Liddie had a very hard time concentrating during the substitute orientation meeting. Her mind kept wandering back to the date with Tobias, their conversations during the date, and that kiss. Especially that kiss. Tobias had always been a great kisser. Rich, on the other hand, was not. Liddie always assumed she was simply misremembering due to sentimentality, but that kiss on the porch cemented her belief that, yes, Tobias Harper was a world-class kisser.
She’d just gotten her third cup of terrible coffee, in hopes of making it through the last half of the afternoon session without falling asleep, when she heard someone call her name. Amazingly enough, she’d only run into two people from high school—Candy and Tobias—so she was fifty-fifty regarding not-so-pleasant versus pleasant interactions with people from her past. When she heard her name again, this time from right behind her, she took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, plastered what she hoped was a cordial expression on her face, and turned around.
“Liddie Hopewell?”
She instantly recognized Charlie Nutter. Of course, he’d grown about a foot—Charlie had been one of those unfortunate boys whom puberty had not visited until the summer before his senior year—and had a bit less hair, but he still had the same baby face and Coke-bottle glasses. He’d always made her a little uncomfortable, but she’d chalked it up to his social awkwardness.
“Charlie! How are you?” Liddie impulsively hugged him and then stepped back to look at him. She cringed when she realized he had a school ID clipped to his jacket, identifying him as the principal of the county high school. Great. I just manhandled my potential employer. Good job, Liddie.
“I’m good.” Charlie grinned at her. “I’d heard you were back in town. Wow, you look great!”
Liddie inclined her head in acknowledgment. “You do, too.”
They stood in awkward silence for a few moments until Charlie cleared his throat. “So, I take it you’re attending the county orientation for substitutes?”
“Yes, yes, I am. I have my elementary teaching certificate in California and reading specialist certification for all levels. I figured I would sub until I get my ducks in a row for Georgia certification.”
“Good plan. If you want to sub at the high school, drop by or give Mary Frances a call, and she’ll put you on the sub roster.”
“Mary Frances Callahan?”
“Well, it’s Mary Frances Garvey now, but yes. She’d be thrilled to see you.”
“Oh, it looks like the break is over.” Liddie smiled apologetically, hoping Charlie couldn’t sense her relief at extricating herself from the conversation. “I’ll drop by the school in the next day or so. It was good to see you, Charlie.”
“You, too, Liddie. I’ll make sure to leave a note for Mary Frances.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” Liddie threw her almost-full coffee away and went back to the auditorium for the last quarter of a very long day of presentations.
As she half listened to the human resources representative drone on about the moral turpitude clause, her thoughts lingered on her conversation with Charlie. She wondered who told him she was back, but really, her main thoughts were on Mary Frances. She and Mary Frances had always had a tentative relationship—she wouldn’t even call it a friendship—because of Candy Bristol. Mary Frances was a lot wilder than Liddie; she was the girl who had older friends and always knew where the parties were and, more importantly, could get into them. Mary Frances was a social-climbing high schooler’s dream, and therefore a perfect match for Candy, who was always looking for a rising star to hitch her wagon to. But Liddie had Tobias, and the potential proximity to a real celebrity won out over a starting quarterback from a tiny high school. So Candy would ditch Mary Frances time and time again to go somewhere with Liddie, and Mary Frances would have her feelings hurt, which Liddie completely understood, even to the point of not telling Candy about shows and visits from Tobias just so she wouldn’t horn in on their already-limited time together.
But surely Mary Frances wouldn’t let Candy’s bad behavior from three decades prior influence her current working relationship with Liddie? Hopefully? There was really only one way to find out. And when the orientation session ended abruptly and early, Liddie headed over to the county high school, figuring it was better to get this meeting out of the way as soon as possible.
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The school’s façade had changed, and there was a new gym and several modular buildings, but the Clear Creek County High School still looked essentially the same. Liddie pushed open the front door and walked through the front foyer to the office, where she found an empty desk and a noisy copier spitting out papers. She stood by the desk for a few moments, trying to decide if this was a sign that she should just turn around and leave.
Liddie, you’re being a big chicken.
“Hello?” Liddie leaned against the counter and called out to the back, though she didn’t think anyone would be able to hear anything above the rattle of the copier. “Hello?” she called again, louder.
“Just a moment—be right there!” a muffled voice responded.
Liddie waited by the desk, fidgeting and getting mad at herself for being nervous.
“I’m so sorry about that. Can I help—why, Liddie Hopewell, you’re still the eager beaver you always were, aren’t you? Charlie literally told me twenty minutes ago that you’d be by sometime this week to get put on the sub list.”
Liddie flinched at the “eager beaver” remark. She hadn’t thought she was that much of a Goody Two-shoes, but between this and Tobias’s “teacher’s pet” comment, she was beginning to think she was more of a rebel in her own mind than she actually was.
“Hi, Mary Frances. Yes, Charlie told me to call or come by, but since we got out early and I was right up the street, I figured I’d go ahead and get all the paperwork or whatever out of the way.”
“Efficient as usual, Liddie. Let me run and get the sub list, and you can fill out your information.” Mary Frances disappeared into the back again, and Liddie blew out the breath she had been holding. Liddie could feel her phone buzz in her bag, and just when she was going to check it, Mary Frances reappeared with a clipboard.
“Sorry about that. Things are still kind of haphazard around here with school starting. Just fill this out and you’ll be set.”
“Thanks, Mary Frances.” Liddie dropped her phone back into her bag and began filling out the short form.
She’d just finished writing her phone number on the form when Mary Frances asked, “So, have you seen Tobias? You know he lives in Owltown now, right?”
Liddie paused for a moment and then answered, “Yes, I saw him at the Hemlock Creek Tavern opening.” She didn’t feel the need to say anything more, especially to satisfy Mary Frances’s nosiness.
“Oh, we missed that show. We were at the lake house that weekend.”
“It was good, as always.”
“Oh, you’ve seen him perform lately? I mean, before that?”
Liddie pushed the clipboard across the counter, maybe a little more forcefully than she needed to. “Oh, no. I’m just recalling shows I’d seen way back when.”
“Oh, I’d forgotten that you and Candy used to sneak out and go Lord knows where to see him play. I still don’t know how y’all didn’t get caught.” Mary Frances looked over the filled-in form. “Oh, you’re living with your uncles?”
“Yes, I am for the time being. Just one less thing I have to deal with while I get settled.”
“So you are staying . . .” Mary Frances’s voice drifted off.
“Yes, I am.” She stopped herself from justifying her return to Hemlock Creek. Mary Frances didn’t need to know any details.
“Well, welcome back to the fold, Liddie. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you real soon.”
“Hopefully so. Goodbye, Mary Frances. Tell your mama and Billy Ray ‘hello.’ ”
She patted the desk and fled the office after noting the way Mary Frances’s lips flattened when Liddie mentioned her husband’s name. Dammit. So much for treading carefully around Mary Frances.