Finding Me (30 page)

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t you?” He looked at her evenly for the space of several heartbeats, then glanced toward the front door. “Shall I lock up?”

Relieved for the change in subject, Kelli said, “I guess it’s time.”

Shane walked over and locked the door, then went behind the counter and began the process of zeroing out the cash register. Kelli walked over to him. “You’ve been double-checking my books every single night, and now you don’t even trust me to do it the first time?”

“No, tonight I was thinking if I did it for you while you’re doing whatever else it is you need to do, then maybe you’d have enough
time that we could go downtown, grab a quick bite, and maybe go for a walk around the square. It’s Thursday Night Lights, which means there’ll be a live band and probably a few vendors. Have you ever gone down and checked it out?”

“No.”

“How about it?”

Dinner and a live band. Relaxation and fun . . . with Shane. There were several things about that which sounded really appealing.

Boundaries.
Boundaries.
Boundaries.
Denice’s voice echoed through her head. “I really was planning on moving this shelf around tonight.”

“It’ll wait until tomorrow.” Shane came to stand in front of it, effectively blocking the shelf. “I’ll even come by and help. But my father is highly convinced that you are working too hard and is insisting that I see to it that you take a break. Truth is, I happen to know that Highway 35 is the band playing downtown tonight, and I’d really like to go see them. I figure if I take you along, then I get Dad off my back and get to see my favorite band at the same time.”

“Heaven forbid that I should get in the way of your multitasking.”

“Exactly. Now, if you’d prefer to do the register yourself, then tell me what else needs doing around here and I’ll get it done so we can get out of here.”

“Yes, in fact I would like to do the register myself. And if you insist, then feel free to sweep the floors and check the glass door to see if it needs a cleaning.”

Kelli started counting the money, but she looked up every now and then to see what Shane was doing. Like his father, he was a hard worker, but almost every time she looked up, she found him watching her. Was he really sorry about being
suspicious for so long, or was he just trying to make it appear that way because he believed he would then be able to watch her without her being aware of it? Surely he didn’t think she was that gullible.

The register was a nickel off tonight, which although considered perfectly acceptable, still bothered her. She always counted the money carefully, and she didn’t like the idea that somewhere along the way she had made a mistake. She shook her head.

“How’s it look?” He was leaning over, looking at the report.

“You want to double-check it?”

He held up both hands. “No, just making conversation, that’s all.”

“It’s five cents off. How’s that for conversation?”

“Not very interesting. The reason I came up here is to find out where you keep the Windex. Dad always had it behind the front counter, but I don’t see it.”

“Really? It should be— Oh wait, I had it over at the knife case earlier today, and I got interrupted. I bet I left it over there.”

“I’ll go look.” He walked over to the case way too casually. He still didn’t trust her, she could tell.

“Found it,” he called from across the store.

“You know, I really should stay here and—”

“Nothing doing. You promised you’d go with me, and I’m holding you to it.”

Kelli sighed and locked the money in the safe. “All right. Are you ready?”

An hour later, Kelli and Shane sat in lawn chairs, eating the last of their sub sandwiches and chips, and listening to Highway 35—a quite good young band. Over the course of the evening, Kelli had come to the alarming conclusion that she was enjoying
herself. Perhaps a little too much. Denice’s voice was practically screaming inside her head.

“So . . . do you enjoy real estate?” Dull conversation was an effective and proactive way to keep things safe.

He shrugged. “It’s not my dream job, but it was time that I started acting like an adult and took a big-boy job. I’ve never really wanted to work at the store. Pop said it wasn’t really a good time for it, anyway. So real estate seems to fit the bill pretty well.”

“Shane? Shane Moore, is that you? I can’t believe it, I haven’t seen you in forever.” A beautiful blonde bounced over in front of Shane’s chair. Her hair was shoulder length and perfectly curled, her makeup was expertly applied to make her blue eyes shine bright even in the streetlights, and the pale blue sundress she wore showed off the perfect tan. She was followed by two others who were also very pretty, both of whom seemed equally excited to see Shane.

“Well, hello there.” Shane stood up and hugged all three of them as they chattered excitedly.

“How is baseball?” “Dad said you got hurt, are you better?” “You should come over to Sandy’s tomorrow night. We’re having a cookout.” The words flowed so quickly from all three girls that Kelli couldn’t begin to keep up.

Shane turned toward Kelli. “May I introduce Kelli Huddleston? She’s helping at my dad’s store this summer, especially now while he is recovering from hip surgery.”

Kelli stood up to shake hands, but all three girls hugged her instead. “I’m Amy,” the blonde said. “Shane and I go waaaay back, don’t we, Shane?” She smiled coyly toward him.

He nodded and turned toward Kelli. “Amy and I grew up just a few blocks away from each other. We’ve been friends for as long as I can remember.”

“I think almost every good memory I have from junior high
or high school involves Shane in some way or another. We were the absolute best of friends, you might say.”

Something about Amy made Kelli wish she’d spent a little more time fixing herself up this morning—and gave her the slight urge to reach out and wipe the grin off Amy’s face. She had such an air of superiority about her, and the way she was obviously trying to lay a claim on Shane right now . . . which was fine, because Shane and Kelli weren’t really even friends, but Amy didn’t know that. What if this had been a date?

