“Yes,” Joey said. “They are a real thing.”
Adam chuckled and asked, “Will you just stay on the line with me until I get there?”
“Which way are you?” she asked. “Seven minutes up, or seven minutes straight across, or seven minutes down?”
“I’m flipping a U-turn,” he said. “It looks like I stay on this same road for a little bit, and then I’m going to turn left.”
“That’s up,” she said. “You’re probably going to have to come up a couple of streets.”
“Yes,” he said. “Looks like it.”
“That’s uphill. Adam, can your car go uphill?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m moving down the street right now. If I have to, I’ll walk.”
“You cannot go out in this weather,” she said. “Do you have a coat with you? A blanket?”
Adam didn’t answer, which Joey took as a no to both. She’d have to tell him what winter living was like in Wyoming, and that included a tote with food, water, hand warmers, body warmers, emergency supplies, a blanket, and a coat in his car at all times.
Knowing Adam, once he knew what he needed to put into a kit, he’d have it all, and he’d rotate it every week. Butsince he didn’t know, his car was probably spotless. He was totally the type who would dust his car and spray protectant onto his plastic so it wouldn’t crack in the sun.
She smiled at the thought, though nothing about this phone call and situation should be funny.
“I’m making the turn,” he said. “It looks like it’s actually three blocks up, and then I have to turn right again.”
“If you can make it up those three blocks,” she said. “When you turn right, it will be flat again, and then it’s just straight down the street.”
“Okay,” he said. “I’m making the turn. It’s really creepy out here.”
Joey moved to the front window and looked outside. “Everyone will be on their way home, or they’re already there,” she said. “We watch the weather pretty religiously in Wyoming.”
“We checked it too,” Adam said. “It said the storm wasn’t going to be here until nine o’clock tonight. I didn’t think it would be a problem.”
“Me either,” Joey murmured. She’d seen the weather report, and she had planned to be gone by seven so that she could be home by 7:45. “Sometimes Mother Nature can be so cruel,” she told him.
“Bright side,” Adam said, his voice pitching up. “You won’t have to stay at your mother’s alone. I’ll be there in three minutes.”
Joey scoffed. “You think that’s a bright side?”
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “You won’t have to be there by yourself.”
“And who am I supposed to say you are?” she whispered. “My boyfriend? This guy I know? Someone I’m going out with on Saturday?”
“What did you tell her when you asked if I could stay there?” he asked.
Joey’s memory fired at her. “I told her you were a friend,” she muttered.
“I mean, I don’t really like that label,” he said. “But I’ll take it for now, because you’re right. We haven’t really been out on our first date yet.”
“This is no time for teasing,” she said.
“This is the perfect time for teasing,” he shot back. “Otherwise, I’m gonna start panicking, and that’s the last thing I need to do.”
Joey drew in a deep breath and held it for a moment before releasing it. “I think I’ll just tell her that you’re my dad’s band manager.”
“Sure,” Adam said. “That works too.”
He didn’t sound super happy about it, but Joey didn’t know what this in-between place was, or how to categorize it. Theyweren’tdating. Adam wasnother boyfriend. They’d flirted with each other a little bit, and he’d taken her for coffee. Kind of.
