What Happened to Goodbye(66)
Author: Sarah Dessen

“The gluttony on display is unbelievable,” Riley told me. “It’s almost embarrassing.”

“Almost,” Ellis said. Then he shot her a smile in the rearview, and she smiled back briefly, before looking out the window again.

We drove through town, past neighborhoods and subdivisions, until the road turned into a two-lane highway. The landscape began to change, with rolling hills on either side, the occasional farmhouse, and broad pastures dotted with cows. I realized suddenly that Deb hadn’t said a word, so I leaned forward, around her headrest.

“You okay?” I asked, my voice low.

“Yeah.” She was looking straight ahead, taking it all in. “I’ve just . . . never done this before.”

“Been out in the country?”

She shook her head. Beside her, Ellis was messing with the radio, snatches of music and voices popping up here and there. “Been invited to dinner like this.”

“What do you mean, ‘like this’?”

“By, you know, a bunch of people from school. As friends.” She pulled her purse a little closer to her chest. “It’s really nice.”

We aren’t even there yet, I wanted to say, but I kept quiet as, yet again, I was reminded that as much as she’d told me about her past, there was a lot I didn’t know.

“Everything cool?” Dave asked me as I sat back.

I nodded, looking at Deb again. She was sitting so still, like at any moment someone might realize their mistake and tell her to go. It made me sad, not for now but for whatever she’d been through to make this so new. “Yeah. Everything’s fine.”

After driving for what seemed like a long time, Ellis slowed down, turning onto a gravel road. POSTED: NO TRESPASSING! a sign read, just past a row of mailboxes, and then we were bumping along, Dave’s knee knocking into mine every now and then. I didn’t move out of the way, though, and neither did he. As we came over a small hill, we saw a woman coming toward us in sweatpants, a long jacket, and sneakers, walking two big dogs. She had a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and still managed a broad wave as we passed.

“That’s Glenda,” Dave explained. “Out for her evening power walk.”

“One beer down, one beer back, cigarettes as needed,” Riley added. To me she said, “My neighbor.”

“Right,” I said.

“And that,” Heather said as we passed a short driveway, a little te house at the end of it, “is where I live. Try not to be too stunned by the size and majesty.”

“I love your house,” Ellis said. Over his shoulder, he added, “Her dad buys MoonPies at Park Mart in bulk. Has an entire glass jar of them on the TV. It’s the best.”

Heather looked pleased, and I realized I’d rarely seen her smile until now. “He has a bad sweet tooth. I try to make him eat healthy, but it is a thankless job.”

“Let the man have his MoonPies,” Dave said. “What are you, the food police or something?”

“He needs to watch his weight!” she told him. “Diabetes runs in our family. And it’s not like he can keep a woman around long enough to take care of him.”

I turned slightly as we passed the house. “You live alone with your dad?” She nodded. “Me, too.”

“He’s a mess,” she said affectionately. “But he’s my mess.”

Ellis turned into the last driveway before the road ended, pulling up in front of a large, brown house with a bunch of cars parked in front of it. It had a silver metal roof, a wide front porch, and what looked like a barn just behind it. A thick chimney on top spouted smoke, puffing up into the sky.

“Here we are,” Dave said, as Ellis cut the engine. “I hope you guys are hungry.”

The van door slid open, and he and I slid out, Heather and Riley following behind. There were several lights on inside the house, casting yellow light out onto the steps as we climbed them. I turned back to check on Deb, who was bringing up the rear with Ellis.

“Something smells amazing,” she said softly, as Riley moved ahead of us, pulling open the door.

She was right. I’d been brought up in restaurants, and eaten a lot of good food. But something about the smell of that house was totally unique. Like fried food, and cheese, and warmth and sugar, the best, most tasty bite you’ve ever taken.

“You’re late,” a woman’s voice called out as soon as we stepped over the threshold. This was followed by the sound of an oven door banging shut.

“It was Dave’s fault,” Riley replied, dropping her bag by a flight of stairs.

“I was volunteering,” Dave said. “Just so you know.”

“Of course you were.” Riley shifted out of the way, and I saw the voice belonged to a small, red-haired woman who was standing at the sink, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She had on jeans, sneakers, and a U Basketball sweatshirt, and she was smiling. “Because you are a good boy.”

“Hey, what about me?” Ellis said.

“The jury is still out,” she said, offering her cheek. He gave it a kiss, then moved past her, into the dining room I could see just beyond. “Heather, sweetie, your dad called. He’s going to be late.”

“Why doesn’t he just call my phone?” she said, pulling it out of her pocket. “I have tried to explain to him that he doesn’t need a cell to call a cell. But he cannot comprehend. He’s such a caveman.”

“Leave Jonah alone,” I heard a voice say frothe dining room. I looked in to see Ellis sitting next to a man with a beard, also in a U sweatshirt and a matching hat. A beer sat on the table in front of him, his hand loosely around it. “Not everyone is attached at the hip to their technology like you people.”

“It’s not technology,” Heather said, flopping into a chair on his other side. “It’s a keypad.”

“Be sweet,” he said to her, and she stuck out her tongue. I watched as he laughed, picking up his can and taking a sip.

“Mom, this is Mclean and Deb,” Riley said. “They were hungry.”

“Oh, we really weren’t,” Deb said quickly. “We didn’t mean to impose—”

“You’re not imposing,” Riley’s mom said. “Now come sit down. We’re running late and we know how your father gets if he thinks he’s going to miss the tip-off.”

I glanced at Riley, who was tying on an apron patterned with red checks. “They know nothing,” she assured me. “Promise.”