Waiting on the Sidelines

“See you two tomorrow,” she said with a wink as we turned and headed for the parking lot.

We hopped in the Jeep and pulled back out to the main road. I settled my bag and purse down between my feet and adjusted my seatbelt, which was all twisted. Then, the thought struck me. How was I supposed to get to the testing tomorrow? I didn’t have a car. I’m sure Reed wouldn’t mind taking me, but I really hated imposing. I chewed on the inside of my cheek for a bit then turned to face him.

“So, since we’re going to the same place… do you think maybe I could hitch a ride again in the morning?” I said, hating to ask for favors.

“Uh, yeah. I just sort of thought I’d pick you up. You know, to get here in time we’ll need to leave at 5, right?” he said.

“Yeah, I’m good with that,” I groaned a little. We both laughed and then Reed pulled off the road into a nearby shopping center. A Starbucks. How desperately I needed that.

“I’m buying, whatcha want?” he said, hopping out and flipping his glasses up on his head.

“Vanilla frap?” I said. He smiled back with a thumbs up and headed inside.

I pulled the visor down to open the backside mirror and check my face. My hair was a little tangled from the Jeep ride so I tried to brush out some of the knots with my fingers. My nose and cheeks had a pink sunburn on them, nothing bad, but I definitely needed to lotion up good tomorrow. Especially if I was going to be in a pool most of the morning. Reed came out while I was finishing up my untangling. He stuck his arm through the open door across his seat and handed me my frosty cool drink.

“Mmmmmm, thanks,” I said. “I love these. Like a dessert with a little kick.”

After he climbed in and planted his coffee in the middle cup holder, he reached back behind me, the tips of his hair brushing my shoulder as he leaned into the back seat. My breath stopped at the slight touch and I snuck a look at him, so close. He popped back up with a hat in his hand and then handed it to me. I looked at him, puzzled.

“For your head?” he smirked.

“Jack ass, I know that. Why are you giving it to me?” I said, smacking his arm with the back of my hand. I was getting more and more comfortable with our slight, friendly physical contact.

“Your hair was tangled. I saw you working on it. Thought maybe you’d like this for the rest of the ride?” he said as I took the hat from his hand.

“Oh, thanks,” I smiled. I pulled open the back snaps of a dark gray and maroon ASU hat. I smiled a little as I pulled my hair through the back and snapped it into a ponytail. The front was snug over my head and kept my stray hairs in place.

“What’s this, UofA boy with an ASU hat,” I teased.

“Hey, I haven’t made up my mind yet. But don’t tell my dad that,” he winked, and we were on the road again.

We pulled up to my house at about 3 p.m. I hopped out before Reed turned the motor off hoping I could just run inside without him stopping to talk to my dad or get a good look at my house. But he was quicker than I thought. His motor was off and he was next to me walking across the gravel in no time. I heard some slight noises coming from the side carport and we headed over in that direction to see my dad digging for some tools in the small shed by the back door.

“Hey pops, I’m home,” I said as he jumped back, hitting his head on the shed door a little.

Rubbing it, he set his tools down on the shelf and grabbed the dirty towel he left out here to clean his hands off after a little ‘tinkering.’ My dad was pretty handy. He really didn’t have reasons to always be fixing things, but he seemed to search them out anyhow. He had some garden lattice propped up by the wall and was digging out some brackets and paint, probably something my mom had put him up to.

“Hey there, honey. You home already?” he said, slowing his voice a little when he realized I wasn’t alone. “Oh, hey, Reed. Nice to see you, son. What are you up to?”

“Reed gave me a lift,” I said, trying to finish the explanation before my dad went into panic, you-had-a-crash, what-happened-to-the-car mode.

“Are you ok? Did something happen?” he said, squeezing my shoulders and looking into my eyes like he was giving me some sort of concussion test. I grabbed his hands and squeezed them and then kissed his cheek.

“I’m fine, daddy. Car just broke down, that’s all,” I said, filling him with relief.

“Ohhhh, good. Well, guess we should go pick it up. Where’d you leave it,” he said, reaching into his pocket for his keys.

I stopped him. “No, no. It’s good. Buck actually stopped to help me. I was just outside of town. He towed the car to the shop and then sent Mr. QB1 here to save me,” I said, trying to play it off like it was no big deal because I know my dad was going to feel guilty accepting the help and not saving me on his own.