The Rest of the Story(42)

I’d figured there was a story behind all this, and under any other circumstances I would have been glad to finally hear it. As it was, though, I couldn’t focus because traffic was moving again, this time around the construction in the opposite lane. Trinity kept talking about the Sergeant, but I was too busy white-knuckling it until we were back on the right side of the road to really listen.

Now, back at birth class, I took a deep breath as I grappled with the fact that in less than a half hour, I would have to drive back. Normal people don’t do this, I thought as Kim encouraged all the mamas to visualize an ocean with the contractions as waves. But I’d never been “normal,” especially when it came to being in my head. Although other people’s worries still seemed to be freeing me from my own a bit. Which was a nice surprise.

I also appeared to, maybe, have something going on with Blake. To find out, I’d turned to another expert.

“Tell me everything,” Bridget had said when I finally got hold of her a few days after that first trip to the Campus. “And go slowly.”

I glanced at my watch. I was sitting on Mimi’s side steps, with thirty minutes for lunch before I had to go back to cleaning with Trinity, who was currently stretched out across a bed in an empty room eight, resting her feet. But Bridget could drag out a story like no one else: with her questions, follow-ups, and then follow-ups to the follow-ups, I could see this easily taking the entire afternoon.

Still, I did my best. By the time I was done, we still had ten minutes for analysis. She got right to it.

“Well, it’s obvious he’s into you,” she said as I finally ripped open the pack of peanut butter crackers that was my lunch. “The wall, that kiss . . . it’s like textbook. But what’s happened since the kiss? That’s important.”

I thought for a second. There had been the texts that morning following the night at Blake’s apartment. Also, the invite to come visit the docks, which didn’t happen, as I’d instead ended up at my first birth class. Two nights later, however, I’d ridden out to the raft in the late afternoon with Jack. When Blake had shown up with Colin and a few other guys from the Club, he’d immediately climbed off the boat to come over to talk to me, in full view of everyone. Then, when we met up later at the Station, he’d again sought me out, issuing a challenge to a Skee-Ball tournament. I lost, but he let me choose the prize when we cashed in tickets. I picked a small stuffed bear wearing an even tinier pair of board shorts in a Hawaiian print, which he insisted I name Blake for its shock of red hair. Currently, it sat in my room by the clock, although we’d agreed to share custody from week to week.

“Okay,” Bridget said when I finished detailing all this. “That’s all three of the IFS. Total boyfriend behavior.”

“The IFS?” I asked.

“Initiative, Future thinking, and Sweet,” she replied. “It’s the checklist. Initiative: he reached out first by text and came to find you. Twice. Future thinking: he’s assuming you’ll still be hanging out when it’s time for the bear to go to him. And sweetness, because guys who are only wanting a quick fling or even less don’t bother with that.”

“Where did you hear this?”

“I didn’t. It’s my own invention.” When I laughed, she said, “Hey, I’m being serious! I’ve watched just about every rom-com from the last twenty years, read all the great romances. . . . I’ve retained things. Studied patterns. There’s a science to this.”

I smiled. “You know, you should be the one sort of dating someone. Clearly, you’re the expert.”

“Right?” She sighed. “Unfortunately, I’m living here in a senior community in Ohio for the time being. There’s plenty of shuffleboard, but not a lot of opportunity to test my theories.”

“Summer’s not over yet,” I pointed out.

“At least Grandpa is doing better,” she said, “which means I may get back home to pursue the twins solo before school starts. You have to admit, I will have earned it by then. But anyway, tell me again about the kiss. I feel like you’re leaving things out.”

I hadn’t, not that I was aware of. It didn’t matter anyway, because just then Trinity emerged from room eight, moving slowly and rubbing her eyes. When she started to push the cart down to the next room, I’d said goodbye to Bridget, grabbed my spray bottle, and went to join her. The first room we opened was a shambles. Just what I needed.

Since then, Bridget and I hadn’t talked. If we had, though, I was sure she’d probably have another acronym, if not multiple theories, about how well things were developing between Blake and me.

Maybe it was just that I had high expectations, thanks to all the romantic movies and books I myself had consumed. But I’d always thought that if and when this finally happened, I would have that whooshing, tingly feeling, almost an out-of-body experience.

I wouldn’t have been so aware of this if it wasn’t for Bailey. After that night at Lake North when we’d walked home, I thought things would have cooled between her and Colin. I mean, he hadn’t exactly stood up for her with Jack, and then went inside when things got really ugly between them. In her mind, however, he hadn’t been a disappointment: she had.

“What could he do?” she asked me the next night, as we sat in her bedroom. “My brother shows up and the next thing Colin knows, we’re outside screaming at each other. It’s so embarrassing. I would have taken off, too.”