Shoe Strings

early.”
    Kerri Ann plunked the plates on the bar.   “I…Thursday’s trivia night.”
    “Can’t Frank or one of your waitresses handle trivia night?”
Lita asked.   She’d happily run
trivia night or drive them to Asheville if that’s what it took.
      “Well, I guess
so.”   She looked at Bryce and
blushed.   “Bryce, you don’t have to
do this.   I’m sure I’ll find some
other occasion to wear the dress.   It’s not a big deal.”
    “I’d like to take you out, Kerri Ann.”   Bryce stepped forward and placed a hand
on the bar inches from hers.   His
sly smile and blue eyes shone with a surge of confidence.   Kerri Ann was toast.   “You deserve some time off and I’d be
obliged if you’d spend it with me.”
    Well, he recovered beautifully, Lita thought with a smile.   “Good, it’s settled then.   Bryce, why don’t you pick up Kerri Ann
at what, say five-thirty?”   Kerri
Ann shot an arrow in Lita’s direction that she promptly ignored.   “Perfect.   I’ll leave you two to discuss the
details.”   She threw some money on
the bar.   “Thanks for today, Kerri
Ann.   I had a ball.”

 

 
    Chapter 9
    Jesse had waited long enough.   It had been two days and what seemed
like countless hours since he’d seen Angelita and shared the most pleasant
evening in recent memory.   Maybe
even in all his life, if he really thought about it.   And he’d thought about it
constantly.   With every wave he
crested as the river churned beneath him, every hour he worked on the shop, he
longed to hear her deep-throated laugh, see her dark curls wet and glistening
in the morning sun.  
    Damn, he was a goner.   How had someone he barely knew gotten under his skin so quickly and so
completely?   It killed him to hold
back and not rush to her place under the guise of replacing her spare.   It was a valid excuse and, considering
the way they parted after dinner, she had to know he wanted her.   What she didn’t know was how much he
wanted her or how much the need to see her had kept him from bulldozing ahead
as he’d always done before when he set his sights on something he wanted.
    Her car wasn’t in the drive when he pulled up, but Cal’s
was.   Jesse sat in the Scout and
thought about finding the old man and helping him out with a few things around
the property while he waited for Angelita to come back, but that wasn’t exactly
normal behavior for him since he’d come back into town.   He was afraid Cal would see right
through his motivations and try to talk him out of sniffing around Angelita.   He couldn’t be talked out of pursuing
her and he didn’t have a clue how to explain to his father something he
couldn’t even explain to himself.  
    “You going to sit there all day or get out and do whatever
it is you came by to do?”   It was
Cal, in muddy jeans and one of the faded flannel shirts that were a staple of
his attire.   No wonder Jesse had
little fashion sense.  
    “What are you working on?”   Jesse hopped out of the Scout and
followed Cal toward the storage shed.   Their steps aligned as they reached the footbridge.  
    “Just finishing up the culvert and getting some of the mold
off the rocks under the bridge.”   He
opened the double doors and flipped the switch to the light that hung twenty
feet above their heads.   “What’d you
come by for?”
    “I fixed Angelita’s spare and thought if she were around,
I’d put it back on her car.”   He
absently picked up a wrench on Cal’s workbench.   He wished for something to do around the
cabins to get his mind off Angelita.   “Any idea where she is?”
    “No.   Her car was
gone when I got up this morning.   Could have run into town for something or gone for a hike.”
    Jesse scratched his day old-beard and wondered if he should
wait or come back later.   He didn’t
know why he’d expected her to be waiting patiently for him to show up for the
tire, but he wasn’t comfortable with the fact that she’d gone somewhere without
a word to anyone.   What if she got
lost on a hike?   It didn’t seem
likely that she’d have the best sense of direction on the wooded trails
surrounding Sequoyah Falls.   Maybe
she’d gone into Asheville to do some shopping, her sport of choice, and decided
to get an early start.   “She say
anything to you about how much longer she plans to be in town?”
    “Humm?” Cal had his head nearly buried in the old cigar can
he used for spare screws