One Moment (The Little Hollow Series Book 1) (15 page)

She swiped away my hands and looked away. “I was just sat waiting for you when she came charging up with all her little followers and started shouting at me, saying you were hers.” She snorted. “She started to tug on my hair when I laughed at her.” She shook her head again. “Don’t worry, I’m fine, she’d only just got there when you turned up.”

I started pacing. “You are
not
fine. This is not okay! I’m so sorry, Sammy.” She looked at me then with hurt in her eyes.

“Don’t apologize, it’s got nothing to do with me who you date, Con, I just wish you’d given me a little warning first.”

I was puzzled. “You’d think I’d actually go out with someone like her? Come on, Sammy, you know me better than that.” I sat down against a tree and she joined me.

“I didn’t think so, just wanted to check you hadn’t lost all your brain cells just yet.” She chuckled and nudged my arm with hers. We were both silent for a minute, contemplating the situation. There was no way Jenny would let Sammy get away with embarrassing her like that, we both knew it.

“There was actually a reason I wanted to meet with you, you know, before bitch-barbie turned up with her crew,” she said, causing me to chuckle. I gave her my full attention. “I’ve decided to drop out of school.”

What? My face must’ve gave away my thoughts as she held up her hand, effectively cutting me off before I could get a word out.

“Before you start giving me a lecture, I’ll still be doing my school work; I’ll still get my GED. I just need the money more than spending hours at school doing what I could be doing in less time at home.”

I thought about it for a minute. “I could help out you know, get a job.” It didn’t sit right with me that she would have to quit school while her mom sat at home drinking all day.

“I don’t want or need your money, Connor, I’ve made my decision. I met with the principal today and she supports it too. I’m a good student and they’re going to help out where they can. I can keep up.”

I didn’t doubt that for a second, I guess it was for selfish reasons that I wanted her to stay in school. I didn’t want to spend the next three years there without her.

“Just let me know if you ever need any help. You know I’m there to have Tommy whenever you need me to.” She nodded. “No, I mean it, Sammy.”

She leaned her head on my shoulder and sighed. “What would I do without you, huh?” I had the urge to put my arms around her but I reeled myself in.

“You ok, Red?” Before I knew it, she’d turned and punched me in the arm.

“I told you not to call me that!” The scowl on her face made me laugh, she was going for menacing but she just looked cute.

“Okay, firecracker.” I held up my hands trying to suppress another chuckle. “But you’re good though, right?” She slowly smiled.

“Yeah, I’m good. What’s one more public humiliation going to do?”

I grabbed her hand and pulled her up with me. “The only one that was humiliated there was Jenny Murphy. You pack one hell of a punch.”

I rubbed at my arm, I wasn’t talking about her physical punch though. She’d been punching through my walls every day, with every smile, laugh and wise crack.

She gave me a lopsided grin before trudging out of the forest.

She was breaking through my barriers and I didn’t know how to handle it.

I waved goodbye to Lewis as I got in my truck. We’d made plans to meet at the fundraiser tomorrow night. But now that I was on my own, I had time to think about what I was going to say to Sammy. I could only tell her the truth; I couldn’t plan for any more than that.

I knew she wasn’t going to take my presence there well but I was hoping being in such a public setting would be on my side.

I dropped my keys trying to put them in the ignition so I bent down to pick them up. They fell beside my old, ratty work boots and it occurred to me that apart from these, I’d only brought my sneakers with me. There was no way I was making a public appearance wearing either of them so I headed in the direction of the nearest mall, which happened to be forty minutes away.

On arrival, I stepped out in the parking lot and headed in the direction of the shoe store at the back end of the mall.

“Good afternoon, sir, how may I help you today?” A pretty blonde batted her lashes at me.

“Hi, I’m looking for a pair of boots, similar in style to these but in much better condition.” I gave her one of my best grins. She smiled back and started bouncing in the opposite direction.

“Right this way are our men’s boots, today’s your lucky day, we have 10% off all footwear. My names Brittany, I’ll be right over there if you need anything.” I thanked her before looking at the wide variety I had to choose from.

I picked up a pair of tan ones not too dissimilar from my own worn ones as well as a darker pair and called Brittany back over to get my size.

“Sure, I’ll be back in a minute.” She gave me a wink and rushed off to the back before returning in record time. “Okay, these should be just fine for you. Did you want to try them on? Of course you want to try them on.” She rolled her eyes at herself and giggled, obviously a little embarrassed, so I smiled to ease her discomfort. She probably wasn’t much older than twenty and I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable around me.

“Thank you, Brittany, much appreciated.” She gave me a quick smile before darting off.

I honestly didn’t care which ones I picked. I only got two different pairs to take up some time out the rest of my day, the less time I had to sit in that room by myself, the better.

I settled on the darker brown over the tan ones and paid before heading back through the mall to my truck. Sliding the box along the seat, I opened it again and stared at the boots. What was I doing? I’d turned into a woman stressing over what I was going to wear. I was only going to a casual fundraiser and I knew I wasn’t going to be there long.

