Waiting on the Sidelines (13 page)

I dialed Mike’s number and held my breath as I counted the rings. When it went to his voicemail I hung up and repeated. Each time I called, I got his voicemail. I finally left one begging him to call me as soon as he could and pleading with him to rescue me.

I stared at my watch waiting. I would give it until 10:40 before I called the pool number and pathetically explained my situation.
Always, it’s always this stupid car!

I was entranced by the second hand and didn’t notice the giant, black Chevy truck that had pulled in front of me. I looked up only when I heard the crunch of boots on the roadway. My heart jumped and bile hit the back of my throat from panic at first, but when my eyes finally focused I realized who it was. Buck Johnson was walking my way, a toothpick hanging out of the side of his mouth and the world’s biggest coffee cup loading down one hand.

“Hey, sugar. I thought that was you! Come help me pop this baby up so we can see what’s doin’,” he said, the words melting from him with charm.

“Oh my god, I’m so glad you drove by,” I fumbled my way out of the car and grabbed the towel. I lifted the hood and watched as Buck stared at it, chewed on his toothpick and then stared some more. He lifted a few things and moved some pieces that I, frankly, didn’t know could move.

“Smells pretty bad, don’t she,” he said, taking the hood from me. “I don’t know for certain, but it looks like you’ve got a blown alternator. Probably a whole host of other things, too. I’m shocked this puppy’s still runnin’.”

I must have looked like I was about to cry because he immediately went into rescue mode. “Where you headed? I can take you home, but I’ve got a meeting I have to get to in Tucson shortly.”

“I have an interview in Chandler,” I said. “It’s just a summer job. It’s… it’s ok. I can reschedule, I hope.” I threw the last part in unconsciously.

“Nonsense,” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket and holding up a hand telling me to just wait a minute.

I just stared as he paced through the desert brush a bit while his phone rang someone on the other end. “Hey, you bozo. Are you still sleeping?” he laughed. “Shouldn’t you be at the gym?... Yeah, well, I need you do to something for me.”

He looked up at me and gave me his famous wink and half grin. “You know that girly friend of yours? The one that has great taste in cars? … yeah, Nolan. Well, she’s out here on highway 89 stuck in the middle of nowhere.”

I waited while he listened to the other part of the conversation. “Well of course I would take her home, rocket scientist, but she’s got an interview in Chandler and I can’t postpone the Tucson thing…. Well alright then. I’ll tell her.”

He hung up and immediately started dialing. I was trying to figure out what was going on, when he started up his next call. “Yeah, buzzard, it’s me. I need you to send one of the sleds out here to 89, ‘bout 20 miles out. Got a friend with a bum Olds we need to take into the shop…. Nah, I’ll leave the keys. Thanks!”

He was wiping his hands on the towel and closing up my hood and I just couldn’t take the waiting any more.

“So, what was that all about?” I sounded sheepish, and desperate.

“Oh, ha! Sorry,” he laughed. “Reed will be here in about 20 minutes. If you can call that appointment of yours and tell them you’ll only be a few minutes late that should do it. I’ll have my guys pull it in. Don’t worry about having to get it, I’ll get one of them to bring it back up from Tucson.”

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!” I said, reaching for his hand and shaking it over and over and over. He stopped me and put an arm around me, trying to calm me down with his giant, warm hug.

“Sugar, really, stop your worrying,” he said. “You’re good to my son. That’s enough for me to know you’re good people.”

I dialed the pool while Buck took my keys and readied the car for his crew. I was able to buy myself another 20 minutes or so and was relieved until I was hit with an instant wave of panic. “Buck, I can’t pay for this!” I knew it sounded stupid and ungrateful, but I really couldn’t. My dad would kill me if I came home with a bill for thousands of dollars in car repairs.

“Girl, you worry too much. I said don’t worry about it,” he said, patting me on the back.

“Oh, I don’t know. That’s really nice, I don’t think I can accept that…”

Buck interrupted me. “Nolan, do you know how much money I’m worth?”

I was a bit dumbfounded. I just shook my head no.

“Well, let’s just say that I could spend an entire year picking up stranded motorists and fixing their car for free and it wouldn’t even make a dent in my bottom line,” he grinned and nodded for me to understand.

“Oh,” I said, shrugging.

“OK then, get your stuff ready, Reed should be here any minute,” he said, climbing back into his truck. “You don’t be a stranger this summer, now, you hear?”

“Yes, sir,” I said, saluting him.

I waited only a few minutes before I saw Reed’s Jeep coming closer in my rear view mirror. I hopped out with my purse and small duffle bag of stuff and put a thumb out to the side, pretending to hitchhike. He cruised up to the side of the road slowly and rolled his window down to let out a dragged out whistle. I blushed and laughed a little.

“Where you headed, hot stuff,” he said, pulling his sunglasses down to the tip of his nose. Even feigning to be a backwoods pervert he was still the cutest boy I’d ever seen.

I opened his passenger door and slid in the seat.

“Thanks for coming to get me; I’m so sorry your dad woke you up,” I said, looking him over. His hair was disheveled and twisted in all directions. He had a torn T-shirt on and long basketball shorts and Nike flip flops.

“Nah, no worries. I don’t need to sleep my day away. He’s right,” he said, flipping his sunglasses back on his face. “You wanna wait for the tow to get here for your car?”

