Page 45 of The Best Kind of Bad
“She did a damn good job covering that up. I had no idea how much we had in common.”
Dad grins, his eyes crinkling. “Marnie, you two were carbon copies of each other.”
“That’s what people keep telling me.” I pick at his bedsheet. “I wish I would have asked more questions while she was still here.”
“I know. She left us too soon.” He puts his hand over mine. “You can ask me. What are you curious about?”
“It’s silly.” I pause. “I found a box of old notes of hers. Some from an old flame. I just wondered who he was.”
“Should I be jealous?”
I grin. “Hardly. This kid was no Casanova.”
He lays back. “I wonder if that’s the guy who did a number on her. Took Naomi and I years and years to thaw the ice after that heartbreak. Did you know I had to ask for her hand three times before she agreed?”
I grin. “I did know that.”
He laughs. “Stubborn woman. Just like her daughter.” He pauses. “How is it really going out there? Are you lonely?”
I can’t quite bite back the smile that forms on my lips. “Not at all, actually. People have been super friendly. I even managed to drum up a client.”
“No kidding?”
“A wedding. It’s coming up this weekend.”
“Did you get all your baking things from your apartment?”
“They’re in the back of the car as we speak.”
He nods. “Maybe you could rebuild out in Silver Bend. That would be full circle, wouldn’t it?”
I think that over, but my mind crashes up against a solid wall. “Sorry, dad. I can’t quite picture that one.”
30.
Dusty
Nebraska gets about two weeks of perfect, beautiful summer days.
They teeter on the edge between a cold, gray spring and hellishly hot summer.
It’s one of those nights.
Perfect. Warm.
Gentle breeze.
The stars are visible, despite the fact that we’ve got the lights on at the baseball field. I’ve always loved the warm glow from those lights. The way they make a little halo against the night sky, moths flying all around bent on destruction.
Something poetic about them.
I tend to notice things like that.
It’s why they always put me in left field. I don’t have the attention span for baseball.
Especially not tonight.
Fucking Jerry Lind.
