“It’s right under our noses,” she said to Seth. “Something is happening to that girl—something medical or abusive or something. I can smell it.”
Seth agreed. “Keep watch. Don’t drive her further away with too many questions. You can call Child Welfare if you want to,” Seth said. “But in my conversation with Robbie, I didn’t hear anything that made me suspect anyone in her family would hurt her. Robbie’s gone positively sweet—he’s not the Robbie I fought with for years growing up.”
“Sassy hasn’t gone sweet,” Iris said. “But she seems to be very proud of Rachel and Rachel is a nice girl. She’s protecting someone. Uncle? Aunt?”
“Where’d you leave it when you talked to her?”
“On a positive note, I hope,” Iris said. “I want her to know I’m not there to make her life difficult. I’m there to help. I made sure she had my cell phone number.”
* * *
The Thunder Point football team made the state play-offs, but they didn’t make it far. They were a ranked favorite and lost the second game. A pall fell over the town even though a couple of players had such a good season they had great scholarship potential.
Iris returned to school after her flu for the busy season of prep courses for the SAT and then the tests. Students who signed up were allowed a full day for the prep and a full day for the test. There would be another chance after Christmas and again in June. Most juniors liked to test in the spring of their junior year and the fall of their senior year. She had been busy with this since school started and she was back to bringing work home.
And Seth had started showing up with either ice cream or maybe a bottle of wine. Iris stopped him from bringing his mother’s dinner every night, but she couldn’t seem to get rid of him. It was even harder to make him go away since she enjoyed every second he was around.
After a couple of very busy weeks, she stopped by the flower shop on a Friday afternoon to see Grace. “I remember this as the best time of year, but my mother thought of it as the worst time,” Iris said. “Business was kind of down. But so was work and she didn’t need me in here as much.”
“There’s plenty to do right up to the night before Thanksgiving, then there’s nothing until about the second week in December. It would be a good time to take a break if I took breaks,” Grace said.
“Don’t you ever think of going back to Portland to visit friends?” Iris asked.
“Oh, there’s a standing invitation, but I’m very cozy here.”
“Would you like to spend Thanksgiving with me?” Iris asked. “Like we did last year?”
“Well, I might have plans. I’m still mulling it over. Troy is going skiing up in the Mount Hood area. He said I’m welcome to join him, though I don’t have any gear or the right clothes. You could come, too. We could share a room.”
“So, you’re going?” Iris asked.
“I didn’t say yes yet. I could rent skis and boots, but I’d have to ski in jeans.”
“I have a bib and jacket you could borrow,” Iris said. “I have extra gloves and mittens and hats.”
“But then you couldn’t go! I don’t want you to be alone! I’d rather have Thanksgiving with you than think of you being alone.”
“This is a nice conundrum. Seth invited me to his mother’s—I guess his brothers are going to be there and it will be a big family gathering. The invitation is extended to you and Troy, too. But I’m having a real problem with this. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Why not? You’ve been close to the Sileskis your whole life, even through all that time that you and Seth were on the outs. You love Gwen! She’s like a second mother to you.”
“I do love Gwen,” Iris said. “Ever since I had the flu, Seth has been hanging around his mother’s and coming over almost every night. I don’t think he does more than visit his town house in Bandon and I keep trying to put a stop to it, but he keeps showing up.”
Grace leaned on her worktable. She smiled. “Want to come upstairs for dinner? I have chili in the Crock-Pot.”
“Aw, I don’t know....”
“I have wine, Iris. And it would keep you away from your house for a little while.”
Iris thought about that for three seconds. “Yes,” she said. “That’s right. Okay.”
“And you can tell me why you want to get rid of a guy whose company you enjoy so much.”
Grace locked the shop and they went up to Grace’s apartment. When a glass of wine was in Iris’s hand, it was only too natural to tell her closest friend about her dilemma.
“I wish he’d spend more time with his family, with his other friends, with his deputies. It’s nice to see him and, I admit, it’s great to be on good terms again. But he’s been at my back door almost every day for weeks now. It was understandable when he was playing nursemaid to my flu, but I’m all better. I’m not used to being with someone so much.”
“Need more space, Iris?” Grace asked.
“I’m starting to get used to him,” she said. “That’s not a good thing. He doesn’t understand—I have feelings for him. I probably always will. There’s nothing I can do about it. Fighting with him didn’t work so I’m just going to have to accept it. But if he hangs around every day then on that day he moves on, I’m going to feel hurt. Grace, I don’t want to feel sad over him. Friends need to keep it friendly.”
Just as she said that, her cell phone rang. It was Seth.
“Hello?”
“Hi. Are you going to be home tonight?”
“A little later. I’m having dinner with Grace.”
“Good. Then I’ll go home, shower, change out of my uniform and see you in a couple of hours.”
Iris paused for a moment. “Okay. See you then.”
When she disconnected she looked at Grace. “I guess I’m going to have to try to explain to Seth, huh?”
