Genesis

CHAPTER 7 Just What I Needed

I needed to talk to Jane. Now. I waited impatiently as the phone rang. "Answer, answer," I whispered intolerantly into the receiver. Voicemail. Grrrrr! As I was preparing to leave a message, my phone beeped. Thank goodness it was Jane.

"Sorry," she said in a raspy voice. "I was sleeping."

"Well, wake up quickly because I have to tell you what just happened!"

"What about last night? You didn't call."

"Sorry. Okay. So, Ty's house is un-believable. They must be very wealthy. His mother was so nice. She made this southern meal especially for us. His father, who owns and runs the local newspaper, was really nice, too. He even invited me to visit the paper's office. We all talked the whole time we were there. No awkward silences. And he has this gorgeous sister who wants to be besties. And, then, this morning, he texted me."

"He texted you already?" Jane asked incredulously.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about!"

"He must really like you, Essie," she said with a hint of teasing in her voice.

"That's what I was thinking. Do you think I should text him back?"

"Well..." she mused. "What did the text say?"

I read it to her.

"Yes," she stated matter-of-factly. "He's obviously very direct. And you usually are, too. What's the problem?"

"No problem, Jane. He just takes me off-guard and it's messing with my confidence."

"Well, I think you should just go with it. Text him back and tell him thanks for the invite and you had a good time, too. That's it. That's just good manners. Nothing more. See what happens after that."

"All right. Let me go and I'll text him now and let you know later on what happens, if anything."

"Okay. Don't forget. Talk to you later."

"Okay. See you."

"See you."

I pressed "END," then the text icon, and typed the following, "Good Morning, Ty. We all had a great time last night. Thanks again for inviting us. Essie." Nothing more.

It was a beautiful morning. Not too hot yet. I thought I'd take the dog for a walk through a subdivision not far from our house. I finished my coffee and went inside.

"Good morning," I said to no one in particular, acknowledging the various family members sitting around the kitchen and family room.

"I'm going to take Axl for a walk."

"Can I go? Can I go?" Hollie squealed impatiently.

"No," I said as nicely as possible. She didn't usually take no for an answer, though, and I continued before she could start begging. "I'm going to walk him kind of far, over to that subdivision down the road. You know you'll get tired halfway through and want Mum to come pick you up."

She made that disappointed face that always got to me.

"How about if I take you for an ice cream after lunch instead?"

She jumped up and down and sweetly yelled, "Okay, Essie." She was so adorable. I really loved spending time with her.

I threw on some gym shorts and a t-shirt, pulled my hair back, and searched for an old collar and leash that I was sure was somewhere in one of the boxes we had yet to unpack in the garage. We'd had a dog, Dali, a beautiful Dalmatian with ice blue eyes, up until a couple of years ago. We had to put her to sleep because she got so old that she couldn't function. It was traumatic for the whole family. Although we wanted another dog, we'd just never gotten around to it. Now Axl just appeared and was immediately accepted by all.