Shutting the box, I shook my head and laughed at myself before starting the drive back to Sharlington.

“Betty, how are you?” I asked when I got back to the B&B.

She looked up from the book she was reading to reply, “Fit as a fiddle, you know me. Goodness me, is that the time? I better get started on dinner. Will you be joining us tonight?”

Her face was so inviting that I couldn’t turn her down. “Of course, let me just go put my things in my room and wash up and I’ll come down to help.”

She patted my hand. “Mac, you’re a guest here. Take your time washing up, dinner won’t be ready for another half hour.”

I made my way up the stairs after being shooed away. I didn’t feel like a guest, this felt like an odd kind of home to me. It always had, which was part of the reason I kept coming back here instead of some fancy hotel. I never was one for grand things, as long as I had a place to sleep it didn’t bother me. The simpler my life the better.

Placing my new boots on the floor beside my duffel, I took a shower before pressing my shirt for tomorrow night and made my way down to eat with the Holroyd’s.

Curled up on our sofa, Keeley sat opposite me in the arm chair. I was starting to drop off, today had been a long day and I should probably get an early night before having to get up to go decorate the community hall.

What a blast this was going to be,
I thought sarcastically to myself.

“You ever think we’re getting old before our time, Sam?” Kee asked, I looked up at her to see if this was a serious question. It was.

“Oh, you’re serious. What did you want to be doing on a Friday night? Dancing in the local bar in cowboy boots and mini shorts?” She gave me an incredulous look.

“We’re twenty-four years old and we’re sitting in our apartment nearly falling asleep while watching a documentary on Ancient Egypt. Come on, you think that’s not just a little boring? We need some excitement in our lives.”

I happened to think the program was interesting but I couldn’t fault her logic. “Yeah, but we’re nearly twenty-five though, don’t forget that.” I said sarcastically.

She swung her legs around. “Oh, forgive me, I forgot we’re nearly hung out to dry. Come on, Sam, let’s do something fun.” She tried to pull me off the sofa. “Get up! we don’t have to leave the apartment but I’ve got something we can do.” I’d never seen Kee like this before, she’d always been happy to sit in and watch movies.

“Fine, what do you have in mind?” She smirked.

“We’re going to pick what we’re wearing for tomorrow night.” What?

“Who are you and what have you done with my friend?” Laughing, she continued to pull me through the apartment and into my bedroom.

“When was the last time you got dressed up? Exactly! The blank look on your face tells me never.” Opening up my dresser, she started rifling through my clothes. She did this one by one before rooting through my closet. “Seriously, Sam, when was the last time you bought clothes?”

I thought about it. “When we took that trip to South Mall.” She looked around.

“
One
year ago? That wasn’t even a proper shopping trip. You bought leggings, a summer dress, some shorts and a tank top! Come with me.” We headed towards her room and she started pulling out tops, skirts, dresses and shorts.

“Kee, you know none of this stuff is me.” I started to move off her bed.

“Just try it on; humor me.” I looked over the pile of clothes and picked out a green silk tank and a denim skirt and huffed back off to my bedroom.

“I look ridiculous!” I really did. The shirt made me look extra pasty and the skirt just made me look frumpy. Kee came in and threw a red dress at me. “Yeah, this isn’t gonna work for me.” Unravelling it, I could already tell it would hardly cover my butt.

“Well you need to choose something, otherwise you’ll be wearing your birthday suit.” I huffed in frustration. Why couldn’t I just wear my comfy jeans and shirt combo? “And don’t even think about throwing those old jeans on,” she said, knowing exactly what I was thinking.

I rolled my eyes before making my way back to Kee’s room. “What about this?” She held up a black and gold dress, slightly longer than the red dress, but I wasn’t a fan.

“It’s not even a dressy occasion, Kee, unless you’re talking white dress and cowboy boots. I just wouldn’t feel comfortable in something this tight.”

“These are more your style, now go try them on. And try being a little more optimistic.” Rifling through the rest of the pile, she threw a pair of shorts and a purple top at me.

Pulling off the hideous green top and skirt, I swapped the outfits and looked in the mirror. I couldn’t believe how well they fit me. I heard whistling from behind.

“If you don’t wear that, we’re no longer friends,” Kee threatened.

I held up my hand. “It’s missing something.” Raiding my shoe rack, I found my old cowboy boots and pulled them on. “That’s better.”

Gazing over myself one last time, I felt Kee pull my hair out it’s bun.

“Ta-da! I’m putting your hair in waves tomorrow. Good call on the boots too. Not my style but they suit you.” I looked like a woman for once. The purple top was a halter that went across my breasts, showing a tiny amount of cleavage. It flowed from my waist to the top of the dark, ripped jean shorts and had a little beading at the nipped in waist, it added a little sparkle to the outfit. It was perfect.

“Do I even need to ask what you’re wearing?” I smirked her way before she marched into her room and came back with a pair of black ripped jean shorts, biker boots, a plain white tee and finished it off with tying a chequered shirt around her waist. “I guess not. But you look good, Kee, you always do.”