one of our cousins so I’m sure she’d let you stay free of charge,” he said, clearly hoping I would change my mind.
The fact that it was run by yet another family member was not a mark in its favor. I may have been wrong about their abandoning me, at least about Ellis and Connor, but I was still hesitant to rely on family just because of blood ties; I’d met a lot of kids in the system who were taken from their family and knew that a blood relation doesn’t automatically mean a good relation. Ellis and Connor, and yes, even Cash, seemed okay though.
“I don’t know guys…” I let myself trail off, my mind going a million miles a minute.
“Oh, of course you need to think about it. Why don’t you take the day to think, and let us know what you decide tonight at dinner? You are coming for dinner, right?” Ellis sounded so eager, I think she really just wanted to delay my saying no.
“I don’t have any other plans, so sure.” I couldn’t beli eve I had just agreed to dinner. Yet again my timid plans for myself had fallen completely apart.
Before I walked out of the room, they wanted to make sure I was okay with their calling a few people to them about me and my mom. When I mentioned that I had already met with Ed and John McCay the day before, Ellis laughed and said they should’ve answered the phone the night before when John called, and that by now the whole town probably already knew.
CHAPTER SIX
I went back to my house pretty soon after that, refusing the offer of a ride. Cash called out that he’d come around to pick me up for dinner “whether I liked it or not” and I just waved him off as I walked down the street, stopping two houses down to take off my shoes so I could feel the sandy street beneath my feet.
Luke was already at the house, sitti ng on the tailgate of his truck. In the excitement I had completely forgotten he said he was stopping by that morning.
“Where have you been off to all morning?”
“Oh, shit. Sorry Luke, I got invited to breakfast down the street. I forgot you said you were stopping by. I hope you haven’t been here too long.”
“ Watch your language.” He chided more familiarly than I was comfortable with. “Down the street? You wouldn’t have been over at Connor’s place, now would you? I thought you weren’t interested in being around your family quite yet.”
“Well, I wasn’t interested. But Cash is an evil heathen, and he tricked me into coming… after barging in and waking me up this morning! Is family always so… ugh.” And I hopped up next to him and proceeded to tell him all about the morning ’s activities. He thought my lantern-battering was especially hilarious, and said he couldn’t wait to bring it up next time he saw Cash.
“So I was thinking, Della. You really ought to get an inspector out here and find out exactly what type of things need to be done before you get started, with a special look at the electrical end of things.”
“Do you think so? This job is going to be a lot more difficult than just a layer of paint, isn’t it? How much does an inspector cost, and when should I get one out here?”
“ Well here’s the thing,” he scratched the stubble on his chin, “A good friend of mine, we were in the same class in high school, well he’s an inspector-“
“G reat! Do you think you could give him a call?” I wanted to get started right then.
“If you’d let me finish my sentence, you would have heard that I already did. In fact, he was free earlier this morning, and stopped by as a favor to me. I hope you don’t mind that we poked around inside a bit.” With that said, he reached into the cooler sitting behind him and pulled out a couple of lemonades, handing one of them to me. I really should have been a little upset by his doing that without me; it was definitely overstepping my bounds. But it was really thoughtful, and helpful, and one less thing that I would have to worry about or pay for. I went
The fact that it was run by yet another family member was not a mark in its favor. I may have been wrong about their abandoning me, at least about Ellis and Connor, but I was still hesitant to rely on family just because of blood ties; I’d met a lot of kids in the system who were taken from their family and knew that a blood relation doesn’t automatically mean a good relation. Ellis and Connor, and yes, even Cash, seemed okay though.
“I don’t know guys…” I let myself trail off, my mind going a million miles a minute.
“Oh, of course you need to think about it. Why don’t you take the day to think, and let us know what you decide tonight at dinner? You are coming for dinner, right?” Ellis sounded so eager, I think she really just wanted to delay my saying no.
“I don’t have any other plans, so sure.” I couldn’t beli eve I had just agreed to dinner. Yet again my timid plans for myself had fallen completely apart.
Before I walked out of the room, they wanted to make sure I was okay with their calling a few people to them about me and my mom. When I mentioned that I had already met with Ed and John McCay the day before, Ellis laughed and said they should’ve answered the phone the night before when John called, and that by now the whole town probably already knew.
CHAPTER SIX
I went back to my house pretty soon after that, refusing the offer of a ride. Cash called out that he’d come around to pick me up for dinner “whether I liked it or not” and I just waved him off as I walked down the street, stopping two houses down to take off my shoes so I could feel the sandy street beneath my feet.
Luke was already at the house, sitti ng on the tailgate of his truck. In the excitement I had completely forgotten he said he was stopping by that morning.
“Where have you been off to all morning?”
“Oh, shit. Sorry Luke, I got invited to breakfast down the street. I forgot you said you were stopping by. I hope you haven’t been here too long.”
“ Watch your language.” He chided more familiarly than I was comfortable with. “Down the street? You wouldn’t have been over at Connor’s place, now would you? I thought you weren’t interested in being around your family quite yet.”
“Well, I wasn’t interested. But Cash is an evil heathen, and he tricked me into coming… after barging in and waking me up this morning! Is family always so… ugh.” And I hopped up next to him and proceeded to tell him all about the morning ’s activities. He thought my lantern-battering was especially hilarious, and said he couldn’t wait to bring it up next time he saw Cash.
“So I was thinking, Della. You really ought to get an inspector out here and find out exactly what type of things need to be done before you get started, with a special look at the electrical end of things.”
“Do you think so? This job is going to be a lot more difficult than just a layer of paint, isn’t it? How much does an inspector cost, and when should I get one out here?”
“ Well here’s the thing,” he scratched the stubble on his chin, “A good friend of mine, we were in the same class in high school, well he’s an inspector-“
“G reat! Do you think you could give him a call?” I wanted to get started right then.
“If you’d let me finish my sentence, you would have heard that I already did. In fact, he was free earlier this morning, and stopped by as a favor to me. I hope you don’t mind that we poked around inside a bit.” With that said, he reached into the cooler sitting behind him and pulled out a couple of lemonades, handing one of them to me. I really should have been a little upset by his doing that without me; it was definitely overstepping my bounds. But it was really thoughtful, and helpful, and one less thing that I would have to worry about or pay for. I went
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