Page 32 of Tangled Up In You
Jesse’s laugh was a rumble that tightened into a cough. “Well, all right, hon, if that’s what you want. I’ll put them on when they get here.”
His receiver thumped against the counter, and she listened as he explained to his wife, Tammy, in the background. Anxiety churned, acidic, in her stomach at the sound of Jesse helping a customer in the background, the ding of the cash register and the slam of the drawer.
Stepping into the empty tub, she sat and pulled her knees to her chest, throwing a towel over her head for added insulation.
She startled when the phone scraped across the counter and her mother’s voice, so unfamiliar this way, carried through the phone line. “Ren? Is that you?”
Cupping a hand over the receiver, she whispered, “Hi, yes. It’s me.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just wanted—”
“Why’re you whispering?”
Wincing, she lied. “Miriam is asleep still.”
“It’s seven in the morning,” her mother said in disbelief. “Light as day outside.”
Squeezing her eyes closed, she tried to think of the fastest way to get through the conversation. “I know. College kids sleep in late, I guess. Listen, I got the dates wrong for spring break next week.”
“You what? I can barely hear you.”
She glanced nervously toward the door again, ears on alert for any sound. “I got the dates wrong for spring break.”
“Now how’d you do that?”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry. It’s actually midterm exams next week.” The lie felt oily and wrong in her mouth, but she swallowed it down and pushed on. “And I was hoping to use this weekend to study.”
“You’re saying you want to stay in the dorm over the weekend? And that you won’t be home next week, but the week after instead?”
Ren grimaced, wondering how she’d make up missing an entire week of classes after spring break. But she swallowed thickly, saying, “That’s right, ma’am.”
“I don’t know, Ren.”
“Please? I set up a drip system in the cold frames so you won’t have to water, and I can work extra hard the week after to catch up on everything I miss. I don’t think it would be too disruptive for me to stay just this one weekend before exams. I’ll only be in my room or the library.” She swallowed, wincing past the lie: “I promise.”
She heard Gloria’s muffled voice, then Steve’s, and Ren’s stomach crawled into her windpipe while they discussed it in the background. Finally, Gloria was back. “Just this one weekend, Ren. I mean it. We’ll be there the Friday after next, like usual.”
Relief was a blast of sunlight across her skin. “Of course! Thank you!”
“But you’ll need to earn this free time you’re getting. We’ll have a list for you when you come home.”
Ren nodded, elated. “Absolutely.”
“No leaving campus, nothing we wouldn’t approve of.”
“Of course, ma’am. I understand.”
Steve’s voice came closer, like he was leaning toward the phone. “We’re letting you do this one time, Ren. You get one free ticket, that’s it.”
A spike of panic stabbed through her, but she swallowed past it. “Tell him I understand and am so grateful.” Wincing, she lowered her voice again. “I’ll see you in a week and a half.”
Her mother gave a reluctant “All right, then.”
“I love you, Gloria!” Ren said, waiting to hear it back. “Hello?”
Her mother had already hung up.