“I can’t wait to hear this explanation.”
“What am I going to say?” Iris complained.
Grace just sighed and dished up two bowls of chili. She put a box of crackers and a small bowl of shredded cheddar on the little table. Then she sat down. “Iris, of all the people I’ve ever known, you not only have the biggest aversion to lies, you have always known how to be direct with the truth and still gentle and diplomatic. You’re the only person I know who can tell a fifteen-year-old girl that the way she’s dressing isn’t doing her any favors and make her feel like she’s just been given a compliment and motivate her to cover her body more appropriately. This is what you do, Iris. You speak the truth kindly, unreservedly, with complete candor. It’s your job and you’ve mastered it.”
“I don’t feel as confident as you make me sound.”
“You love Seth. You don’t want to be exploited and disappointed. You need boundaries—friends are friends, not romantic partners, and when the line is blurred people get hurt and getting hurt is not a good agenda. Come on, Iris,” Grace said. “It’s only fair, what you want to say.”
“It’s only fair,” she agreed. “What if he doesn’t understand?”
“Iris, he doesn’t have to understand, he just has to comply. Tell him you want a boyfriend, not a boy who’s a friend. Tell him whatever you told Troy to get him to back off.”
“You know about that?” she asked Grace.
“I don’t know what I know. I mentioned that I thought Troy was still looking for a way to go out with you and he said that you put him straight, that you were just friends and he shouldn’t presume any more. So? I don’t know anything.”
“I did do that. And you know why this is harder? Because I really don’t love Troy. I mean, I like him a lot and I wish I could love him because he’s so great. But I don’t. With Seth it’s all confused.”
“Well, give it to him straight, the way you do so well. And don’t back down.”
* * *
The night was cold, but Iris didn’t care—she walked from Grace’s apartment. Even though her car was in her carport, the house was dark and it was obvious she wasn’t home. Yet Seth was parked right behind her car, sitting in his SUV, waiting. She walked right up to his window and tapped.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Waiting for you to get home,” he said.
“Why aren’t you at your mother’s house?”
“It would have been awkward,” he said. “Me sitting there expectantly, maybe peeking out the window to see if the light’s on yet, maybe texting you a lot. I didn’t really want to sit with my mother in front of the TV. I just wanted to see you.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Same reason I come to see you whenever I want to, because you’re more fun than my mother. And I brought wine.”
“I’ve had two glasses of wine,” she said.
“Good thing you don’t have to drive anywhere.” He let himself out of the car. “There could be a special on crafts on the shopping channel or something and that would have been torture. My mother enjoys explaining what we’re watching on TV. I was happier waiting in the car.”
“Seth, what are you doing coming over here every day?”
“Being cheerful, helpful and friendly,” he said.
“Oh, brother.” She shook her head. “Come in. Let’s get you a glass of wine.”
“Do you have a beer?”
“Why would you bring a bottle of wine if you want a beer?”
“Because you’ll want a glass of wine, maybe, and I’m accommodating.”
“What you are is confusing. Yes, I have beer. And you can have it while we have a serious talk.”
“Another one of those?”
“Just listen, then,” she said. She unlocked the house, opened the door and let him in. “Kitchen table,” she instructed. She gave him a beer and sat down at the table. Looking at him. He was smiling patiently. She loved his soft brown hair. He took a drink from his beer bottle. “Well?”
“Are you going to listen to me?”
“Of course, Iris. I always do.”
“All right, here’s the thing. It’s nice to be friendly again. I’m glad we sorted through our more serious issues and can be on good terms. We have a really complicated history, you and me. When I stop to think about it, the odds were against us patching things up. So this is good—we patched things up. But now we have to have some boundaries.”
“Whatever you say, Iris,” he said, tilting the bottle against his lips again.
“You can’t come over every night,” she said.
“Why not? You busy?”
“Most nights I bring work home.”
“I know. And most nights I work kind of late. Or I run or work out. But I’ll do what you want. We could have dinner before you do schoolwork or I could come over a little later. But we always have a lot to talk about, we have a good time.”
“Seth,” she said, leaning toward him, elbows on the table. “I can’t have this. I can’t have you here every day, being my buddy, my pal, getting me so used to having you around, relying on your company. Because you’re going to come over one night and tell me you met a great woman. And you’ll want me to meet her. You’ll want me to get a date so we can go out together. You’ll want to talk about her all the time and you’ll expect me to be so happy for you, that you found the right woman. And I’ll be alone again, just like before. I’ll be sitting in front of the home shopping network, reading through reports from school and you’ll be making love somewhere with the perfect woman. Don’t you get it, Seth?”
“I get it, but that’s not going to happen. I’m not a high school boy anymore.”
“Oh, underneath it all, you’re still that guy. But I’m not the girl you could count on to be a buddy anymore. See, I’d be disappointed. I’d feel kind of abandoned. I don’t need any more friends, Seth. I mean, in the friend department, I have Troy.”
