I Need You. Jane Lark

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СКАЧАТЬ I thought you’d stopped that.”

      “I’m taking her away for a couple of weeks.”

      “OMG!” Eva screamed.

      “Is that a good thing?” Mom stood up.

      “When you and that girl get together, it always ends badly, Billy.” Dad threw in his cent without moving from his armchair.

      “Thanks for the enthusiasm.” I shrugged and turned away, but Eva grabbed my arm and then hugged me.

      “I hope things work out. I’ll be glad for you if they do.” I gave her a squeeze then let her slip away.

      “As will I,” Mom said, smiling at me.

      My gaze shifted around them all. “Except this isn’t like that. It’s just as friends…”

      Eva rolled her eyes. “Lindy is so blind.”

      Mom kept smiling.

      I turned away and headed for my room.

      I scanned through my calendar and called clients to tell them something personal had come up; the stretched and worn leather band on my wrist sliding up and down.

      I always wondered what the hell I’d do if it broke. It was my talisman.

      The fingers of my other hand span it around my wrist a couple of times as I waited while a call rang.

      I knew where I was gonna take her. To the place I’d run to every summer for years. It had started the summer we’d left high school.

      There was no answer. I ended the call, but then my cell vibrated.

      ”Lindy’s back home.“ The message was from Jason.

      ”I know, I went ‘round to see her.”

      ”She okay?”

      ”Nope, quiet and crying.“

      ”Tell her sorry. And tell her Rach and me are thinking of her. We didn’t want her to get hurt.”

      ”She said to tell you sorry too. She’s sorry we saw her like that. She said she felt guilty about getting us caught up in it.”

      He didn’t answer for a minute, but then came back and said. ”Tell her it’s okay. I get it. I know I messed her around. But tell her I hope she can be happy.”

      I sighed. So did I. ”I’ll tell her. Do you still want to go out for a drink again next week?”

      ”Shit, yeah, I need another night out to get over that one. When?”

      ”Thursday?”

      ”Okay.”

      The place I was gonna take Lindy to was beautiful. You could stay right on the beach in an apartment, listen the ocean and watch the waves roll up on the sand. It was the sort of escapism Lindy needed to put her vibes right.

      I looked at my cell, and my thumb instinctively slid up Lindy’s image. ”Hey. I’m gonna take you to a place I know on the coast. It’s perfect for chilling out. You’ll get caught up in the awesomeness of the universe and forget about yourself.”

      While I waited for a reply I booked the accommodation. I’d cancel the rest of my appointments later. I booked adjacent apartments.

      ”That sounds amazing.”

      ”Cool.”

      “:-) Shall I transfer my share of the money to you?’

      ”Lind you’re not paying. I asked you. I owe you.”

      ”You don’t owe me anything. But thanks if you’ll pay. I’m not earning.”

      ‘I know. Maybe when we’re out there we can start working on what new job you feel like doing.”

      “:/ When I feel better, Billy.”

      “Yeah. Sorry I’m pushing. Too much. Too soon. One step, Lind. By the way, Jason said he’s sorry too, and that he and Rachel wish you well. He wants you to be happy. That’s what we all want.”

      ”Thanks.“

      The thanks seemed final and I didn’t know what to say next.

      My fingers tapped the desk, beating out a rhythm.

      I wanted to call. I had a feeling she was crying. I shouldn’t have mentioned Jason. I didn’t call though ‘cause I’d grown a coward’s streak since the fall. I didn’t want to hear her tell me how she missed him and how much she still loved him.

      Guilt curled up in a hard ball in my belly.

      Why the fuck was she speaking to me? She shouldn’t be.

       Why the frick was she going away with me?

      The girl was crazy.

      This could be the stupidest idea, I’d ever had.

       Chapter Two

       Billy

      “You’re sure everything is squared off with the hospital, Lind. You’ve got your meds…”

      She nodded, but she was scaring me, her hands trembled as I took her case and put it in the back of the SUV, next to my surfboard.

      Her dad stood on their porch, in his uniform; it meant he’d ducked off work to come back and say goodbye to her. He watched us, like he didn’t want her to go.

      He certainly wouldn’t want her to go if he knew the truth. But he didn’t. No one did except me and Lindy.

      I hadn’t seen her Mom. That was weird because she didn’t work. I’d have thought she’d have come outside to say a final goodbye to Lindy.

      “Is that everything?” I asked. Lindy nodded, her blue eyes glittering with tears.

      “No, I forgot my purse.” She turned away and ran back up the path into the house.

      This was weird.

      I slipped my hands into my pants pockets as Mr. Martin came down.

      “If she wants to come home, you’ll bring her back right away?”

      “Yeah.” Of course I would.

      “Well, you look out for her. She’s my girl, and she’s all I’ve got.”

      “Yeah, Mr. Martin.” He knew I’d been hanging around her a lot last fall; he knew we’d been friends for years. I bet he wondered СКАЧАТЬ