Guardian Angel
28 Not Enough Girlfriends
THE PHONE was ringing when I got in the house. That was unusual. With Betts home, I expected her to be on the phone. I heard her answer it.
“Just a minute. He just came in the door—from his date,” she added with a little venom. She walked into the kitchen and shoved the phone at me. “It’s a girl.” She stormed out of the kitchen and I lifted the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Are you really going out with her? She was so funny! We want to meet her.” We?
“Jennifer?”
“No, it’s Courtney, but Jen is with me. We saw you on TV this morning and that girl looked like she was going after you right there in the kitchen. She is so hot!”
“Well, we did spend the afternoon together at the fair. She’s pretty neat, but she’s not my full-time girlfriend. We might date occasionally this year, though. It’s a big maybe.”
“Full-time? Can we be part-time girlfriends then?” That was definitely Jennifer’s voice.
“What are you guys doing, sharing the phone?”
“Yeah. We’ve both got our ear to the receiver and our cheeks are touching so we can both have our mouths next to the phone.”
“And her lips are so close to mine that I sometimes just have to kiss them.” I lost track of which one was speaking but the visual image had me hard. I wished the phone cord was long enough to reach up to the attic.
“You two are so wicked,” I whispered. “Stop that. My family’s home.” I heard a big kiss.
“Mmm. You didn’t answer our question. Are we your part-time girlfriends?”
“How does that work?” I asked. “We’d never see each other. Not that I wouldn’t love to see you both again if I can.”
“We’ll be your girlfriends but you can go out with anyone you want to.”
“How’s that any different than not being my girlfriends?”
“We can tell all the creepy guys here that our boyfriend is a hot TV star and wouldn’t want us to go out with anyone else.” We all laughed.
“I guess since I’m not there, you can tell them anything you want. Just don’t give them my address. I don’t need anyone else wanting to beat me up.”
“Seriously, Brian, your demo was really cool and we wanted to just talk to you for a few minutes. I know we’ve only been sort of together a couple times in the last year, but we really like you and don’t want to lose track. It was really sweet of you to write to us and be concerned that we were in trouble.”
“Is everything okay?”
“We’re on the phone, aren’t we? Jen’s mom is cool. Oh, she grilled us all the way back to Kokomo. Then she told us firmly that we need to tell her up front when we want to go meet our boyfriend so she doesn’t worry about us. She gave us one fifteen-minute call a month when we can call you. Isn’t that cool?”
“Yeah. Jen, tell your mom thank you from me.”
“Oh, she’ll like that! Our time’s almost up. We don’t dare go over our time or she’ll take it away. We’ve got a kitchen timer set and it’s ticking right beside us.” What an image sprang into my mind right then! “So be sure to write soon, boyfriend. We miss you. We’ll send a letter and tell you when we can call next month.”
“Miss you, too, girlfriends,” I chuckled. “I’ll write as soon as the Fair is over this week. I’m racing Thursday.”
“WooHoo! Ride ’em cowboy,” they shouted. “Good luck. Talk to you soon. ’Bye.”
We didn’t have time for long drawn out goodbyes. I said “’Bye,” and they were gone. Well, that was interesting.
“I am not your social secretary,” Betts growled at me as soon as I went in to hang up the phone. “Here. I told all of them you were out with your new girlfriend. Oh, don’t worry. It’ll be over in a few days. I know Candace. She’s a love ’em and leave ’em girl. The drama queens are all that way.”
“Yeah. I know her reputation. Aww! You told Rose she was my girlfriend?” Betts looked smug. I grabbed the phone back and went to the kitchen to call Rose.
“She’s not my girlfriend!” I said as soon as Rose answered.
“Well neither am I,” Rose shot back. I looked at the phone. She sounded pissed. Then I heard her laughing. “Your sister’s a real bitch, isn’t she?” I started howling with laughter and Betts poked her head back I the kitchen I looked her straight in the eye.
“Yeah, she is. Everybody called this afternoon and she told them all Candace was my new girlfriend.”
“Nobody believed her. Be careful around Candace, though. She’s got quite a reputation.”
“Well, you know, unless someone who lives closer than seventy-five miles away wants to be my full-time girlfriend, I guess I can date a different girl every week if I want.”
“Maybe we can all be your girlfriends. Bri, you’re not mad at us, are you?”
“Hell no, Rose. I’m going to be fifteen in forty days. When do you turn fifteen?”
“December twenty-first.”
“Thanks. I’m putting that in my calendar. My dear Rose, I don’t want anything to stop you from seeing anyone you want, but if you are available, I’d love to take you out on your birthday. Can we make it a tentative date?”
