Tennessee Touch, Sisters of Spirit #6 (6 page)

After buying the Mace, Alison returned home and went out jogging. Nothing happened, but it was a small can, fitting easily into her hand, and she set it beside her running gear to make sure she always carried it with her. The thought of the dead girl made her doubly careful.

Thoughts of Logan made her doubly agitated. Ryan’s remarks had prompted her to save the paper bag, and it sat on the counter, a constant reminder to call the man.

She dithered about it until Thursday, when she picked up the paper bag and drove over to see Chantal. Her best friend was pretty level-headed, and Alison didn’t mind getting advice from her.

“Do you think I should call?” she asked as she dropped spaghetti into some boiling water.

Chantal thumped down a head of lettuce, breaking out the center. “Not unless you really want to, but from your account, I’d say you are being too sensitive. All men aren’t the same.”

“The ones I’ve run into are.”

“You do seem to have your share of bad luck.”

“I felt like I couldn’t believe anything he said. Even the name of his city didn’t ring true. I mean...would you hesitate before you say the name of your hometown?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. He could have just moved there recently, which would explain his southern accent.”

Alison nodded. Chantal was a tall woman with a quirky sense of humor that she usually aimed at herself. She also thought logically...and in this case was emotionally distant from the problem. “You’re right.”

Chantal pushed her curly black hair away from her face and regarded Alison with eyes of deep brown. “I’ll tell you what. Go ahead and call him; just don’t give him your phone number. That way you stay in control.”

“Well...”

“Use my phone. He won’t be able to get your number then.”

“If it were you, would you call?”

“I wouldn’t have met him in the first place. Men see me and run.”

“No, they don’t.”

“They don’t stay around long enough to leave their phone numbers. You’re different. They try, then you send them away. Call him.”

Alison crinkled the bag, biting her lower lip.
Maybe she shouldn’t have asked Chantal for advice after all. She still wasn’t sure if we wanted to call him.
“What would I say?”

“Hello.” Chantal abandoned her salad making, wiped her hands and picked up her phone. “You say, ‘Hello.’ Go ahead. You’ll regret it if you don’t, always wondering what might have been.”

“All right. I’ll do it.” Encouraged, Alison dialed the number. It rang, rang again.

She hung up, relieved.
He hadn’t answered. Good
.

“What did you do that for?” Chantal asked.

Sheer panic.
“I don’t know what to say without sounding like I’m chasing him.”

“Then I guess you’d better just forget it, because it’s the only way you’re going to get to know this guy.”

“But he lives in Wisconsin. That’s so far away.”

“So what? Don’t forget ‘Sleepless in Seattle.’” Chantal paused dramatically. “It could happen to you.”

“Where was Meg Ryan supposed to be living? New York?” Alison said, feeling sarcastic.

“Wisconsin’s closer. Now make that call.”

Alison smiled at her friend, picked up the phone, and dialed. Chantal’s good humor always helped to set her world straight.

“Hello.”

Logan’s voice. Her mind froze.
Oh no! What next?

“Hello,” she said, choking on the word. She pulled the receiver away from her ear.
All she could say was hello.

“Alison?” She could hear the excitement rising in his voice and took heart.

“Yes.” Alison took a deep breath. Chantal had her head two inches from her, listening. Her presence helped, and Alison plunged forward. “Uh...I realized...I...uh... couldn’t wait for you to call...and I... uh, did want to talk to you again.”
There! It wasn’t so hard after all. Almost impossible. She’d sounded like an idiot.

“I’m glad. I felt like...I thought I might have said something that offended you. I was afraid I would never hear from you.” His low-pitched tones erased some of her nervousness.

“No...no. You didn’t offend me. I just...just don’t usually, uh...” She stopped, unable to think of how to express her feelings.

“I wasn’t trying to pick you up, you know. But, well, I was leaving, and I did want to get back in touch with you.”

Chantal gave Alison a big grin and a thumb’s up sign, then moved away to finish making their salad. Alison smiled back, relief sweeping over her.

“I realize that,” she said, then wondered what to say next. “I knew you couldn’t call, so decided I had better.” She was repeating herself.

“Thank you. I wished you would call, but wasn’t giving myself much hope.” He sounded happy.

“I didn’t know if I would catch you home...”

“You didn’t. I’m on the road right now, which is why I gave you my cell phone number.”

“The area code is east Tennessee.” She had looked it up, trying to find out where in Wisconsin he lived. It had been one more barrier to her calling.

“One of the places I’ve lived. I didn’t bother to change it after I left.”

