Keaton anxiously rubbed his pant leg just above the knees as he peered out the passenger window watching a man with his dog pass by on the sidewalk.Maintaining his gaze, he revealed softly, “Noel’s husband died last year” as if talking instead to the stranger on the sidewalk.
17
It suddenly made sense to Cavin why Noel cried when he asked if anyone ever told her she was cute when she was mad.
“What happened?”Cavin asked Keaton who seemed to be in another world.
“You should ask Noel,” Keaton mumbled, his gaze on the picket fences draped with flowing greenery.
“I thought you did not want me to talk to Noel.”
“I don’t want you to hurt Noel,” he reasoned, suddenly turning to Cavin with a focused intensity, “or the kids.”
“What do you mean?”Cavin questioned as his foot held the brake pedal at a four-way stop.
“Noel likes you.”
Of all the words Keaton could have offered in response, Cavin expected those the least.“I doubt that,” Cavin instantly debated with a scoff.
“You can take it or leave it,” Keaton offered.
“You did not see how mad Noel was at me the last time we spoke.”
“Do you know anything about women?”Keaton questioned.
“I am not sure any of us do,” Cavin admitted with a serious look.
“I know this about my sister—if Noel asked me to pump up your tires even though she was mad at you, that means she likes you more than I thought,” Keaton presumed.
A car horn suddenly startled both Cavin and Keaton causing their eyes to dart to the mirrors, and that’s when Cavin realized they lingered at the stop sign way too long.
Cavin quickly stepped on the gas pedal but didn’t know what to say.Thankfully Keaton spoke up again telling him where to turn next, and a moment later they pulled into the parking lot of an old battered shop.Cavin steered the wheel vigorously dodging potholes in the asphalt and hoping one wouldn’t pop his freshly inflated tires although he guessed such a thing couldn’t happen at a better place.As he pulled the vehicle to a stop near the building, he noticed how the paint on the white cinder block walls peeled haphazardly and two glass garage doors stood dulled by years of grease and grime.
“I appreciate your honesty,” Cavin shared as Keaton climbed out of the vehicle.Then the two of them walked to the back hatch to retrieve Keaton’s air compressor.
“I cannot believe you walked all that way to inflate my tires,” Cavin said once he realized the trek must have been around a mile.
“That’s what people from Beaufort do, my friend.”
“Southern hospitality at its finest,” Cavin claimed with a genuine smile.“Did you know who you were coming to help?”
“Are you asking if I knew I was coming to help the guy who took Georgia home with him?”
“Yes,” Cavin clarified.
“No, I didn’t know that.”
“Last night you said you knew my name,” Cavin pointed out, interested to see how Keaton would respond.
The tank bobbed slightly in Keaton’s arms as he belly laughed.“I was so drunk I wouldn’t have remembered your name even if I did know it.”
Cavin chuckled and wondered if Keaton liked Georgia as he suspected previously.“Would you still have come if you knew who I was?”he checked.
“It wouldn’t have changed a thing,” Keaton promised as his face grew serious.“Just don’t string my sister along if Georgia is the one you want.”
Cavin nodded his head in understanding as Keaton walked toward the station.“Okay.”
“Thanks for the ride,” Keaton called out over his shoulder.
