Summer In Iron Springs (24 page)

             
“So could I, believe me.” Phoebe looked at her red, splotchy face in the mirror. “So, that’s Sarah? The Sarah Billy used to date?”

             
Jenna nodded. “Yep, that’s her.”

             
“Tell me the truth, Jenna. Did he used to date her? Or is he
currently
dating her?”

             
“As far as I know they broke up. But, that little—whatever the heck that was—sure didn’t seem like the behavior of a couple who are no longer together.”

“It sure didn’t,” Phoebe said, wiping her nose again.
“I’m not going back out there.”

             
“Okay. I’ll take care of it. You wait here.”

             
Phoebe nodded and hoisted herself onto the granite countertop.

“I’l
l knock when I get back.” When Jenna opened the door to leave, Billy was standing there.

“I need to talk to Phoebe,” he said. He looked Phoebe in the eyes and added, “Alone.”

Jenna turned to look at Phoebe. She raised her eyebrows. “Do you want me to leave you two alone?”

“No,” Phoebe said, refusing to make eye contact with Billy. “I want to go home.”

“Feebs, at least let me explain. I know that looked bad but—

“It looked bad because it was bad Billy. Now, leave me alone.” Phoebe hurried past Billy. She glanced at Jenna. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

“Okay. I’m just going to grab Dave’s keys.”

Twenty

Phoebe dumped her untouched lunch in the trash. “I’m going back to work,” she said to no one in particular as she plodded away from the picnic table. The blazing heat, combined with the fact that she hadn’t slept well for two nights—a result of the Sarah episode—put her in a terrible mood.

“Hang on, little lady,
” Norm called out. He set his plate down and hurried to catch up with her.

“I need you and Billy to thin all those trees along the fence.” He pointed to the orchard’s southernmost boundary. “You can take my truck and come back to get us at two-thirty.”

Phoebe let out a groan. She had been able to avoid Billy for two days. He’d tried to talk to her several times. He’d apologized over and over but Phoebe was too angry to listen to anything he had to say. What could he say anyway? He could tell her that he and Sarah had been gossiping about her and her father. He could say that the two of them had a good long laugh at her expense. She didn’t want to hear anything Billy had to say.

“Are you sure?” She pointed to the area where she had been pruning all morning. “I’m almost done with my section. Shouldn’t I finish that first?”

Norm shook his head. “Stephen’s gonna do that. We’re way behind on thinning out those trees. I gotta get them done this week. Billy will show you what to do.”

Great. Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse.
After trudging her way to the truck, she leaned against the passenger door and waited for Billy to finish his lunch.

“Feebs, we need to talk
,” Billy said as soon as they were both seated in the truck. With one arm resting on the steering wheel and the other draped over the backrest, he turned to face her.

             
“No, we don’t. We need to get to work. Now, are you driving us there, or should I walk?”

             
“Listen, what happened at the restaurant, it wasn’t what it looked like. When I whispered in Sarah’s ear, I was just—

             
“I know what you were doing, Billy. Now, if you aren’t going to drive me to the work site, I’ll walk. She reached for the door handle and Billy blew out a long breath and put the truck in gear.

***

“All you do . . .” Billy paused while he positioned the ladder. “. . . Just get rid of any diseased, wrinkled or misshapen fruit.” He reached up and removed a shriveled up apple. “Anything that looks like this has to go. Just toss them in there and we’ll compost them.” He pointed to the large blue tub that held rotting fruit. “Got it?”

“Yep.” On a normal day, Phoebe would have answered Billy with a sarcastic remark. Something like,
I don’t know—it sounds a lot like rocket science. But I’ll do my best
.
But, this was not a normal day. There would be no banter today.

Without another word, Phoebe dutifully climbed the ladder and began inspecting the tree for apples that needed to be removed. She didn’t glance down
, but she sensed Billy watching her.

For the rest of the day, Phoebe was on auto pilot.
Remove the fruit, throw it in the bin. Remove the fruit, throw it in the bin.
Her feelings were blanketed in a thick cloud of sadness.

