Longer pause. "You need to go?"
"Nah, I have call-waiting."
"So…" Lawton's tone was carefully casual. "Who'd be calling you so late?"
"No one. It's just a business thing."
"You mean from the restaurant?"
"No. Something else."
"Anything you wanna talk about?"
Actually, it was the last thing I wanted to talk about. I'd been obsessing about it all day, and I was desperate to think about anything but that. Besides, Lawton didn't need to hear about my problems.
"Nah, it's nothing," I said, trying to push the worry out of my voice. "Are you still coming home tomorrow?"
"Yup. Tomorrow morning. You still have the day off?"
"Oh yeah."
We made plans to meet around noon. At my suggestion, we agreed that I'd swing by his house with Chucky, and then go for a walk. "For old time's sake," I said, thinking of how we'd first gotten to know each other in the first place.
"Don't forget new time's sake," he said. "And Chloe?"
"Yeah?"
"I've gotta tell you, I'm missing you like crazy. The other night–"
My phone beeped.
I pulled it from my ear and looked at the display. Mrs. Parker. Finally.
Lawton was still talking, but I didn't catch a single word of it. Desperate to get the incoming call, I cut him off. "I'm really sorry, Lawton, I've gotta go. See ya tomorrow, alright?"
Without waiting for a response, I disconnected him to switch over to the new call.
My voice was breathless as I said, "Hello? Mrs. Parker?"
And to my infinite relief, I heard her voice loud and clear. "Hey Chloe, I just got your messages."
Chapter 45
Well, at least she wasn't dead.
I'd already left most of the details in a long voicemail. But for some reason, I felt compelled to repeat them, trying hard to keep my tone neutral and use inoffensive words like "bank snafu" and "technical glitch" as opposed to more interesting words like "deadbeat," and "where's my damn money?"
I even told her about the cable guy and yesterday's disconnection.
When I finished, Mrs. Parker made a noise of sympathy and said, "Chloe, I amsosorry. I can only imagine what you must think of us."
Me? She should've heard what Grandma thought of them.
"Well," I said in a carefully neutral tone, "I didn't know what was going on, so I figured I should call and see if you knew anything."
"Oh yeah," she said with a little laugh. "Do I ever."
I waited.
