doesn’t look surprised to see me . She already knows me too well . “What are you doing here?”
I set my camera down and laugh at myself . At this point, it’s either laugh or cry my eyes out .
“I took your advice ,” I say as I walk through the grass t o the porch steps . She stands up and sets her guitar on the couch . “I came back to see Gray.”
She regards my face . “ It didn’t go too well ?”
I sit down on the steps and shake my head . There’s an ivy plant crawling up the metal railing and I rub the smooth leaves between my fingers . Cat walks over and sits down next to me .
“It a ppears time has two different e ffects on the heart,” I say , still looking at the leaves . “ It either makes it swell with love or shrivel with b itter ness .”
“Yeah,” Cat agrees . “It’s usually one extreme or the other . ”
I nod and a long sigh escapes my chest . She wraps her arm around me and I rest my head on her warm, soft shoulder .
“The good thing is,” Cat says, “ the heart has an amazing capacity to forgive . It might just take a little convincing . ”
We sit out on the porch for a few minutes. Cat rubs my arm and I think about forgiveness and try to walk around in Gray’s shoes . I try to understand exactly what I did wrong .
Cat tells me she has a place I can crash . She grabs my duffel bag and I follow her to a one-car garage detached from the house . She unlocks the door and explains she use d to use the space for band practice , but they’ve been signing so many shows they hardly need it anymore . I look around at the renovated apartment . T here are huge windows along one wall that face s out to a row of tall sycamore trees . T here’s a small bathroom attached to it, and a futon with a pile of blankets folded on top . The floor is gray cement with a few woven rugs scattered around the space . T he walls are painted light brown, and a few apple crates piled on top of each other form a makeshift shelf, stuffed full of music books . I set my bag down next to it.
“It’s perfect ,” I say . I promise Cat I’m going to look for a temporary job and I’ll pay her rent as soon as I can .
“ How long do you think you’ll stay ? ” s he asks as she helps me sort through my heap of dirty clothes.
I shrug . Until Gray forgives me . “I have a summer job back in Wisconsin, so maybe a few months, if it’s okay ,” I tell her . I hope it’s enough time .
GRAY
Sunday night the team bus pulls into the parking lot of the Lobo center after a three game weekend . W e’re all sun burned, exhausted , and starving . Why didn’t I get groceries before I left town ? Oh, yeah, because I had some unexpected company .
After we separate our gear, w e pack into Todd’s car and Travis joins us because he lives next door with a couple football players . We all discuss ordering pizza.
“I’m broke,” Bubba says .
“You say that every time we order out,” Mil es says .
“Well, every time I’m broke.”
“Maybe if you stopped spending all y our money on Amy…,” Travis hints .
“We broke up , but thanks for mentioning it, ” Bubba says.
W hen we pull into the driveway , Todd slows down and stares up at the house . Half the lights downstairs are turned on . Bubba turns and glares at me.
“ Dude , did you give that crazy girl keys to our house?” he asks .
“What crazy girl?” Travis asks .
I shake my head and insist she’s staying with a friend.
“ Then who gets the numbskull award for leaving the lights on? ” Bubba asks.
We grab our bags out of the trunk and I’m the first one to the house . The front door’s unlocked, and w hen I walk inside , I’m hit with smells that make my mouth water —garlic, butter and marinara sauce.
I hear footsteps and Dylan appears in the hallway. S he’s wearing a green apron around her signature baggy shirt and jeans . Her hair is braided in pigtails.
“Welcome home! ” she says . The other g uys walk in and drop their bags