once again, gotten away with being totally selfish.

Gabby wondered why she’d bothered to brew up the Colombian Supremo, since her mom certainly didn’t seem to need caffeine. Mrs. Rivera kept checking her watch,
rummaging through her bag, and occasionally standing to gaze out the front window at the driveway.

“Do you have that list of phone numbers I gave you?”

“Yes, it’s on the bulletin board,” Gabby said, pointing to the wall in back of them.

“And you have the number for the Applewhites on your cell?”

“I have it,” she said. She didn’t, actually, but she did have Prentiss’s pretentious business card in her purse. So it wasn’t a total lie.

“And you put all that money in a safe place?”

“Yes. I told you. Part of it is in the empty tea tin and the rest is hidden in the bedroom—your bedroom. I figure I’ll sleep in there while you’re gone.”

Her mom’s nods slowed and stopped. Suddenly her fingers flew to her forehead. “Oh, honey, maybe I shouldn’t go. I’m so worried that this is a mistake.”

“Why? We’re old enough to take care of ourselves for a little while.”

“Yes, I know. But I can’t help feeling … negligent.”

Gabby gave her a shoulder bump. “Hey. Think of it as a vacation from us. You’ve never had that before, and you deserve it. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.”

“I’m already crazy about you girls.” Her mom looked at her tenderly.

“Yeah, but we’re not that fond of you.” Gabby laughed as her mom’s adoring smile disappeared, replaced by a look of indignation.
“Kidding!”

Right at that moment, a car honked. Mrs. Rivera leaped to her feet.

“That’s them,” she said, her eyes wide and frantic.

“You remembered to pack your cell phone charger, right?” Gabby asked, handing her mother the tweedy blue garment bag.

“Yes.”

“Good. And your neck pillow?”

Mrs. Rivera nodded.

Gabby grabbed the rolling suitcase and followed her to the door. “Did you get a refill on your headache medicine?”

“Right here.” She patted her purse.

Gabby smiled. “Now, remember … if a handsome guy asks you for your room key …”

“I know, I know. Ask him for his bank statement, three references, and a clean bill of health from his doctor.”

“Good girl.”

Her mom’s chuckles petered out. “You two really will be okay, right?”

“We really will be.”

The horn sounded again. Mrs. Rivera threw her arms around Gabby and squeezed her tightly. “Wish me luck.”

“You don’t need it, but … good luck.”

Gabby kissed her mom and passed her the handle to the suitcase. Then she followed her outside and stood on the porch waving and watching until the Sandbornes’ minivan turned out of the drive and disappeared into the twilight.

She stepped to the edge of the porch and wrapped her arms around one of the posts, feeling suddenly small under the vast, colorless sky. There was something eerie about the predawn stillness. The world didn’t seem to be sleeping so much as pointedly ignoring her. It reminded her of when she
was really young and her parents would go out, leaving her and Daphne in the care of a babysitter—usually old Mrs. Palacky from next door, who, for some reason, would always bring over two bananas, one for each of the girls, and liked to teach them Czech drinking songs. Even at that age Gabby knew her mom and dad deserved to go out and have fun, but it still unsettled her. She couldn’t help wondering what would happen if something went wrong and they never came back, and she couldn’t fall asleep until she heard their car’s tires crunching up the driveway.

Such fear made a lot of sense in an eight-year-old, but not in an eighteen-year-old. Gabby knew she should quit worrying and be excited for her mom. But then … in a way, that vague, childlike dread had come true. There really had come a day when her dad packed up his car and left, never returning—at least, not to stay.

Gabby let go the breath she’d been holding and headed back inside, locking the door as soon as her bare feet hit the spongy new carpet. The inside of the house felt just as ghostly. The dim light washed out the cheery paint colors, making the place feel drab and sad. No sunshine, no sound, no movements other than her own. It was as if time and everything in it had stopped—except her.

“If only,” she muttered to herself. Having unchecked time would be wonderful. Maybe then she could finish the scholarship application and her extra-credit projects in physics and calc. But already the whooshy sound of traffic along Elmhurst was growing steadier. And according to the kitty-cat clock on the kitchen wall, she had only twenty-four minutes until her alarm went off.

Gabby trudged over to the window and glanced out, the same way her mother had kept doing before she left. Only there was nothing to see. Just darkness and the occasional glow from a passing car. Turning her head, she noticed that a light was on in an upstairs window of the main house. Prentiss’s room, judging by the memory of her previous visit, when she’d dropped off the rental agreement. She wondered what he would be doing up at such an hour, especially with no classes to go to.

Did the quiet make him uneasy, like it did her? What did he think about? Gabby imagined him pacing around an incredibly messy room, shirtless and barefoot, his strong jaw flexing in sleepless anxiety. Maybe he was remembering the crash. Or maybe he was staring out the window and wondering about her light, the same way she was wondering about his. For some reason, that thought didn’t upset her the way it should have. In fact, it made her feel a little better—less alone in the gloom.

“Oh, please!” she exclaimed suddenly, grabbing the curtains and pulling them shut. Her mom hadn’t been gone five minutes and already Gabby was losing her grip.

