Orion Cross My Sky (6 page)

T
he next morning
, Tammy’s phone buzzed with a text message. She had given her number to Orion, and her excitement surprised her when she saw it was him. Goose bumps rose on her flesh, and she bounced slightly on her heels. She was glad Clara wasn’t home to see how silly she was being.

Hey, would you like to go out with me this evening after I get out of work?

She slumped down on her bed, unable to believe he was asking her out. A million thoughts overwhelmed her.
I’ve never been on a date. What do I do? Is it like in the books I’ve read?

She had learned about life more from books than from her parents, who’d sheltered her until they couldn’t anymore. She hoped she wouldn’t do anything wrong, because she had no idea how to proceed. She stared at his message for a long time before sending her reply.

Sure. Where?

He suggested they walk, and meet near the corner of Grizzly Lane and Main Street. She almost asked why they couldn’t just meet at his house, since she had to go by his place, anyway, but she decided not to, because she wasn’t sure if it would go against the lines of proper dating etiquette—whatever that was.

After setting aside her phone, which she now looked at more often than usual because Orion had her number, she spent a few hours studying for her GED. She hoped her score would be high enough to award her the equivalent of a high school diploma.

Alone in her bedroom, she was glad she had taken this route. She wasn’t ready to meet a lot of people as Clara was doing for her studies. She was proud of her cousin, who had an easier time adapting than she did. In a way, she was jealous of her.

Then she thought of the shop, Orion, and her desire to become a mechanic.

She knew she would get where she needed to be, even if it took her a bit longer than it took Clara.

By the time she had finished reading another chapter in her study book and taken notes, the morning had dwindled away into nothing.

Craving fresh air, she got herself together and went out into Clearwater, where the sun was shining and puffy clouds drifted through the sky.

Just don’t think about tonight
, she warned herself.

She knew it was impossible. She would worry about their date no matter how hard she tried not to. Especially since her first instinct was to cancel, and then find a way to avoid talking to him ever again.

She couldn’t stop her fears. But she knew she couldn’t let fear stop her from living.

S
he walked past
the cars parked on the street, stepping around a sleek Harley Davidson. The library welcomed her like an old friend. At her parents’ house, books had been her only companions. The Pendleton library in the old family homestead brimmed with books, and despite her father’s bad qualities, he’d allowed her and Clara full access. Tammy read constantly, and it provided the escape she needed.

Now, she knew Clearwater Public Library would become her haven, the one place she felt most comfortable.

Heading in to grab a book, she spotted the town historian, Alex Monrow, standing to the right of the entrance in the lobby. She watched as the slim, delicate-looking woman tugged a black motorcycle helmet off her head and ran her hand through her hair to smooth it.

“Hey!” Alex turned, spotting her. “Tammy, how are you?”

“Fine, but…” She glanced out the window, seeing the bike in full view. “Is that yours?” she asked, nodding toward it.

“Oh, yes. That’s my baby.” Alex grinned, her helmet under her arm. The leather of her jacket creaked, and the buckles on her motorcycle boots glimmered in the sunlight that streamed in the wide windows. She nodded toward her office. “Come on in with me, if you like.”

“Sure.” Tammy tucked her hands into the pockets of her jacket and followed nervously. She liked Alex, but the awkwardness she experienced around others was still present. “Do you work part-time hours?”

Alex turned away from the office door as she unlocked it, chuckling. “Oh, this isn’t a paying job. I work from home for a marketing company.”

She pushed open the door, flicking a switch and flooding the dark office with artificial light. Buried in the middle of the building, it had no windows. She tossed her keys on the desk, and her helmet on the floor. “I’ve lived here ten years, and I love history. So, I volunteered for the job. It was spur of the moment. I came here one day to pick up a book, stopped downstairs and happened to notice the office was dark. I asked upstairs, and found out the last town historian had quit. They didn’t have anyone here for several months. I had to interview before the town council, and they appointed me.” She plopped down at her desk, inviting Tammy to have a seat. “I keep the history archives organized, write a monthly newsletter, and try to get the citizens interested. There’s a lot more that goes into the job.”

“You do
all that
for free?” Tammy asked, sitting.

“Yeah. It’s important. I don’t mind. Someone has to do it, so why not me?”

