The mood was celebratory. Old men reenacted plays from the game and kept calling for additional dessert for Billy Wayne and Joe John, who sat at the counter gluttonously shoveling slices of pecan pie into their mouths. Paul had wandered off from the girls to join in on the action. “Hit me with another slice, Maybelle!” he called sliding onto a stool as Donny Ray Harper massaged Paul’s neck with one hand and pumped his other fist in the air!
“You can bet your boots nobody makes pecan pie like Dottie Miller,” Donny Ray exhaled
Now that they were as alone as they could be in a crowded room, Misty slid into Hailey’s side of the booth and nudged her friend. “Look around you,” she declared. “Everyone is so happy…y’all won…this a celebration! Why are you sitting there moping?”
“I am not moping,” Hailey insisted.
“No,” Misty agreed, sliding the plate with Hailey’s slice of pie on it toward her and insisting with a look that she eat it, “you’re putting on a fake smile every now and then and trying to act like you’re actually enjoying the company of your former best friends.”
“Misty, don’t be silly,” Hailey sighed.
“You miss him, don’t you?” Misty smiled.
“Yeah,” Hailey shrugged, taking a bite of pie to buy herself some time. “I mean I wish he was here; he played a heck of a game…”
Misty nodded. “He has really gotten a hold of my girl, hasn’t he?”
“Misty, I don’t care what Paul or anyone else tells you,” Hailey said, realizing herself that her tone was much too defensive, “Grant is one of the good guys!”
“Well, you know him a whole heck of a lot better than anybody else around here, so I guess I’ll have to trust you.” Misty reached for her own fork and took a bite of Hailey’s pie to ease the tension. She watched Hailey try to smile for her sake and fail. “What’s gonna happen when we graduate?” Misty had to ask. “You’ve figured all your life to go off to college in Knoxville.”
“I still do,” Hailey gulped.
“Really?” Misty asked, challenging her.
“Of course, why wouldn’t I?” Hailey shoved another bite of pie into her mouth, irritated.
Misty shrugged. “I just sorta figured that since you can’t seem to keep him off your mind in the hour we’ve been sitting here, it might be a little more difficult than you think to head off to colleges a world apart.”
“Trust me,” Hailey snapped, “all I do lately is think about how difficult it will be not to see him everyday.”
“What will you miss the most?” Misty asked, prying. “We have been seriously lacking in our girl talk quota since he bebopped into town and stole my best friend.” Misty rolled her eyes. “He taught me that word at school last week…quota!”
Hailey laughed. “I’ll be sure to tell him you used it in a sentence.”
“My gosh, he’s so annoying,” Misty shook her head. “He’s always defining words like I care.”
“Oh I know,” Hailey chuckled, enjoying another bite of pie. “It’s like… I don’t need you to tell me the origin of a word just because I was misfortunate enough to use it in a sentence.”
Misty giggled. “I told you, Hails…hottest nerd ever!”
Hailey laughed. “Last week, I was sitting there reading Sports Illustrated with, if I’m being honest, heavy emphasis on the illustrated portion, and he was all propped up reading Forbes with an intensity that was,” Hailey looked around to make sure no eyes were on her and lowered her voice, “sexy and intimidating at the same time.”
“I’ve never in my life heard you talk about anyone the way you talk about him,” Misty admitted.
Hailey smiled, a collage of memories filling her mind, snapshots snatched right from her life playing in her head like her own personal highlight film. “I don’t know how to explain how I feel about him,” she sighed, “it’s the way he walks, the way he talks, the way his bottom lip quivers when he tries his darndest not to smile…the way he walks around the house in pajama pants and glasses right before he goes to bed…oh gosh, those glasses…they make me have bad thoughts…like I just want to kiss him all the time. There is nothing about him that I don’t absolutely adore…the smart remarks, the snide comments, the constant bickering, the loving looks, the roll of his eyes…that crooked little half-smile, half-smirk thing he does sometime…his dimples…those brown eyes that can burn a hole right through you…I love all of it… even when I’m as frustrated as I can be with him, I can’t stop caring for him more than I have ever cared about anyone in my life. I would never tell him a word of this, but, Misty…I’m scared to death of him leaving …because…well, because… I’m in love with the guy.”
“You’re in love with him?” Misty gulped.
Hailey smiled. “I think I fell in love with Grant Cohen the moment I saw him.” She paused, “and the scary part is, I think I fall more in love with him everyday.”
“What do you think would happen if you told him?” Misty asked.
Hailey shrugged as Maybelle appeared at their table. “Hailey, can I get you another slice, Sugar?” she asked, filling Misty’s empty tea glass.
“Oh, no thank you,” Hailey smiled.
“Where is that boyfriend of yours?” Maybelle asked as she cleared dishes from their table. “I saw him over yonder at the game; he didn’t want to join us?”
Ex-boyfriend, Hailey thought but didn’t say. “He went home,” she said softly. “He didn’t feel good.”
“Well, bless his heart,” Maybelle declared. “Let me fix him a plate to go, and you can take it to him. How about some pork chops and macaroni and cheese and a big, healthy slice of his granny’s pie? ”
“Okay,” Hailey smiled, “that sounds nice. He loves Maude’s secret macaroni and cheese recipe. Just let me know how much I owe you.”
“Darlin’ your money ain’t no good here after a game like that, and you know it,” Maybelle sang out as she headed for the counter, calling back, “I will throw you together a doggie bag for your fella, and you be sure to tell him that his favorite waitress said to get his rascal self well.”
A few minutes later, a brown paper to-go bag in hand, Hailey excused herself from the booth and slipped out the front door of the diner, only the little jingle of the bell commenting on her exit.
The next morning when Hailey got up for her jog, she half-expected Grant to show up in the carport, ready to go, even if they never spoke a single word on their run. When he didn’t show up, she left without him, running the course they had plotted together. The morning breeze stung her face, and she could see her breath in the air in front of her, but it wasn’t until she returned home after her morning workout and wiped the tears from her cold cheeks that she realized she had been crying as she ran.
“Get a grip, Hailey,” she told herself as she walked inside.
Jessica was standing in the kitchen, dressed and ready for school, her long chestnut hair sleek and glistening as she brushed it.
“Eww…don’t brush your hair in the kitchen, please,” Hailey grumbled as she flung a cabinet open and, out of habit, grabbed two packages of Pop-Tarts. “That is so gross.”
Jessica ignored her. “Daddy’s got Rusty Cobb working on the car, so Em and I need to catch a ride to school with you.”