She was tired and stressed and therefore unable to stop her mind from wandering into places she knew it shouldn’t go. Her mom would return home safely—no need for concern. And for all she knew, Prentiss was only now coming home after a hard night of partying. That was probably why the light was on.

Not that it mattered to her. She didn’t care what he did, as long as he stayed out of her way. And her thoughts.

Daphne couldn’t keep still. She had begun pacing the living room as soon as Sheri had dropped her off a half hour before, and she was still at it. At this rate she’d be wearing a deep trench in the new carpet before dusk.

As jumpy as she felt physically, her mind was even more frenzied. She wanted to forget what she’d seen, but she couldn’t. It was as if that horrible image she’d glimpsed after school had been scorched into her corneas.

She’d almost missed it. She’d been sitting in the passenger seat of Sheri’s Outback, zonked from practice, and had just happened to glance out the window. That was when she spied Luke and some of the other guys heading into the parking lot from the basketball court. Lynette, who hadn’t left yet, had run right up to Luke. Daphne could see her slinking around in his space, as if she were crooning a torch song right into his ear. Then Sheri had made the turn and she’d lost sight of them.

For a while Daphne just sat there, only half hearing Sheri try to sing along to some hip-hop tune, unable to accept what she’d seen. Then, when she’d recovered from the shock, she had wrestled with the impulse to grab the steering wheel and turn the car around herself.

Only she hadn’t. And now she was stuck at home. And Luke was who knew where, possibly with Lynette, doing who knew what. Daphne told herself over and over that he’d never go for Lynette, but each time she found it more difficult to believe.

She sat down on the couch, grabbed the remote, and clicked on the TV. A cartoon came blaring on, all bright colors and silly sound effects. But her mind couldn’t follow it. So she stood back up and resumed her laps around the room. Her limbs felt revved up and her eyes kept darting around as if searching for something. It was as if her own body were urging her to take some action. But what?

A knock sounded on the front door and Daphne’s feet left the floor for a split second. Her brain was so focused on Luke that she felt sure it was him, with a bouquet of wildflowers and a rehearsed, ultraromantic speech asking her to prom.

She raced to the door and flung it open, and there, smiling over a big brown grocery sack, stood Mule.

“Oh,” she said.

His grin faded as he registered the disappointment in her voice. “Expecting somebody?” he asked.

“No,” she mumbled. “Come on in.” She pressed herself against the doorjamb and made a halfhearted welcoming motion toward the living room. As he stepped past her, she glanced hopefully about the yard—but there was no one else around.

Mule went straight for the dining room table and started unpacking the bag, pulling out two two-liter bottles of Dr Pepper and a bag of Funyuns. “Is Gabby here?” he asked.

“She’s not back from work yet,” Daphne said. “But it shouldn’t take her very long to get home since she’s got Mom’s car.” She stuck her index finger in her mouth and started gnawing on what was left of the nail. Meanwhile, her right leg jiggled as if she were trying to dislodge an overly amorous Chihuahua.

“Is it okay if I just hang out and wait?” Mule asked, peering at her guardedly.

“Sure.”

Daphne walked to the window and glanced out. There was still no sign of any other human being, so she did a complete about-face. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket intending to call Luke, but then shoved it back in, unsure of what to do or say if he answered. Instead she started chomping on the nails of her index and middle fingers, and her right leg began quaking yet again.

“You okay?” Mule asked. Cradling the Funyuns in one arm, he slowly made his way to the couch, watching her the entire way.

“Yeah,” she said. Only it came out all quick and high-pitched—more of a yip than an actual word.

Mule gave a tiny shrug and plunked himself on the sofa, slouching down so that his long legs slid under the coffee table instead of banging up against it.

Daphne turned her focus on Mule, studying him as he watched TV and crunched Funyuns. He really was getting cuter. His skin had cleared up and his face had new angles and planes. Funny how she’d known him for so long, but she’d never really thought of him as a guy. Oh sure, she’d considered him a guylike creature, the way koalas were bearlike without being official bears, the way Cheez Whiz wasn’t actually cheese. But now she could see that he clearly was one.

Which probably meant he could decipher guy thoughts and actions.…

Daphne walked over to the couch and sat down beside him.

“Want some?” he asked, tilting the bag of Funyuns toward her.

She shook her head. “No thanks.”

“Smart,” Mule said. “These things are really bad for you. I once ate two big bags and almost OD’d. Woke up behind a Dumpster wearing roller skates and one of my auntie’s nightgowns.”

He paused, waiting for a reaction. She smiled politely but couldn’t manage a laugh. Not even the Pepe Le Pew cartoon on TV could make her giggle. And she loved Pepe Le Pew.

“Hey, Mule,” she said, waiting for his crunches to die down so he could hear her clearly. “If you really liked someone … I mean superliked … even loved … and you were pretty sure they felt the same way about you, but for some reason things weren’t … progressing.” She glanced up and met his eyes. “What would you do?”

Mule stopped chewing. His whole face seemed to lengthen. His eyebrows flew up and his mouth, sprinkled with yellow crumbs, hung down. “Seriously?” he said, after swallowing. “Are you pranking me or something?”