“You don’t.” Cheyenne leaned closer. “Although you might want to blend your blush some more. You look a little flushed.” Miss Applegate brushed at her cheeks, and when she took her hands away, she still looked flushed. Cheyenne figured it was just her natural skin tone, so she lied. “That’s much better, Miss Applegate.”
“Please call me Jolene. I feel like we’re friends after spending Thanksgiving together.” Jolene nervously played with the strand of pearls around her neck. “Is your father with you?”
“No. I’m just waiting on my to-go order. How’s the book?”
Jolene glanced down at the book as if she’d forgotten it was in her hands. “Oh. I just started it so I can’t really say.” She closed the book and set it down. “Do you want to join me while you wait?”
Since all the other booths were taken, Cheyenne nodded and slid into the other side. “Did you get the book at To the Moon?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.”
“It’s a great store, isn’t it? I helped out Emma on Black Friday weekend. We did a bang up business. Of course, I’d much rather work at the hardware store. I like tools more than books. Although my daddy only lets me work there on the weekends. He wants me studying after school.”
“School is important.”
“Yeah, but I can work at the hardware store after school and still get my homework done. Daddy just doesn’t listen to reason. It’s his way or the highway.”
Jolene laughed. “That sounds like my father.”
“So I guess daddies don’t get better as they get older?”
“Not mine, but that doesn’t mean that yours won’t. Your father seems much more flexable than mine.”
“Then you don’t know him very well,” Cheyenne grumbled. “Daddy doesn’t give on hardly anything and he’s gotten even more stubborn since my mama left. It’s like he thinks single parents need to be meaner than double ones.”
Jolene hesitated a moment before she spoke. “I guess your mother isn’t in the picture.”
Cheyenne looked away from Jolene’s compassionate eyes and shrugged. “She wants to be. But I figure if she wanted to be a part of my life so badly, she shouldn’t have left. And she certainly shouldn’t have married some guy with two kids.” Just thinking about her mom and her new family made Cheyenne want to hit something . . . or cry. Jolene must’ve read her conflicting emotions because she reached across the table and covered Cheyenne’s hand.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not a big deal. I don’t care what my mom does.” But if the knot in her stomach was any indication, that was a lie. “She actually wanted me to be in the wedding. Can you believe that? After she deserted me and Dad and didn’t contact us for years, now she suddenly wants us to be best friends. As if I would ever agree to be her maid of honor when she didn’t honor her wedding vows to my dad. How do you think that would’vemade my dad feel if I’d run off to celebrate her getting married to some other guy?”
“Is he upset about your mother remarrying?”
“He’s hard to read. He acts like he’s not, but I bet he is. I mean if I feel so hurt about her becoming a mom to two other kids when she didn’t even want to stay and be a mom to me, then I can only imagine how Daddy feels about her choosing someone else to love.” She hadn’t meant for the truth to come out—especially to a woman she barely knew—but there was no way to backpedal now. Jolene didn’t seem shocked by her confession.
“I understand why you would be hurt,” Jolene said as she gently squeezed her hand. “I would be hurt too.” She hesitated. “But people make mistakes, Cheyenne. Maybe your mother feels bad about leaving you and wants a chance to try to fix things.”
“She doesn’t deserve a chance.”
Jolene smiled sadly. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”
“My mom doesn’t. She not only left us. She also ran up all the credit card bills. If not for her, Daddy wouldn’t have to work so hard. And he wouldn’t distrust all women. He won’t even date because of her. I don’t think he’s had sex in years.”
Jolene’s cheeks grew even redder, and Cheyenne realized she had given the poor woman way too much information. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run off at the mouth like that. I can’t seem to shut up with you, but with Joey Mac, I can’t say a word.” She sighed and slumped back in thebooth. “I’m one hot mess.”
Jolene laughed. “Join the club. I’ve been a real hot mess lately too.”
“You have? You always seem so calm. Like nothing bothers you.”
“I’m just good at hiding my feelings. It’s much better to be like you and get them out.” Jolene glanced over at the soda fountain. “So you like Joey Mac?”
Cheyenne nodded. “Yeah, but he doesn’t like me.”
“How do you know?”
“Because why would he? We’re completely different. He’s popular and good looking and has lots of girls chasing after him. I’m unpopular and average looking and have no boys chasing after me.”