After work, Phoebe trudged up the stairs to her bedroom. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and slip into a state of slumber where she didn’t have to feel anything, but she didn’t. Instead, she took a shower, put on some clean clothes and went with Jenna to the school as planned. She couldn’t afford to lose the precious hours that were allocated for finding the auction record.

“Do you mind if we stop at Hildi’s real quick?” Jenna asked, turning onto Park Street. “Alyssa asked me to pick that up from the post office and bring it to her.” Jenna motioned toward a box sitting on the back seat.

“No, that’s fine,” Phoebe said. She was tired and frustrated. All she wanted to do was find the record, prove her father’s innocence and get out of Iron Springs. The sooner she could get away from Billy, the better. She leaned her head against the passenger side window and closed her eyes.

When they got to Hildi’s, Phoebe looked gloomily around the boutique while Jenna went into a back room with the box. She had just pulled a light blue summer dress from a rack and was holding it up in front of herself before a full length mirror when she heard a voice that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

             
“Well, hello again.” The voice—condescending, stuck-up, self-important—came from Sarah.

             
“So nice to see you again.” Sarah gave her signature fake smile. “Still exiled to our little town, huh?”

             
“Yep, sure am. But not for long, thank goodness.” Phoebe said, refusing to meet Sarah’s eyes.

             
“I’m surprised you haven’t run off the way your father did. My dad told me all about how he left town in a hurry in order to avoid going to prison.”

             
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Phoebe said. “Obviously you need to do a better job of checking your sources.” She replaced the dress on the rack and turned to face Sarah.

             
Sarah gave a haughty chuckle. “Oh, I don’t think so—

             
“I just love your new nose, Sarah,” Jenna interrupted, returning from the back room and standing protectively beside Phoebe. “Now if you could just buy yourself a life, you’d be all set.” She folded her arms over her chest and smiled. Then when Sarah didn’t respond, Jenna added, “I think they sell them at the Purple Unicorn. Isn’t that where the witches hang out?”

             
Sarah’s jaw dropped, and her eyes grew wide. She stammered a moment before pointing her nose in the air, turning on her heel and strutting away.

Jenna took Phoebe’s arm and, while both girls laughed
openly, headed toward the exit. “I cannot believe you just said that!” Phoebe said between bouts of laughter. She clapped her hands. “Bravo, bravo,” she said while Jenna curtsied.

             
“She’s just jealous of you; you know that, don’t you?” Jenna said when they were both seated in the car.

             
“Why? How could a girl like Sarah with her perfect body and her perfect smile and her perfectly plastic nose be jealous of me?”

             
“Because you’re pretty, and nice, and Billy loves you. But mostly because you’re real, and anyone who spends thirty seconds around you knows it. Sarah is as fake as they come.”

             
Phoebe pulled on her seatbelt. “How can you say Billy loves me after the way he acted?”

             
Jenna pulled onto the main road and headed toward Iron Springs High. “Because he does. I know what happened makes him look like a complete jerk—and believe me, I’m mad at him too. But, I know Billy and I really think there has to be an explanation for what he did.”

             
Phoebe stared out the window. Jenna was her friend and she meant well but Phoebe had made up her mind. She was through with Billy. Whatever they had—and she wasn’t even sure what it was—was over.

***

As the two girls returned to the drudgery of sorting through piles of paper, Phoebe thought about Billy. Had he been talking—worse yet joking—with Sarah about her? She put a hand to her chest to try and stop the pain in her heart. What did he whisper in her ear that caused her to laugh hysterically? Was it about Phoebe’s arrest? Was it about her father?”

             
“Hey Phoebe, look at this.” Phoebe’s racing thoughts came to an abrupt end. Had Jenna found the record? Finally, some good news
.
She stood up just as Jenna approached her holding a cast picture.

“It’s from last year’s produ
ction of Beauty and the Beast.” Jenna beamed with pride. That’s me. I was Belle.”

Phoebe glanced at the picture and
her eyes zeroed in on Jenna. “I can’t believe how much you look like her.” Trying to disguise her disappointment, Phoebe forced a smile. “You must be pretty good to be cast as the lead.” It was all Phoebe could do to be supportive. She wanted to be the kind of friend Jenna had been to her, but it was hard to be that way when her heart was broken.