“Ohhhh nooo. Trust me, no one is ever going to steal that car. Ever,” I said wryly.

Reed nodded and pulled back on to the road. He flipped his stereo channels a few times settling on some rap song I didn’t recognize. We finished our climb through the mountains and I could see the cityscape off in the distance. I was struggling to find something to say while we rode most of the way in silence. At least a dozen times I opened my mouth and closed it again, staring back out my window. While Reed and I were gelling, we hadn’t really spent much time alone. Truly, we have never been alone for long. And the anxiety of this situation was setting in and my stomach felt like it might soon flip out my throat and land in my lap.

“So, summer job, huh?” he said, looking at me for a second or two. His words startled me I was so lost in my own neurotic head.

“Oh, uh… yeah,” I nodded. Silence was starting to settle in again. I had to fill it.
Talk, Nolan. Talk.
“I just want some extra cash, you know? I want to be a little more independent. Buy my own gas, maybe get a phone that isn’t some off brand that no one’s ever heard of,” I joked.

“That’s cool,” Reed said. I looked over and noticed his forehead pinching together some under his glasses, almost like he’s thinking.

“I guess it’s hard for you to work during the summer even, huh? I mean, not that you have to… but you totally could, if you wanted. I mean… I’m sorry, I’m rambling,” I was doing that thing again where I stop making sense.

Reed just laughed. Finally, he responded. “Actually, a job might be nice. Something flexible. I still have a lot of summer drills and workouts. And coach wants me watching tape a lot this summer. Things are really going to get intense. And I’m just a junior. My senior year is going to be ridiculous.” He let out a heavy sigh and then turned to me with a tight-lipped smile.

“You can do it. Just take it a day at a time, right?” I said, patting his thigh once like he was a child. I pulled my hand back in my lap immediately, embarrassed by my bold and hokey gesture. “Just turn on Riggs Road up ahead. We can take that all the way to the aquatics center. I don’t think my interview will be long if you don’t mind waiting for me.”

“No problem at all. I’ll come in, too. Check the place out,” he said.

Just then my phone rang. I pulled it from my purse and looked to see Mike’s name.

“Sorry, it’s my brother. I have to take this, and yell at him for never being helpful,” I said. Reed just laughed.

“Hey, you sorry excuse for a big brother,” I half-joked.

“Nolan, are you OK? I’m so sorry. I didn’t even have my phone on. I was with Samantha and it was a late night, so…” he tried to continue but I cut him off.

“Stop. Stop. I don’t need to know. I’m OK, no need to alert the authorities,” I joked.

“Well, where are you? Do you need me to pick you up somewhere?” he asked.

“I’m good. Buck Johnson drove by and he hauled the car in. He sent Reed out here to give me a ride. He’ll just bring me home when I’m done,” I said quickly, hoping Mike wouldn’t dig too deep or tease. No such luck.

“Ooooooh, I see,” he chided. “So you’re in the car with Reeeeeeeed,” he kept going. I pressed the phone tightly to my ear, hoping like hell Reed couldn’t hear any of Mike’s end of the conversation. I was turning redder by the minute. I just needed this phone call to end.

“We’re almost here, so I gotta go. Don’t tell Dad anything, he’ll just worry. I’ll explain when I get home, ok?” I said.

“Yeah, yeah. Call if you need me, though, OK? I promise I’ll pick up this time,” he said just before hanging up.

I put my phone back in my purse and snuck a sideways glance at Reed to see if he heard any of that. He was smirking a little, so my gut told me he did. I sank down a little in the seat and hugged my purse.

The pool manager’s name is Todd. He’s looks like a PE teacher, with his short hair and shiny sunglasses. He’s nice enough. He directed Reed and me to a back office right off the main entrance where we sat on an old sofa and he propped one leg up, half sitting on his desk with a clip board. Chewing his gum, he pulled his sunglasses off and tucked them in the front of his shirt. “So, cashier, huh?” he looked at me.

“Yes. Though, I’d like to test for your next lifeguarding session, if that’d be possible. I would really like to work my way up to that,” I said wringing my hands. I was a little nervous.

“Well, you’re in luck. We’re actually testing tomorrow, if you’d like to join us. I just need you to fill out this paperwork. I see you have the right CPR and First Aid certifications, so if you pass the tests, you can start this week. We’re short on staff and I need to get staffed up pretty quickly. We’re opening a new section this season and we’re going to be pretty busy.

“You testing, too?” he added, looking over at Reed. Snapping his eyes up to meet the manager’s, Reed then turned to me, looking for approval. I just shrugged and smiled, but inside I was begging him to test with me. The thought of spending an entire summer working alongside a shirtless Reed Johnson was too much to handle.

“Yeah, I’d love to,” he said, taking the packet of paperwork.

“OK then. When you’re done filling this out, leave it with Penny up front and then we’ll see you tomorrow at 6 a.m.” he said, shaking our hands as he left.

When the door shut, Reed stared at me with wide eyes and mouthed ‘Six A.M.’ I just laughed and started filling out my paperwork.

When we were done, we dropped our packets off with Penny at the front desk. Penny was an older woman. She spent most of her day answering the phone, it seemed. She took four phone calls all in the span of our stop at her desk.

“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.