“Where’re you from, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Sheffield, England.” She smiled warmly. “Love it there, but I also love Wyoming. I go back and forth.”

“Wow. I’d love to go to England.”

“Really, where to?”

“I don’t know.” She’d never really thought about the specifics. “Anywhere, really.”

“Well, I’m sure one day, you’ll go.”

“I love British authors,” Tammy said, her excitement mounting. “P.G. Wodehouse is my favorite.”

“Ah, Jeeves and Wooster. Of course.” Alex rose from her seat and stepped across the room to a long table piled high with papers, ancient articles, and photographs in plastic sleeves. “I’ve got a lot of work to do here. Would you like to help me?”

“Sure! What do you need?” She stood and glanced over the piles. Some of the articles were very old, others more recent.

“These need to be scanned into the system so we can make them available to Clearwater residents who want to read about town history. So, all I’d need you to do is scan articles in, and I’ll show you on the computer where to save them.”

“Okay. I’ve got an hour or two.”

Alex winked. “You won’t be so happy about it when you discover how tedious it is.”

“That’s okay, really. I don’t think it’ll bother me at all.”

“Then, my dear, I have found a gem in you.” Alex patted her on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s get started.”

A
s they worked
, they learned a great deal about each other. Tammy was beginning to think of her as a friend, even though she’d never had one before. She didn’t know
how
a person knew if another person was their friend, and began to wonder if she was over-thinking it.

She’d told Alex about her date, which would take place that evening. Once Alex discovered she’d never been a date before, she started offering all sorts of useful advice.

“But who am I to give advice?” she’d huffed. “I haven’t had a date in ages!”

Tammy chuckled to herself as she walked home to change. She decided to wear a nice blouse and jeans, opting for Alex’s idea. She’d suggested a casual approach, which would make things a whole lot easier. The less Tammy had to worry about, the better.

When she arrived home, Clara still wasn’t there. She recalled her cousin had a shift at the library that day, so she wouldn’t see her until much later. She wished that weren’t the case. She’d been hoping to talk to her before she left to meet Orion.

She ended up leaving much too early, and found herself standing on Main Street at four o’clock, an hour before they were planning to meet. She almost turned and walked back home, but then she saw Old Bruce sitting on a bench on the sidewalk.

“Hello, Bruce,” she said.

He looked up, one hand on his belly and the other on his cane. “Oh, Tammy! Nice to see ya again.
Without
any wrecks involved, eh?”

“Yes. How are you doing?”

“Oh, not bad, not bad.” He patted the bench beside him, and she sat, looking up at the blue sky and enjoying the chill in the air. “I was headin’ off to see my sister when that wreck happened, but Sheriff Ryder, God bless ’im, came back after he got it all sorted out and took me to Jackson Hole in his own car.”

“That’s nice of him.”

“Oh, yes, ain’t a better man in the world than Sheriff Ryder. Good man.” He turned his head and looked at her, his brown eyes nearly lost in a map of deep wrinkles. “What’re you up to today, Tammy?”

She paused for a moment, staring across the street toward Pete’s Service Station. The garage didn’t face Main Street, which she was glad of, because she didn’t want Orion to see her yet. She wasn’t ready, and she didn’t want him to think she was too eager. She mumbled, “Have a date.”

“Whut was that?” Bruce cupped his hand around his ear and leaned toward her.

“I said, I have a date.” She spoke louder, feeling the heat redden her cheeks.

“Ah!” he said. “Well, I hope you have a wonderful time.”

Tammy wondered about Bruce’s past, if he’d ever been in love, if he knew what it was like. She had no experience with it. She found herself glancing at his left hand. Seeing no ring, she asked, “Have you ever been married, Bruce?”

“Oh, yes, yes. Once. Marigold. Mari, I called her. Wonderful woman.” He leaned back, cradling his cane between his arms and legs. It looked like a tree branch, gnarled and shaped like a spiral. “My wife passed away when she was twenty-six. We’d been married five years.” He paused for a moment, his bottom lip quivering. “She drowned in a boat accident.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“It was a long time ago,” he said, as if dismissing it. But the moisture in his eyes told a different story. “The part that still upsets me is that I was away at the time, in the Navy.”