In spite of knowing better, Kelli reached over and put her hand on the back of Shane’s arm. “I’m glad to know that Shane had such good friends when he was growing up. That’s why he turned out to be such a wonderful man now, I suppose.”

Amy looked from Kelli’s hand on Shane’s arm to Shane’s face and back again. “Oh . . . well, we’ve kept you long enough. But remember, tomorrow night at Sandy’s. We expect to see you there.” She turned to go, then looked over her shoulder. “Kelli, obviously you’d be invited to, if you want to come.” She offered a finger-only wave and then walked off into the crowd, followed by her two friends.

Kelli dropped her hand and looked at Shane. He was grinning like he’d just read her mind—the part about smacking Amy. She shrugged. “Sorry about that. Somehow that girl just got my ire up. I mean, for all she knew we were here on a date, and she’s all but stating that you are hers. It just irritated me.”

“Glad to know you care.” He bumped his elbow against her arm.

“Ha. Like that would ever happen.” She shoved back.

They both laughed and sat back down. Kelli took a moment to process all that had just happened. “Baseball?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“She asked you how baseball was. What did she mean by that?”

He flexed his right arm up, then slowly stretched it out in front of him. “I used to play.”

“For your high school, you mean?”

“Yeah.” He continued to work his arm up and down, rubbing the back of his elbow as he did.

“College, too?”

He nodded. “College, too.” He looked up toward the stage. “I like this song, don’t you?”

“I like it fine. Did you play baseball after college?”

He turned toward her then. “I was in the Braves’ organization for a few years. Last year I played for their Triple-A team and was expected to get called up for the end of the season when they add to their roster. Unfortunately, I messed up my elbow about two weeks before that time. Since then, I’ve had a couple of surgeries and done lots of rehab, but it just never regained its former strength. The doctors finally came to the conclusion that it likely never would, so the decision was made that it was time for me to move on with my life.”

Kelli blew air out slowly. “How is it that I never knew this about you?”

“It’s not like I go around talking about it all the time. What am I supposed to say, ‘Hey, did you know I almost made it in the major leagues’?”

“Maybe not, but still, you’d think it would have come up in conversation.”

“I generally try to avoid talking about my failures. It’s a strange little habit I have.”

“You consider making it to Triple-A baseball a failure? I think most men in America would be thrilled to be able to say that.”

“Yeah, well, not me.”

“What if you’d made it to the big show, then? Would you have been a failure unless you were a starter? Or the best player on
the team? Or the best player in the National League? Where is the line that separates success from failure?”

He looked at her long and hard. Finally he said, “I guess I have no idea. I just know I haven’t crossed it yet.” He paused for a moment. “That sounds like I’m feeling sorry for myself, and maybe on some level I am, but not really. It’s just that I had a picture in my mind of where my life would be right now, and that’s not where I am at all. It’s hard to explain, really.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised how well I can understand that concept.”

“Right. I hadn’t thought of that. Sorry.”

Of course Shane thought she meant the death of her parents—he had no idea how much her life had veered off the course she’d always assumed. At least he still knew who his parents were. She blinked hard against anything that might threaten to spill out of her eyes. Shane reached over and grabbed her hand. She looked up at him in surprise. “Amy’s heading back this way. I just thought we ought to make it look good.”

Kelli turned toward the crowd and did indeed see Amy looking their way. “Well, I suppose we can’t be too careful.” She scooted her chair a little closer to his.

35

K
elli rolled out of bed on Saturday morning, thankful for a day off. She still planned to spend some time at the store, but for now, she needed a little break. She got a text message from Beth, who’d spent the past couple of days at Alison’s house while Rand was out of town.
Still at Mom’s until this evening.
Please come over.
Mom says she’ll make you some tea.

This was an offer Kelli would not refuse.
Sounds good.
I’ll be over soon.

A little later, she walked up the driveway, trying not to think about the last time she was here. She looked up to see Alison standing at the front door. “So good to see you again, Kelli. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine, other than being embarrassed about passing out the last time I was here.” She felt the heat creep up her neck and cheeks.

“Nothing to be embarrassed about. I’m glad to have you back here. And, unlike my daughter”—she glanced back toward her
house—“I will not put any pressure on you to sing while you’re here.” She held the door open wide. “Please, come in.”

Alison led her back to the guest room, where Beth was staying. “About time you got here,” Beth said as soon as Kelli walked in. “Hey, since you’re here, and since Mom is here, what do you say—”

“Beth, enough.” Alison’s voice was as firm as Kelli had ever heard it. Is this what she’d sounded like when Beth and Max and even Kelli were little and doing something they weren’t supposed to? It was a far cry from Mimi’s shrill reprimands, that much was sure.

“Would you like some sweet tea?” Alison glanced at Beth, then back at Kelli.

“Tea sounds great, thank you.” When Alison headed to the kitchen, Kelli sat on the edge of Beth’s bed. “How are you feeling?”

“I feel fine, just bored as usual. I’m not complaining though. If I have to lay around in bed for a few months to make sure Sprout gets here full grown and healthy, then that’s what I’ll do.”