“Bri! Really?”
“Yeah, really. As long as neither of us has a regular boy or girlfriend, I’d love to take you out again.”
“Do we have to wait until December?”
“No way. But like you said. We really can’t go steady. Neither one of us is ready for that.”
“Yeah. And we’d get killed if we did.”
“What?”
“Well, Liz and Samantha both want to go out with you, too.”
“Samantha?”
“I notice you didn’t question Liz. And I’ll just bet that you are going to take Hannah horseback riding this fall. And rumor has it that Brenda wants to… uh… see you at the lake on Labor Day.”
“No way. Brenda’s with Carl.”
“She says they’re just going to date around this year. I think they’re both afraid it’s been getting too serious.”
“I’ll have to tell Carl welcome to the club.” I laughed. And realized I meant it. Betts grabbed the phone as soon as I hung up, scowled at me and took it to her room while she was dialing. I’d have to call everyone else tomorrow.
“Hi, Hannah. Did you see my show?”
“Yeah. You were funny. Is she really your girlfriend now? Betts said so.”
“No. Betts was being a twink. Candace and I just became good friends on the show and went walking around the fair afterward. Speaking of which, I was wondering if you could go tomorrow.”
“With you?”
“Well, yeah. We are still friends, aren’t we?”
“I hope so, Brian. I’m really trying hard to have lots of friends now.”
“Hannah, you know I’ll always be your friend. And tomorrow I really need a friend with me.”
“Why? What’s wrong, Brian?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I completely forgot that I signed up for the barrel rescue race tomorrow and never got a rescue partner. Remember when I rode by on Silk and you jumped on behind me?”
“That was fun!”
“Well, that’s the race. I ride Silk around the barrels and when I get to the last one I offer you a hand and you jump on behind me. Then we race to the finish.”
“Cool. I wanna!”
“Good. Can you be ready to go at eight? Dad’s driving me with Silk in the trailer.”
“How about if I just bike to your house after I finish papers?”
“How would you like a Spanish omelet for breakfast?”
“My favorite. I love you!” She hung up. I just sat there trying to breathe for a minute and squeezing my eyes shut so no tears would leak out. I knew what she meant. I knew she loved me. Just not in that way.
“I love you too, Hannah,” I whispered.
It probably wasn’t the greatest day to take a date to the fair. I couldn’t really go anyplace very far from the youth rodeo in the outdoor arena. I had a horse to take care of. Dad parked the trailer and dropped it in the grassy field we were directed to. Then he took off and said he’d be back in time for the races in the afternoon. He had to put in part of a day at work because of some inventory thing. That meant we could watch the events from the parking side stands, but I had to keep an eye out and make sure Silk was okay.
She didn’t really mind. She’d been trailered and tied a bunch of times and there was hay. Better yet, the grass all around the trailer was lush so she had a smorgasbord at her lips. But it was hot and you can’t just leave a horse staked out in the sun all day. Hannah and I would watch an event and then go make sure Silk was still in the shade and refill her water bucket.
It was a blast watching the little kids in the mutton-busting competition. It was just for kids under ten. They were put on a sheep and it ran around like crazy while they tried to stay on. The 4-H rodeo clowns ran along beside the kids and caught them when they fell off. About noon, I lifted Hannah up on Silk bareback and led them around the field.
“I feel like I’m a little girl on a pony ride at school,” Hannah squealed. “Giddyap horsey.” We laughed. “When do you get to ride?”
“The first race is at one. I’ll be bending poles. It’s a lot trickier than it looks.” When you race slalom down a row of poles, you have to cue the horse to change leads after every pole then turn around and race them back. We walked over to a field vendor and got hamburgers and soft drinks for lunch. Hannah slid down off Silk’s back and I caught her. I couldn’t help hugging her a little. “I never thought about how boring a day like this would be for you,” I said. “I can’t take you to the Midway or the exhibits or anything. You must be bored silly.”
“I’ve really been doing a lot this summer. Brenda’s had the girls over three times to swim. Samantha, Liz, and I have gone places. You and I went riding and cooking. Rose called me up one day and said she was bored and wanted to go skating. And then the papers. Thank you for the paper route, Brian. I love it. But today it’s like I can just hang out with my best friend and not really do anything, you know?”
“I’m glad you feel that way. I’ve seen a lot of friends over the summer, too, and they all want to be doing stuff all the time.” Some of them wanted to do more stuff than others. “Hannah, I’m glad you’re still my best friend and we can talk and stuff.”