             
Another hour passed in silence before Jenna jumped up again. “Look what I found! It’s an auction record!” Jenna hurried toward Phoebe waving the document in the air.

“Let me see.” For the first time in what seemed like forever, Phoebe felt like there might actually be a light at the end of the tunnel. She glanced at the date on the record. “That’s from two years ago.” Her optimism vanished. “We need the record from three years ago.”

“I know that.” Jenna pointed to the words
Silent Auction Donation
at the top of the page. “But this shows she saved auction records, don’t you see?” She held the document up in front of Phoebe’s face as though doing so would somehow prove her point. “It means it’s only a matter of time before we find the one we need.”

Phoebe nodded. She realized what the record meant
, and she wanted to be happy, but she couldn’t. “That’s great.”

By ten o’clock, when rehearsals were over and the girls had to leave the building, they still hadn’t found the record.

Phoebe watched as Jenna crammed everything that still needed to be gone through into two large boxes and used her foot to scoot them out of Ms. Cox’s office.

“What are you doing with those?”

“I’m taking one home and so are you.” Jenna put her hands on her hips and smiled. We can get more done in less time this way.”

“Shouldn’t we ask Ms. Cox before we take this stuff?” Phoebe glanced from Ms. Cox’s newly organized office to the two bulging boxes.

“Already did. She said it was fine.”

***

Phoebe tried balancing the box on her hip while reaching for her bedroom’s doorknob. When that didn’t work, she sighed and let the box fall to the floor. She let out a yawn and lazily pushed the door open. Her plan was to fall into bed and sleep for as long as her body would allow. But as soon as she flicked the light on, the first thing she noticed was a beautifully wrapped package sitting on her bed.

“Billy.” She whispered his name aloud.

She scooted the box from Ms. Cox’s office just inside her room before closing the door. Then, she crossed her room to the spot, beside her bed, where the gift was placed. She leaned forward and removed the envelope that was taped to the box. Carefully, she put a fingernail beneath the flap and pried it open. She pulled out the handwritten note and read it.

Phoebe, I’m still planning on our hike tomorrow. I’ll be at the trailhead at seven. If you’re not there by seven thirty, I’m coming to get you. Don’t think I won’t drag you out of bed and carry you over my shoulder if I have to. I know you’re upset, and you have every right to be. But we have to talk about this.
I promise I can explain everything. I’ll meet you at the trailhead and we’ll work this out then.

Billy

What does he mean he’ll drag me out of bed? And what is there to explain?

She read the note again. Knowing Billy, she was certain he would come to the house if she wasn’t at the trailhead. But he wouldn’t drag her out of bed. Would he?

She tossed the note to the side and carefully removed the purple wrapping from the box. She lifted the lid and peered inside. It held a blank canvas with a handwritten note attached to it. Phoebe read the words aloud,

Please use this to paint something amazing. Love, Billy.

As she studied the canvas, she
tried to picture the scene that would cover it. What would it be? Whatever it was, she would use her mother’s brushes and that alone was enough to make her smile, at least until she thought about the note, and the hike, and whether or not she should go. Things between her and Billy were over. Weren’t they? If that were true, why was her heart so at odds with her decision?

“I’m not going. End of story.” She spoke the words aloud before crawling into bed for a long sleepless night.

***

Phoebe was up by six in the morning and dressed in a pair of faded denim jeans, a white v-neck t-shirt, and leather hiking boots. After brushing the tangles out of her hair, she pulled it into a ponytail and headed downstairs.

Heading downstairs, she noticed that the house was full of the good, warm aroma of breakfast. Phoebe inhaled deeply and made her way to the kitchen. “What smells so good?”

Anna
, who was standing in front of the stove, glanced over her shoulder and smiled. She tapped the wooden spoon she was holding on the side of the frying pan and set it on the counter. Then, after wiping her hands on her apron, she gave Phoebe a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “It’s either the home fried potatoes or the breakfast casserole that’s in the oven.” Anna opened the oven door and inspected the casserole. “It’ll be ready in about five minutes. Would you help me set the table?”