Chapter 54
Call me anytime. Day, night, middle of the night. I don't care. Just call me, okay?
Sitting in my car, I replayed Lawton's words. I pulled out my cell phone and checked the time. Only three minutes had passed since the last time I'd checked.
It was three minutes too long.
Remembering Loretta's warnings, I wore a semi-formal green dress with long sleeves and a scooped neckline. No jeans today, not if I knew what was good for me.
My Thanksgiving salad sat in the passenger's seat, wedged in a cardboard box to keep it from tipping. A prepackaged cheesecake sat on the passenger's side floor, with an apple cobbler balanced on top of it.
One salad, two desserts, and twenty minutes to get there. I glanced again at my phone. Another minute gone. If I wasn't on the road in like two seconds, I'd be late.
It shouldn't be a big deal. But I knew all too well that it was. With Loretta, everything was a big deal.
I turned the ignition key yet again, praying for some sort of miracle. Why, I had no idea. In at least a dozen attempts, the car hadn't given any sign of starting.
All it gave was an empty clicking sound that told me that unless I was planning to dine in the Parkers' driveway, my odds of a Thanksgiving dinner weren't looking too good.
If it weren't for Josh, I wouldn’t care. Going to my Dad's house – correction, Loretta's house, where my Dad lived – was never my idea of a good time.
But I had to go. It was stupid, really. Loretta didn't truly want me there. Even my Dad was indifferent at best. Still, there'd be hell to pay if I cancelled or worse, didn't show at all. And the person paying would be Josh.
I ran through my options. Call Erika? No, she was off skiing. Call a tow truck? What for? Even if they got here in time, and were able to start the car, there'd be no guarantee it wouldn't stall along the way. Besides, I couldn’t afford a tow truck, especially at holiday rates.
I tried the ignition another time. "C'mon," I said. "Just start, okay? Please?"
It didn't.
Again, I thought of Lawton's words.
I couldn't do it. I couldn’t call him.
Instead, I picked up my cell phone and dialed a number that was only slightly less scary. Thankfully, it was my dad, and not Loretta, who answered the phone.
"Hey Dad," I said, "I ran into a little problem, and I'm hoping you can do me a favor?"
Long pause. "What kind of favor?"
"Nothing big," I said. "It's just that my car won't start."
Silence.
I cleared my throat. "But I'd really like to make it out there."
More silence.
"So," I continued in a rush, "do you think you might be able, if it's not too much trouble, come and pick me up?"
Long pause. "Now?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, actually the sooner the better." I tried to sound chipper. "I'm all ready, and I've got the salad and desserts. It's just that –"
"Hang on," he said.
In the background, I heard muffled voices. I could almost see him, covering the phone like he used to when my parents were still married, and another bill collector had tracked them down at our latest rental.
It was nice to know I rated in the same category as collection agencies.
A moment later, I heard jostling on the other end, followed by Loretta's clipped voice. "I should've known you'd pull something like this."
Oh God. Why had he put her on?
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Like what?"
"Don’t sigh at me," she said. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"What?" I asked.
"You still can't stomach the thought of sharing your Daddy, can you?"
Daddy? I hadn't called him that since – well, never, at least not that I remembered. "No," I said. "It's nothing like that. It's just that my car won't start, and –"
"And what?" she said. "You want to pull him away? You want him all to yourself? Is that it?"
"No," I stammered. "Of course not."
"Well, I'm not falling for it."
"Honest," I said, hearing a hitch in my voice that made me feel about five years old. "I wouldn’t be calling if I had any other choice."
"Chloe," she said, in that overly patient tone of hers. "In life, there are always choices."
What the hell did that mean? If I chose to shove a turkey up her ass sideways, was that a choice? Even in the relatively cool car, my face was burning. From rage or embarrassment, I didn't know. Desperately, I searched for a solution that wouldn't send Loretta over the edge.
Obviously, my dad wouldn't be coming, and I knew better than to ask Loretta. Other than Josh, who was way too young to drive, this only left one person – Lauren, Loretta's natural daughter.
Lauren was about my age. We'd never been friends, but we weren't exactly enemies either. I'd once given her a ride to the airport. That had to count for something, right?
"Is Lauren there?" I said.
"Are you forgetting? She goes by Lauren Jane now."
"I'm sorry. But maybe she could come get me?"
"Oh, so now you want to pull her away too? Well let me tell you something. I'm not sending my daughter out on a day like this."
"A day like what?" I looked around. The air was cool, but the sky was sunny. "It's the warmest Thanksgiving I can remember."
"Thank you, Chloe, for that weather report."
I choked down the bile and tried one more time. My voice sounded very small as I said, "Can't anyone come and get me?"
"The only person left is me," she said. "And I've been cooking since the crack of dawn. So now you want me to run a taxi service too?" She made a sound of disgust. "I told your Dad you'd try something like this." She sighed into the phone. "What have I ever done to deserve this?"
I held the phone away from my ear as if the physical distance could keep the poison of her words from invading my skull. I didn't know what to say. I should've called a cab. No amount of money was worth this.
Like I could afford a cab on Thanksgiving, assuming they were even running.
"Here," Loretta said to someone on her end. "You talk to her. I shouldn’t have to deal with this."
A moment later, I heard Josh's hesitant voice. "Chloe?"
"Yeah?"
"You're still coming, aren't you?"
"Sure," I said. "Definitely." I closed my eyes. "It's just my car isn't exactly cooperating."
He lowered his voice so low, I could barely hear him. "You mean it?"
"Yeah. Of course."
In the background, I heard Loretta's voice off somewhere in the distance. I couldn't make out the words, but her tone was all too familiar.
"How mad is she?" I asked. "Scale of one to ten."
"A hundred," Josh said without any trace of humor.
I should've known. My call had only made it worse. Stupid, stupid, stupid. "Don't worry. I'll be there," I told him. And I would be, even if I had to walk there, food and all.
"I'm supposed to tell you," he said in a shaky voice, "that if you can't make it here by noon to not bother."
"She's kidding, right?"
"I don't think so."
"Shit," I muttered.
His voice was quiet. "Yeah."
Don't worry, I'll be there." I swallowed. "But I've gotta go. Alright?"
"That's good. Because remember the thing with Mom? You know, tomorrow?"
"Yeah. I remember. Don't worry. I'll be there too." I tried to sound cheerful. "Just like we talked about, okay?"
"Actually," he said, "she called a couple minutes ago. She's got this other thing she forgot about, so you don't need to worry about tomorrow. I just thought you'd want to know."
"Oh," I said. "Well, I'm sure she really wanted to see us."
"Yeah. I guess."
I was mad as hell at my mom, but what did I expect? She did this all the time. Still, poor Josh. I hated that she'd gotten his hopes up yet again, only to cancel last-minute. As for me, I'd lost hope years ago. The way I saw it, I was the lucky one.
When Josh disconnected, I checked the clock on my phone. The call had cost me five precious minutes. Even if by some miracle, my car started now, I was still totally screwed.
More accurately, Josh was screwed.
Well, so much for Plan A.
My heart racing, I scrolled through my contacts, and found Lawton's name. I pressed the call button and held my breath.
It rang once, then twice, and then, I heard his voice, nearly breathless. "Chloe?"
"Yeah. Listen," I said. "I've got a question."
"Yeah?"
"You still want that beating?"