Dad showed up before the first race and checked me out on Silk before I rode her to the entry gate. Then he and Hannah went and hung on the fence to watch me ride. We each got two rides and they took your fastest time. Good old Silk did great on the lead changes, but we didn’t have quite enough speed to place in the competition. We were sixth.
It was an hour until the barrel races and Dad said he’d hang around Silk if we wanted to go stretch our legs. We went to the Exhibit Hall and Hannah saw the prize I got for my bread. The bread itself was pretty sad-looking. It had been sitting there in the case for four days now and you could see a tinge of blue beginning around the edges. Mine wasn’t the only loaf affected. They were all showing the effects of sitting in the open heat and humidity for that long—even Claudia’s.
“Everything will get thrown out tonight or tomorrow,” I said. “I’m supposed to pick up my ribbon at the show office on Friday.”
“It’s cool that our bread won a ribbon.” Our bread? “This is the recipe from the book I gave you, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but I got this book by James Beard and modified the original recipe a little.”
“Oh. Well, maybe you could share the new recipe.”
“Of course I will. When can you come over to bake with me?”
“It’s really almost like we’re still boyfriend and girlfriend, isn’t it?” she said softly. I wondered what was going through that pretty head.
“The important things are all still there,” I said. “You can be my girlfriend anytime you want.” Hannah took my hand and we headed back to Silk and my run at the barrels.
I didn’t do great. We made a good run, but we knocked down the second barrel. Silk glanced back at the offending barrel as we rode our circuit around the ring for applause and out the gate. She didn’t let it bother her, though. Her tail was held high and proud and her neck was arched as if she was a show horse as she pranced out the gate. I think that’s what people like about Arabians. They have such a classic line and are so proud. I made sure I let Silk know that I was proud of her.
Finally, we got to the barrel rescue. There were only ten competitors and one kid was competing on a pony and must have only been ten years old. But barrel rescue is just for fun. He did a great run and his little sister jumped for the pony so hard she almost went off the other side. They were really proud when they rode around the ring. Mostly it was parents in the ring, but I saw there was a TV camera there, too. Probably doing a color spot for the evening news from the Fair. They love the little kids for that stuff.
Hannah ran out to the number three barrel and was given a boost up. She raised her hat to salute me and I turned Silk away and raised my hat. The announcer gave our names and said, “Go!” I turned Silk and she took off for barrel number one like a fly bit her butt. You can say whatever you like about how badly racehorses are treated and how miserable they are. Maybe it’s true. But Silk loved to race. I always knew that when I was on her back I was with a friend who was as competitive as I was. When you combine that with how competitive Hannah is, how could we lose? Silk flew around the barrels. I held out my hand and Hannah got a perfect grip. She swung behind me and lit on Silk’s rump and that horse was a white streak headed for the finish line.
We lost by six-tenths of a second.
But second place was good enough. What a riot! I gave the red ribbon to Hannah and she pinned it on her hat.
“And here’s one of our young competitors now,” the TV woman said as she approached me. I was leading Silk and Hannah was in the saddle. “That was a great rescue run. What’s your name, young man?”
“Brian Frost,” I said.
“How long have you been riding barrels, Brian?”
“About six years. I just love to go out and race, and so does Silk.”
“And who is this that you rescued?” It sounded like she asked me the question, but she held the mike up so Hannah could answer.
“I’m Brian’s girlfriend, Hannah Gordon.”
“We have a fine young man who just rescued his girlfriend. And we were all excited by how well you ran.” She paused a couple seconds, listening to her earpiece. “Really?” she said. She turned back to us. “Brian, I understand that you were on The Homemakers Hour with Miss Polly Tuesday. You cook, too?”
“Yes ma’am. I got blue ribbons in both senior demonstration and bread baking.”
“I’m told you had quite a flirtation with the young woman who won the demonstration competition. They also tell me you have a quick wit, so I should ask you exactly how many girlfriends you have at the moment.” Oh geez. That Miss Polly must have been on the other end of this question. I had to think fast.
“Well, this is County Fair week and things change fast. There’s always a competition. You have to wait until the end of the week to count your ribbons. But I believe the current count is five girlfriends. Please keep in mind that I haven’t talked to everybody yet and there are still three days till the end of the fair.”
“Oh my!” the reporter said. She turned back to the camera. “I’m speechless. Back to you, Cameron.”
We took Silk back to the trailer. I got her unsaddled and Hannah helped rub her down. Dad had stayed to watch the calf-roping competition and we were loading Silk in the trailer when he joined us.
“I called Mom and she says Doreen and Betts are coming in to spend the evening at the fair. If you’d like to stay for a while, they’ll bring you home tonight.”
