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Authors: Kathryn Springer
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about horseback riding with Bree and Marissa’s haircut and Jared Ward coming to town. Bernice may not have raised me, but her next question proved that her Mom Alert was completely functioning. And set on high.
“Jared Ward? What’s he like?”
Since I knew I’d have this exact conversation with Mom over the weekend, I figured I might as well practice. “He’s about twenty-three or twenty-four.”
“Really?”
Is he good-looking? Three…two…one…
“What does he look like?”
Close enough. “He looks a little like Orlando Bloom.” With a motorcycle. “Denise told him he could stay in your apartment for the summer.”
“What!”
“It’s all straightened out.” I probably should have mentioned that first. “He’s living in Marissa’s garage instead.”
I heard Bernice whispering something to Alex. Maybe she was asking him to hire a private investigator to check into Jared’s background. She and Alex could probably split the cost with Mom and Dad!
“Mama B, I should go now. It’s almost closing time.”
“Right. It’s Friday night.” Bernice sounded a bit wistful.
“What happens on Friday night?” I asked eagerly. Maybe there was something about Friday nights in Prichett I didn’t know yet.
“Nothing that doesn’t happen during the rest of the week,” Bernice admitted. “It’s nice to know that life in Prichett doesn’t change, but I suppose it’s going to be too quiet for you this summer. You’re used to a lot more choices.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assured her just before we said goodbye. I wanted quiet. Prichett was my Go square. It was eight weeks of security before I stepped into my life. I’d traveled around Europe with a close friend and I’d lived apart from my parents for almost a year, but things felt different now. Even though I knew my family would always be there for me, I was going to be the one making decisions now. Like what to do with the rest of my life. The whole idea gave me a queasy feeling.
Out of the corner of my eye I watched Annie smiling blissfully as she smelled samples from a new line of shampoo I’d received earlier in the week. She was only five years older than me and already had five years of marriage under her belt. And she’d brought twins into the world.
I felt my twinge of envy bloom a little. Annie was off the Go square and moving happily down her God-chosen path. She was a wife and mother and, from what Bree told me, a mentor to the teenage girls in Stephen’s youth group.
I was twenty-one and when it came to life, my major was still undeclared.
I’m listening, God! You point the way and I’m so there.
“Go ahead and pick your favorite,” I told Annie. “You can tell me if it works.”
She slipped one into the pocket of her dress and gave it a friendly pat. “Remember, Sunday after church.”
“I’ll be there.”
Annie left and I turned my attention to the cash register. Money—the collecting and the disbursing of it—wasn’t my gift. Another life lesson learned the hard way at the Fun Fruit Factory. I’d told Jared I was done with work at five o’clock, but we hadn’t made any plans beyond that. Was he going to call? Was he going to stop by the apartment?
I heard a low purr outside and when I glanced up, Jared’s motorcycle was parked right outside. He waved a helmet at me.
I swallowed my gum.
“I have to run up and change.” They were the first words I could string together when he walked in.
“Oh, I don’t think you need to change a thing.”
Were there guys who could actually get away with lines like that? Yes, there were. And I soaked up the compliment like toner in a cotton ball.
Jared sat down in one of the squishy plastic chairs by the window and stretched out his legs. I counted the change in the till. For the third time.
“Marissa mentioned you’re here for the summer.”
“I’m helping out my…Bernice…while she’s on her honeymoon.” My relationship with Bernice and Alex was too
“Jared Ward? What’s he like?”
Since I knew I’d have this exact conversation with Mom over the weekend, I figured I might as well practice. “He’s about twenty-three or twenty-four.”
“Really?”
Is he good-looking? Three…two…one…
“What does he look like?”
Close enough. “He looks a little like Orlando Bloom.” With a motorcycle. “Denise told him he could stay in your apartment for the summer.”
“What!”
“It’s all straightened out.” I probably should have mentioned that first. “He’s living in Marissa’s garage instead.”
I heard Bernice whispering something to Alex. Maybe she was asking him to hire a private investigator to check into Jared’s background. She and Alex could probably split the cost with Mom and Dad!
“Mama B, I should go now. It’s almost closing time.”
“Right. It’s Friday night.” Bernice sounded a bit wistful.
“What happens on Friday night?” I asked eagerly. Maybe there was something about Friday nights in Prichett I didn’t know yet.
“Nothing that doesn’t happen during the rest of the week,” Bernice admitted. “It’s nice to know that life in Prichett doesn’t change, but I suppose it’s going to be too quiet for you this summer. You’re used to a lot more choices.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assured her just before we said goodbye. I wanted quiet. Prichett was my Go square. It was eight weeks of security before I stepped into my life. I’d traveled around Europe with a close friend and I’d lived apart from my parents for almost a year, but things felt different now. Even though I knew my family would always be there for me, I was going to be the one making decisions now. Like what to do with the rest of my life. The whole idea gave me a queasy feeling.
Out of the corner of my eye I watched Annie smiling blissfully as she smelled samples from a new line of shampoo I’d received earlier in the week. She was only five years older than me and already had five years of marriage under her belt. And she’d brought twins into the world.
I felt my twinge of envy bloom a little. Annie was off the Go square and moving happily down her God-chosen path. She was a wife and mother and, from what Bree told me, a mentor to the teenage girls in Stephen’s youth group.
I was twenty-one and when it came to life, my major was still undeclared.
I’m listening, God! You point the way and I’m so there.
“Go ahead and pick your favorite,” I told Annie. “You can tell me if it works.”
She slipped one into the pocket of her dress and gave it a friendly pat. “Remember, Sunday after church.”
“I’ll be there.”
Annie left and I turned my attention to the cash register. Money—the collecting and the disbursing of it—wasn’t my gift. Another life lesson learned the hard way at the Fun Fruit Factory. I’d told Jared I was done with work at five o’clock, but we hadn’t made any plans beyond that. Was he going to call? Was he going to stop by the apartment?
I heard a low purr outside and when I glanced up, Jared’s motorcycle was parked right outside. He waved a helmet at me.
I swallowed my gum.
“I have to run up and change.” They were the first words I could string together when he walked in.
“Oh, I don’t think you need to change a thing.”
Were there guys who could actually get away with lines like that? Yes, there were. And I soaked up the compliment like toner in a cotton ball.
Jared sat down in one of the squishy plastic chairs by the window and stretched out his legs. I counted the change in the till. For the third time.
“Marissa mentioned you’re here for the summer.”
“I’m helping out my…Bernice…while she’s on her honeymoon.” My relationship with Bernice and Alex was too
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