“Okay,” she sniffs again but she sounds better. “July first, Canada Day weekend it is.”
“Yes!” I hear Eli cheer and then Dixie squeals. I bet my life he either picked her up or tackled her. Those two are more like WWE partners than lovers sometimes. “Thanks for fixing this, Win!”
“You’re welcome!” I call into the phone, hoping he hears me.
“Get off me. I need to talk to Winnie about her man situation,” Dixie says to her fiancé. A second later her voice grows serious. “Sadie told me on the plane ride home you spent the night in Holden’s trailer.”
“I did. I do. It’s like an ongoing thing now.”
“I’m…well…I’m shocked,” Dixie says. “Is this some crazy rebound thing? I mean, I know it’s been a while since you’ve been single and you’ve never had a fling. You’ve been dating Ty since you were old enough to date, and Holden’s hot. Douchey but hot.”
“He’s not a douche,” I tell her and my eyes land on a pile of papers on the edge of the kitchenette table. On top is his business license paperwork. It’s all filled out except the business name. “He’s different than when he was kid. And it’s not a fling. It’s something…more.”
“Oh.” She sounds more worried than stunned now and that makes me upset. Why can’t anyone just be happy for me?
“Dixie, I need support right now,” I say tersely. “We all do, and he’s the only one giving it to me.”
“Wait a minute. If you’d just come home, we’d be giving you support,” Dixie says angrily. “I want to be there for you. We all do. You’re the one who ran away.”
“I know that. And I don’t know why I couldn’t go back to San Francisco after I dumped Ty,” I say and reach for Holden’s paperwork. “I used to think I was running too, but now I’m beginning to think it was to something, not from something. I needed to be here. I needed to find this new, improved Holden and he needed me.”
“Winnie, I want you to be happy and I would trust that if you think he’s changed his ways, he has,” Dixie replies quickly and her anger has turned to sympathy, which I like even less. “But while we were there, I saw a creepy dude who was totally tweaked out come by his trailer early in the morning. And Holden gave him cash.”
“What?” My heart plummets.
“Yeah. I mean I thought it was totally sketchy but typical Holden,” Dixie explains. “But you’re saying that’s not him anymore so…I just thought you should ask him about that then.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing, but I’ll ask him.” I swallow but my mouth and throat are dry. “What did this guy look like?”
Dixie gives me a description and even though it’s vague, I know it’s that guy Cat and I saw him talking to in the alley the other night. The one Cat claims is the town drug dealer. My heart sinks further until it feels like it’s in the bottom of my stomach.
I walk over to the fridge and grab a bottle of water from it. “Okay. I’ll talk to him about it. In the meantime, start planning your wedding and let me know when you’re going dress shopping. You know I’m not missing that.”
We say good-bye and I hang up. I look around the trailer as I sip the water that for some reason, doesn’t keep my mouth from staying dry. I could snoop right now. I could dig around in his drawers and look for something that proves my fears—and everyone’s insinuations—are valid. But that would be wrong. Easy, but wrong. I could march over to the cottage and demand the truth. That would be easy too, but it would hurt him. I know this. Especially after last night, it would look like I hadn’t made up my mind about him. Like I was still looking for reasons to derail this thing between us, and I’m really not. I don’t want to actively look for reasons anymore. And I didn’t seek this out.
“Fuck, Holden,” I whisper to myself. “Do not let me down.”
I decide I’ll wait until tonight, after he’s coached hockey and I’ve tutored Duke. Maybe casually over dinner. He’s stressed right now with Mike being sick.
Ugh. It’s going to be a long day.
Five hours later, I’m in the same spot, at the dinette in the trailer, sitting across from Duke as he bites his bottom lip and stares at one of the cookies I baked earlier for this purpose. First, I had him cut it into fractions and now I’m giving him fraction sizes and he has to make that size using the smaller pieces. If he gets it right, he can eat it.
“Half…,” he mutters to himself. He grabs to pieces. “Two quarters make a half.”
“Exactly!” I say and he grins. “Eat your fractions.”
He grins and pops a quarter into his mouth as his mother opens the trailer door and peeks in. “Ready to go, Duke?” Bradie asks as he chows down. She looks confused by the cookie consumption.
“I was teaching him fractions using cookies,” I explain. “I find visuals help.”
“Cookies make everything better,” Bradie says with a smile.
I scoot out of the booth after Duke, who is gathering his stuff off the table. He turns to his mom and holds up his homework. “Done. Whole thing! And I, like, understood how Winnie explained it.”
“Good!” Bradie says and there’s definitely relief in her tone. She inhales deeply. “What smells so delicious?”
“I’m cooking dinner. It’s my secret meatloaf recipe,” I say.