“Really? Can you stay, Hannah?”
“I can if you help me deliver papers tomorrow.”
“Dad, Hannah’s bike is at our house. Could you check to see if it’s okay for her to spend the night? Then we could ride to her house early tomorrow and do the papers if that’s okay.”
“I’ll check when I get home and send word with Betts. Meet her at seven o’clock at the dunk tank.”
Hannah and I headed to the Midway. This time I’d brought money since I invited someone with me. It turned out Hannah did, too, so she bought her own ride tickets. We rode everything. We were standing around waiting for Betts when Hannah took my hand and pulled me to the side.
“Brian? Do you really have five girlfriends?” I wasn’t sure how to answer that question.
“Hannah, are you my girlfriend?”
“I… was and I just forgot because I was having so much fun. I didn’t mean to spoil anything for you, Brian.”
“Well, this fall, I want to take you on dates. We always had fun at the football games, and I’d like to do that again. We can actually go to a dance after if we want. But Rose wants to go to movies with me sometimes or maybe do something else. And Candace said she’d like to go out with me and have fun a few times this fall. The more I think about it, the more I think that I’ll be fifteen and I really want to spend time with all my friends. Does that sound like a girlfriend?”
“That’s three. Who are the other two?” Right to the point.
“Well, there are these two girls I met at the dude ranch. We got to be good friends and they started telling everybody at their school that they’re my girlfriends. They said that way they could turn down dates from other boys.”
“Wow.”
“Hannah. If you really want to be my girlfriend again, you know I’d be happy with that. I still love you.”
“I love you, too, Brian. I think it’s cool that you have five girlfriends, even though I think you missed some. We can be boyfriend and girlfriend now and they can do most of that kissing and stuff.”
“Most of it?”
“I might want to kiss you sometimes. A little.”
Just then Betts walked up to us.
“Five girlfriends! You low-down bastard and with Hannah sitting right beside you. How could you be so mean? Hannah, I’m so sorry. If you want to go home right now I’ll take you. We can just leave Brian here and he can see if there are any more girlfriends who want to deal with him.” I couldn’t believe that Betts was actually hugging Hannah and acting like I was some kind of beast with three heads. Or five cocks—I don’t know. Hannah was laughing and Betts was getting confused.
“You started it,” she accused Betts. That set her back. “Telling us all that Candace was his new girlfriend. That was mean. How are all the rest of his girlfriends supposed to feel when you tell them that?”
“Wait, but…”
“How can one girl ever hope to be enough for Brian?” Oh my God! Hannah was being a drama queen! “Betts, don’t tell me you don’t know what a stud your brother is.” I was choking. I’d never seen Betts so thrown. Right beside me, Doreen was crowing.
“I sure hope you did your sisterly duty and educated your brother, Betts,” Doreen laughed. “With all these girls to keep satisfied, you sure better have taught him how.” She turned to look at me. “And if she didn’t, Brian, you give me a call. I’ll show you exactly what you should do. Just in the interest of your education.”
“Doreen!” Betts exclaimed. She turned to me and it was obvious that she had turned into the brunt of the joke. “Look you two. We aren’t staying late. Ten o’clock you be at the main gate ready to go. I’m going to drop you off at our house and go to Doreen’s for the night. Hannah, you can use my room. Do not let him take you to the attic. Honey, you’ve got to keep your virtue intact.”
“Or not,” Doreen added. Betts rolled her eyes and the two of them walked off. They were headed for the concert in the grandstand at seven-thirty.
We met Doreen and Betts at the appointed time after riding just about every scary ride on the midway. Twice. Everyone from the concert was taking off at the same time, so it was pretty chaotic getting out of the parking lot. Betts didn’t make any more comments as she and Doreen kept up a running conversation about the concert. Hannah and I just sat in the back seat quietly, holding hands. When we got to the house, Betts came in long enough to show Hannah where her stuff was. I hung around until Betts left and then said goodnight to Hannah.
“I like being one of your girlfriends,” Hannah said as she hugged me. “And sometimes, like right now when we’ve been on a date and had such a good time, it would be okay to have a little kiss. I’m sorry I don’t like it more, but I do like it a little.” She raised her face to me—I was more than an inch taller than her now—and I kissed her gently. She didn’t do a whole lot, but she didn’t pull away, either. I didn’t draw it out, but it was so sweet and innocent and yet so open and trusting that it took my breath away.
“Goodnight, girlfriend,” I said.
“Goodnight, boyfriend.”
The End
Continued in
Living Next Door to Heaven 2: The Agreement
Comments
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
