I’m pretty sure he has a girlfriend, right?
I’m just relieved he doesn’t seem to have a kid—not that it’s any of my business. That’s something I would have definitely heard about, though, right?
“Well,” Kyle amends. “He’s usually low-key. Except that the Wolves drafted a really good quarterback last night. He’s stressed now.”
“Why? He’s not going to lose his position to some newbie.”
Kyle pauses and my chest freezes. “Wait. Are they going to replace Taysom with this new guy?”
“His name is Casey Riddock. And the answer is…possibly? I don’t know. There hasn’t been any word yet on Riddock’s contract with the Wolves, but I would say Taysom’s position is at least a little threatened.”
“That’s too bad. I don’t understand why they’d forgo their seasoned, all-star player for some kid just out of college.”
“I don’t know, either. And maybe they won’t. But Taysom’s…concerned.”
“And then I demand money from him!” I rub the back of my neck, trying to relieve the tension. “I was all shaken up because they’d just told us the Center is shutting down.”
“What a blindside.”
“It was.” But it shouldn’t have been. Funding is by far the worst part of this job, always wondering if you’re going to have enough. “Ron and Tracy will spend the last half of the year trying to drum up more funds and redefine what the center might be in the future. Maybe I can come back if they get the funding.”
“But with that possibility months away…”
“I know, I know.” My vision stalls on the early evening light hitting the buildings on either side of the street. “I’ll get a different job in the interim. And honestly, the center may never reopen because there are a lot of factors involved.”
“Do you need a Mercy Pizza or something?”
I burst out a laugh. Our family, the Mercers, came up with the idea of a mercy pizza whenever someone was having a bad day. And this certainly qualifies as a bad day.
“I’ll take a raincheck. I need to eat something light right now. My stomach is still in knots.”
“You should hang out with your friends. Enjoy the fact that you no longer have to go to work.”
“I’ll still be working there for the next two months, so I can’t slack off yet.”
“You’ll never slack off. You don’t even slack off in your sleep.”
I would protest, but he’s right. I never stop. I even dream about the Center on the regular, so I don’t rest even when I’m asleep. It’s a problem.
“Okay, well, I’m almost home, so I’ll let you go,” I say. “Do you have fun plans tonight?”
“I’ll probably hang out with some friends and watch some baseball or something.”
“Sounds riveting,” I deadpan.
“It is!” he says. “But let me know if you change your mind about the Mercy Pizza, okay?”
I thank him and then call my parents to tell them the bad news. They’re sympathetic, but I don’t expect them to fix my problems. I park the car in my crumbly old driveway because the detached garage is full of extended family members’ stuff.
I shared this place with my sister before she got married last year. Maybe my younger brother Gage will move in with me someday, but he’s at San Antonio University, so he wants the dorm life for now.
My place is an adorable little house with narrow yellow siding and a mint green porch in the front. I know…yellow and mint green? It shouldn’t work, but it does.
Built in 1925, it’s been in the family since the seventies, when my father lived here with his parents and siblings. Since then, it’s rotated through whichever family members needed it, with the only requirement being the person renting it pays taxes, insurance, and for all the repairs.
Sometimes the costs add up to what a mortgage payment would be because the house is a hundred years old. I really should replace the driveway, but I just had to replumb the bathroom, so it’s going to have to wait.
The house has a patio on the side, just off the dining room, in the same mint green as the porch. The eaves and trim of the house are painted a warm white, but someone had the idea of painting the beams holding up the edge of the roof the same mint green. It’s adorable.