What to say? She wanted to ask him if he would be coming out in the near future, but shied away from it, not wanting to appear “pushy.” She knew lots of women called men and even asked for dates, but that was not her. “What..uh, what do you do?”

“I’m a welder. I told you.”

“Oh, yes. And you have to travel for that?”

“I go where the jobs are.”

So enigmatic. Couldn’t he at least give her more information?
“I see. Don’t you have a permanent address?”

“Sort of. Michigan. But I’m pretty much living out of a suitcase.”

“So... where are you right now?”

“Halfway between Fort Worth and Dallas.”

“And they had a job for you?”

“Lots of action down here.”

“Oh.”

“Could I get your phone number, so I could call you? Or your email address?” he asked.

“I’ll think about it. I don’t like men calling me. They usually don’t know when to stop.” She still felt there was something wrong. Perhaps it was the way he sidestepped a direct answer.
Was he a traveling salesman?

He cleared his throat. “Could I come by when I’m in Seattle next time?” He sounded hopeful. Still uncertain, she didn’t feel like encouraging him. Not yet.

“When would that be?”

“Whenever I can make it. I’m on a tight schedule. Maybe on a Tuesday.”

“I’ll let you know.”

“Please. Do that.” It wasn’t a beg, she didn’t want him to do that, but he did sound sort of desperate.

“I don’t usually call men.”

“Even if they ask you to?”

She hesitated, wondering what to say to that. She usually told men ‘No.’ But Ryan’s remarks had made her wonder about the way she treated the male gender. Maybe she shouldn’t be so cautious.

He waited a second, then when she remained silent, said, “Please? Call again. Promise? Or else give me your number so I can call.”

“All right. I’ll call.” Once her mind was made up, it seemed easier. Besides he had asked her twice now.

“Soon?”

“Yes.”

“Tomorrow?”

She laughed at his persistence. “I’ll see.”

“I’ll look forward to it. You called my cell number.” He then gave her his home number, just in case his cell was off. “Thanks for calling.”

“You’re welcome. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

Alison hung up and looked at Chantal. “He wants me to call again.”

“Wonderful!”

“Maybe. I don’t know much more about him than when I started.”

“Were does he live?”

“He said, ‘Michigan.’ But he also said, ‘Out of a suitcase.’”

“So what are you going to do next?”

“I don’t know.” She frowned as she considered the conversation they’d just had. “He said he was between Ft. Worth and Dallas, but you know, with a cell phone number, he could be anywhere. Even next door.”
What was she getting herself into?

“True. Keep calling him until you learn some of those things. And sign up for one of those long distance plans if you don’t already have one.”

“Let me know how much this was so I can pay.”

“Nothing doing. This was my treat. Why don’t you rescue the spaghetti and we’ll eat. Then you can tell me more about Logan.”

“That was Alison?” Jake asked. Since he was sitting next to Logan in the team’s airplane he had heard some of the conversation. He had been talking to one of the other players, but stopped to listen soon after Logan answered.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“How did you know it was her?” Logan had talked as quietly as he could.

“We’ve been friends for a long time, Josh. You have never jumped to answer the phone like you have these past few days. Besides, you have a completely idiotic look on your face right now. I wouldn’t let the other players see it.”

Can’t let that happen.
Logan ducked his head as he worked on straightening out his expression. “This one’s important, Jake. She’s not going to be easy to get to know. I want your word again that you won’t pull any jokes on her. I don’t think she would understand.”

“Doesn’t she have a sense of humor?”

“That’s not it. She’s really cautious.” He continued on, describing his conversation with Alison. “I figured she wouldn’t call and was trying to think of some logical way to see her again.” He was so happy that she’d called him, he could feel the idiotic grin spread over his face again. Now Clark, one of the tailbacks, was looking over at him, puzzled. He ducked again, trying to relax his facial muscles. It wasn’t working.

“Does she know you know where she lives?” Jake asked.

“No.”

“You’ll need to tell her. She won’t be too happy if you show up on her doorstep unannounced. You also need to tell her what you do, so you don’t have to avoid the subject.”

Logan winced. “Then she’d probably never see me again.”

“Tell her about your other work first. With the kids. That’ll help your image. She’ll feel she knows something positive about you.”

“True. She’s going to call tomorrow. I think. I hope.”

“You gave her our home phone number?” Jake laughed for some reason.

“Yes.”
What did Jake think was so funny?

“In that case...good luck. You’ll need it, if she’s as skittish as you claim. Talk about luck, this time bad, Coach Dobb just told me that Mark Volt was injured yesterday.”