I had offered to help him learn how to cook, too. That wasn’t something I did lightly. I tried teaching my sister on multiple occasions and it had gone so poorly that I swore off teaching anyone else that wasn’t already in culinary school or heading that way. But staring at his big puppy-dog eyes, talking about how he was bad at making anything other than breakfast food, made me want to scoop him up and take care of him. And teach him how to make a steak. Dudes loved steak.
Yet, here I was in my car, heading to freaking Chicago for who knew how long. I didn’t even have an idea what the problem was, only that Sam thought it was the biggest problem in the world and only my presence could solve it. And that I shouldn’t sleep in the bed that I slept in for years and left there with brand-new sheets. They were jersey-knit. I was jealous of sheets that I bought that no one would ever sleep in. I had half a mind to steal them and bring them back home, but they were king-sized, and my apartment only fit a queen bed.
I worried Everett wouldn’t get the message. That he would think I bailed because of him or that I bailed on him. I really, really wished I had gotten his number.
Driving through Ohio was one of the worst experiences in the history of driving and I had done it enough in my life to know to keep myself occupied. The endless cornfields and Podunk towns that I was sure were full of lovely people but consisted of one gas station and a general Deliverance vibe were not my favorite thing. When I finally crossed over into Illinois, it wasn’t like much changed, but at least I was in the same state as my destination.
Pulling into the hotel nine and a half hours after I started, I exhaustedly parked and hoped like hell Sam had gotten me a reservation. Usually with details like that, she would have e-mailed me immediately with a confirmation number. I checked my phone again as I walked in the door and saw that she, in fact, had. It just went into spam. Ten minutes after our call.
Silently, I took back a few things I had thought about her. She was a good cookie.
I checked in, went to my bed, and crashed. In the morning, I would meet with Sam and figure out what the hell was going on, but for that moment, all I wanted was to have a drink from the vending machine, curl up in the bed with the pizza I grabbed the second I entered the city of Chicago, eat, and sleep.
19
EVERETT
“I really hate this,” Deacon said, plopping down in his chair. “I really, really hate this.”
“Hate what?” I asked. Deacon had just gotten in for the day and looked like he was sucking on a lemon.
“More telephone game,” he said.
“Oh man, what happened this time?” I asked.
“Apparently, Rebecca said to tell you that Helen got called away to Chicago. It was a last-minute thing and she doesn’t know when she will be back. Also, she didn’t have your phone number, so she had to ask Rebecca to ask me to tell you.”
“Ah,” I said.
“I know,” he said. “It doesn’t sound good. Even Rebecca said it sounded weird, but she was adamant that it was the real deal. Helen isn’t just running off on you or anything. She legitimately has something to take care of in Chicago.”
“I see,” I said.
“You don’t believe it,” he said. It was more of a statement than a question.
I didn’t respond immediately, rubbing my chin as I tried to figure out how I felt. “I mean, it sounds like a line.”
“I know,” Deacon said. “I know, I know. But look, Rebecca is pretty damn sure about it. She wouldn’t lie about that, no matter how much she might want it to work out.”
“I don’t think she’d lie either,” I said. “But Helen bailing like that is odd.”
“Yeah, but I’d just give her a couple of days, see where it goes,” Deacon said. “Hey, you alright?”
I realized I must have been visibly upset. Deacon knew me better than any other human being on the planet, and if he thought I looked like something was wrong, he usually had me pegged. But I didn’t want anyone else to know how much it bugged me she would disappear like that. Especially with such a flimsy excuse.
“Yeah,” I said, forcing a smile. “I’m good. Helen and I barely started seeing each other. It’s not even a thing yet. I’m good.”
Deacon took a second, examining my face, and then nodded. “Alright,” he said. “Well, in the meantime, we have a shitload of work to do. There’s not enough crew to hit the place out in Bumpass. I’m going to need you to head that one up with some day guys. I’ll have all the regular crew at the other three places. Wendy’s going to be in charge at Fort Balance.”