Sparks the Matchmaker

CHAPTER 22

Ollie was hoping desperately to be wrong, but he was right: Joy wasn’t home in the morning. He didn’t get to walk her to class. He was, though, determined to hear whatever she had to say, good or bad. The thought of it consumed him throughout the day. He planned to stop by her cash register a little before her shift ended, and he wouldn’t take “I have something I need to go do” for an answer.

Any thoughts of cornering her for a few questions were dashed when he reached her register only to see a tall red-headed guy working in her place.

“Where’s Joy today?” he asked, not bothering to wait in line.

“I don’t know,” the guy said. “She asked me to cover for her today.”

At any other time, Ollie would have taken the strong hint that Joy expected him to let go. But this situation was different. Sparks wouldn’t be pushing me in toward her if we weren’t meant to be together—I think. Sparks had warned Ollie that Joy would need space this week anyway, so he took it in stride and tried to hang in there.

It wasn’t completely unexpected. But…

Ollie thought about how his grandma used to say “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Yeah, but too much absence makes the heart start to wander. He wanted to see about Joy the Avoidress, but he was possessed by a budding curiosity about the Girl Who Scoots by Inches on Couches.

Even though Joy had managed to completely dodge him again, Ollie held on to the idea that Sparks had set him on the right path with Joy, even if his grip on that idea was failing.

He was very curious about Lynn, though.

Joy wasn’t going to avoid him forever. She just needed some time to think things through.

But Lynn…

He remembered how Joy referred to her most recent boyfriend as “that guy,” and he hoped he hadn’t reached that status with her.

Lynn…

Joy was not at his side because she had been brushing him off.

Lynn was not at his side because he had brushed her off.

When his mind got tired of thinking about those two beautiful faces, Anne would pop into his thoughts again.

More than once he thought about going up to his closet and pulling out the Yankees hat, but every time he thought about it, he resisted. He wanted to know the answers, but not enough to give in. He was going to make it a full week just to prove to Sparks who was really in charge. Maybe to prove it to myself. Since the last time Sparks had shown up was on a Sunday night, he would wait until then.

It would have been easier if there was a ball game to watch, but there wasn’t. It might have been nicer if Keith or D were home to give him some company, but Keith was off studying somewhere and D was at work with Greg. Even Richie had something better to do than to hang out with Ollie.

Someday I won’t have to play the dating game. Won’t that be wonderful. He knew he could wade through the tough times because often the biggest rewards were found at the end of the craziest experiences. His experience was crazier than any he’d ever heard of, which only meant he’d find the most amazing life at the end of all of this; the most perfect girl to share it with.

He never gave in to the urge to pull out the Yankees hat. He never drove to Lynn’s place— not while he was still confused about his situation with Joy. He never gave in, except that he went to bed much earlier than usual.