Tammy didn’t know what to say. She stretched out her legs, crossing them at the ankles, and stared at her sneakers. “Did you have any children?”

Old Bruce nodded. “My girl lives in Chicago.”

“What’s she do?”

“Oh, she’s married. No kids. She’s a journalist.”

“Wow, you must be really proud of her.”

“I am.”

“Does she visit much?”

“No, not really.” His tone was edged with clear disappointment.

Tammy got the feeling Bruce’s daughter hardly ever came to Clearwater. She wondered if he had any family nearby other than his sister, but she didn’t want to pry. He often hitchhiked in order to visit his sister.
Why doesn’t he take the bus?

She didn’t ask. Instead, they both sat together for a long time, enjoying silence as they watched traffic slide by.

A group of teenagers sauntered past, some of whom Tammy recognized from the day she’d met Orion. Birds flew low over the street, and she watched them chirp to each other on the telephone wires. She leaned her head back and stared at the clouds, remembering tonight was the new moon, perfect for stargazing—something she hadn’t done in a long time.

Glancing at the time, she realized a half-hour had passed by, and it was almost time to meet Orion. She wondered why he’d wanted to meet directly after work. Why didn’t he want to go home and change first? It didn’t make sense to her, but she accepted it. At least, if Orion couldn’t dress nicely for the occasion, she wouldn’t feel as awkward in her jeans and simple blouse.

Especially not if he was wearing engine grease instead of a tie.

O
rion scrubbed
the dirt off his hands and arms and changed into a pair of jeans and a nice t-shirt he’d brought with him. He couldn’t do anything about his work boots, but he knew Tammy wouldn’t mind. There was no way he was going home to change.

After yesterday’s severe pain attack and his father’s behavior, he wanted to avoid home. At least for now. His father had sat on his bed for a long time, weeping like a child, and Orion had wanted to scream at him, demand to know why he was treating him this way. But he was in too much pain to focus on much of anything, and his father had left his room after a while, patting him gently on the shoulder and urging him to feel better. Was it that he didn’t believe his son was in pain, or perhaps he wished he could change it? If his father was trying to express some worry for him, he was doing a terrible job of it.

Orion grabbed his leather jacket and slipped it on, shoving his hands into the soft lined pockets. When he stepped out of the parking lot of the shop and onto the sidewalk, he saw Tammy waiting for him on the corner. The wind tossed her fine hair across her face. Her body language spoke of a woman who had little faith in herself, but he had the sensation she was trying. He didn’t know a whole lot about her past—she’d been very guarded about it—but he knew she’d been through a lot. He could tell by looking at her.

“Hey, Tammy. You ready?”

Her cheeks were crimson, and he couldn’t tell if it was from the chill in the air, or her discomfort. “Um, sure. Where’re we going?”

He gestured down Main Street. “I thought we’d go to the Swift Water Café over on Elm.”

She stopped abruptly, her eyes widening for a brief moment. He thought he spotted fear in her expression, but he wasn’t certain.

“If you’d rather go someplace else, we can,” he said.

“What about the pizza place?” She tensed visibly where she stood.

“Sure.” He paused, then joked, “Bad experience at the Swift Water? Find a hair in your soup or somethin’?”

Her hair slipped over her shoulders when she shook her head, the breeze tossing it so it tangled around the collar of her jacket.

“Okay, it don’t matter.” His cheer vanished as he wondered what was wrong. “Let’s go get some pizza.”

“Sure.” She appeared to relax before they crossed the street together.

As they chatted amicably about cars, the shop, and other things they enjoyed, Orion thought less and less about her discomfort. But in the back of his mind, he wondered what was wrong. What had she seen? What had happened to her?

And what was near the Swift Water Café that bothered her so much?

T
ony’s Pizza
was decorated with paintings of Italy, displayed on burgundy walls. As they walked inside, they were met by the heady scent of delicious food cooking, and a sign by the front door read
please wait to be seated
.

Shortly after they entered, a young woman clad in a white button-up shirt and black slacks stepped up holding menus. Her wide, toothy smile spread across her narrow face, her auburn bangs curling over her forehead.

“Table for two?”

“Yes, please,” Orion said, sensing Tammy beside him. He wanted to put his arm around her, or guide her gently ahead of him with his hand, but something told him she didn’t like to be touched. Perhaps it was the way she carried herself.