“Troy seems nice. I guess that didn’t take?”
“He’s a friend! That means we see each other at work and maybe an evening a week, sometimes with other teachers. I don’t want it to be any more serious with Troy because I just don’t. It just isn’t there. I feel about Troy kind of the way you feel about me—like I love him madly except not in the right ways.”
“You think that’s how I feel? And you don’t want it to be any more serious with me?” he asked.
“I just don’t see that happening. And don’t misunderstand. I must admit I appreciate that you wanted to straighten out our situation, that you wanted to make amends and be friends again, friends like we used to be. We can do that, Seth. But you have to stop coming around all the time. I still have feelings for you. If you keep paying so much attention to me, I’m going to be broken. Oh, damn, that was hard to say. Don’t make me say that again.”
But Seth wasn’t listening. “You have feelings for me? What kind of feelings?”
“Right now I have feelings like I’d love to shove you in a hole! Don’t you hear what I’m saying? I had a big crush on you, all right? And you let me down. I know it was a long time ago and I know you’re sorry and I accept your apology, but all that being said I still don’t feel like going through it again. So we can be friends, all right? But not every damn day—it sets me up for a major letdown. And I want to be free! I’ll never find the right guy if you keep slogging up my brain like you do.”
“I do?”
“You do! You are not boyfriend material. You are pal qualified and that’s about all.”
He took another swallow of his beer. “That’s perfectly understandable, Iris,” he said. “I’ll be more careful about that.” He stood. “Thanks for the beer.” And then he let himself out the back door.
She heard his car start.
“That went well,” she said to no one. “Thanks for the advice, Grace!”
* * *
Seth drove about four blocks to the alley behind the flower shop. He left his car running while he ran up the stairs and pounded on Grace’s door. She opened it cautiously; she was in her pajamas.
“I need flowers,” he said.
“What kind of flowers?”
“It doesn’t matter, but I need some right this minute. They’re for Iris.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
“Come on, could we hurry up here?”
“Iris likes calla lilies. I might have some in the cooler....”
“Today, Grace?”
“Let me get my keys.”
She locked her back door, ran down the stairs and let herself into the shop. It took her about five minutes to gather the flowers, put them in a vase, tie a ribbon around it and walk into the alley to give them to Seth.
“What do I owe you?” he asked, reaching for his pocket.
“I’ll run you a tab. I’m not opening the register tonight. But it’s going to be expensive.”
“I’ll stop by tomorrow or Monday and settle up.”
“Sure,” she said. “I hope she likes ’em.”
I hope she likes me, Seth thought. He drove back to Iris’s house, backed into her driveway and hurried to her front door. She was used to him coming to the back door, but he rang the bell and knocked.
Iris opened the door. She held his beer in one hand and a tissue in the other. “What the—”
He pushed his way in, sliding an arm around her waist, holding the flowers in the other hand. He leaned his forehead against hers. “I’m back,” he said. “I don’t want to be a pal. I want to be more. Way more.”
“You better not be lying,” she said with a sniff.
He kissed her. It was clumsy at first. She backed away a little. Then she moved forward and let him cover her lips with his. He fel
t the initial resistance and then the submission. He moved his mouth over hers for a moment and then, against her lips, he whispered, “You’re going to let me in, trust me, give me a chance and eventually you’re going to love me as much as I love you.”
“You...? Love...?”
“I do, Iris. I’ve always loved you but I didn’t know what love was. I think I’ve got it now.” He reached behind him to set the flowers on the table just inside the front door, then wrapped both his arms around her waist. “I wasn’t fooling around, I was just giving you time to get used to me again. I’ve missed you so much. I think we’re right together.”
Her eyes teared up. “Seth, why didn’t you act like it?”
“I tried to let you know without getting clocked,” he said. “I’m coming over every day and not to be your buddy. You have to give me a chance.”
“Oh, God,” she said, putting both arms around his neck to hold him closer. She promptly poured half a cold beer down his back.
“Ah!” he said, shouting and arching.
“Oh, God!” she said, righting the bottle in her hand. She made to pull away but he pulled her right back.
“Iris, how long are you going to continue to torture me?” he asked her. “Can we put down all the weapons and just make out for a while?”
“I suppose, but shouldn’t we get you out of that wet shirt?”
He smiled, lifted one eyebrow, reached for the vase of calla lilies and poured the water down the front of her shirt. She gasped, arched away from him, then started to laugh. She emptied the rest of the beer on the front of his shirt while her lips were pressed against his. He poured a little more water from the vase down her back.
And then the laughing stopped and the kissing grew more intense. Hotter. And deeper and wetter.
“Just take me to bed, Iris,” he whispered. “And I’ll never ask for another thing.”
Fourteen
It was like old times and yet completely new. It was fun and games and then it was desperately serious, Iris thought. The first thing Seth did was take the beer bottle from her hand. “Are you finished with this?”