They followed the hostess to the back of the restaurant, past a few tables where people sat chatting or eating. It was still early, so Tony’s wasn’t too busy. She seated them at a booth, placing the menus before them.

“Your server will be right with you,” she said.

“Thank you.” Orion nodded, and she stepped away. He watched as Tammy opened her menu and began reading it, her fingers trembling over the laminated sheets. Finally, he asked, “Are you okay?”

She glanced up. “Yeah, why?”

“You seem nervous.”

“Uh, yeah.” She slumped, her hair falling around her face. “Yeah, I’m nervous. I…I’ve never been on a date before.”

“You mean, it’s been a while?”

“No. I mean, I’ve never been on a date.”

“Really?” This surprised him. He knew Tammy hadn’t gone to Clearwater School, and she had dropped out of high school to get her GED, but it suddenly occurred to him she’d never mentioned where she’d attended school before. He found it shocking that none of her classmates had been interested in her. “Did you go to an all-girl private school or somethin’?”

She giggled in an anxious fashion, gripping the menu and staring at it as if she were using it as a prop to distract herself from him. “No…no, I was home-schooled.”

“Oh! That explains it.”

“Explains what?”

“How a cute girl like you could go without a date for so long.” He could have sworn she sank lower in her seat when he winked at her, but maybe it was his imagination.

The waitress arrived and took their orders after they glanced quickly at the menus. Orion ordered for them. He came here often since his mother rarely cooked, and hanging out at Tony’s was a welcome respite.

“Hey, Tony around?” he asked the waitress.

“Yeah, someplace. You know how he is. There one minute, gone the next.” She chuckled, tossing back her auburn braids. “Want me to send him over if I see him?”

“Sure, I’d love to say hello to ’im. Maybe mess with him about that shitty car he drives,” he joked.

Without another word, the waitress shook her head in amusement and toddled off.

“So.” He leaned forward, turning his attention back to Tammy. “You gonna tell me what happened?”

“Huh?” She looked frightened all of a sudden, and he wondered if he’d chosen the wrong words.

“I’m sorry. What I mean is, what don’t you like about the Swift Water Café? I definitely think Tony’s is better, but I was gonna get you an ice cream there or somethin’. They’ve got some nice desserts and…you okay?”

He peered at her, noticing the way her cheeks had pinked, and her hair slipped around her face. Since the table remained empty, he was able to reach across and brush the hair away from her eyes.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, unable to stop the words from slipping between his lips. “You shouldn’t let your hair hide your face. Your eyes…” He withdrew and leaned against the stiff vinyl of the seat.

She was quiet for a long moment before she clasped her hands before her on the table. “Um, it’s not the café.”

“What?” So mesmerized by her beauty, he’d practically forgotten what he’d asked her.

“The café. I’ve never actually been in there. It’s just that it’s real close to where I used to live.”

“And where’s that?”

“I…I’m a Pendleton. My father is Harris Pendleton.”

“Oh.”

The
Pendletons. Harris Pendleton was always in the paper, donating money to various local charities, and supporting the Clearwater Historical Society. Hard to escape the name, even if you didn’t care to remember it. And Orion always remembered a customer’s car. He’d serviced the red pick-up numerous times, often wondering why Mr. Pendleton wanted such a vehicle. He quickly saw through him, realizing he was old money, and he had the desire to appear unremarkable. The bed of that truck barely saw any use, but that didn’t matter. Old money never showed it off. That was just the way of the world.

Orion mulled this over as the waitress brought their drinks. He watched Tammy tear the paper off her straw and carefully place it in the glass of ice water before her.

When she told him who her family was, she didn’t say it with pride. He realized she was afraid. Terrified, even. There was something hidden in her eyes. He’d gotten a brief glimpse of it, but she hid it well.

Her family had secrets.

Boy, do I know what that’s like.

Dinner conversation was light and enjoyable, and it warmed him to see how she laughed at his jokes and blushed when he gazed at her. But the entire time, he kept wondering what she was concealing, and what made her so skittish whenever he touched her.

Something had happened to her, he was sure of it. He just didn’t know
what.
But he would find out. And when he did, he had a feeling it would shock the shit out of him.