Minutes later, Terri’s cell was ringing and caller ID said it was Bob Alderson.
“Terri! Where are you?” His voice was testy.
“In the car with Nate. Why?”
“Put me on speaker and hold up the phone. He needs to hear this.”
“Bob wants to talk to you.” She held her cell up.
“Nate,” Bob said, “can you hear me?”
“Loud and clear. What’s up? Want to buy my office furniture?”
“No!” Bob sounded very angry. “I spent hours singing your praises to all four parents. Just when they were beginning to believe that you weren’t some girl-stealing jerk, Stacy called. In tears.”
Nate glanced at Terri. “Why?”
r /> “She’s been trying to get you to answer your phone, that’s why. That designer-teacher of hers got called away and Stacy is now on a plane home. She wanted you to pick her up at the airport.”
“I... I, uh...” Nate couldn’t come up with an excuse for not taking her calls.
Terri turned off the speaker and put the phone to her ear. “He’s been dealing with Widiwick business.” She was almost snapping. “Remember that? Our biggest event of the year? So when’s Stacy get in?”
“Early tomorrow morning. Her parents are spending the night in Richmond and they’ll pick her up. Listen, Terri, if Nate’s going to be forgiven for this, you better make up some emergency that involves a hospital and kids. And blood. Lots of blood. Everyone is so angry at him that I don’t think I can fix it for him.”
Terri chose to ignore what he was saying. “Did you get the boxes to my father?”
“Yeah. He didn’t know where the two of you were. You two aren’t... You know, are you?”
“No, we’re not.” Her teeth were clamped together. “Okay, thanks for this. We’ll get her tent set up first thing in the morning.”
“Terri, Stacy is a nice girl. She doesn’t deserve—”
“Thanks!” Terri clicked off her phone.
For a while, she and Nate rode in silence. Terri knew she should be thinking about how to make up everything to Stacy, but what blared in her mind was “Last Night.” This was the last night that they’d spend together. “You heard?” she asked.
“Every word. Every bone-scraping, hair-raising word. How do I make this right?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“Surely some guy has stood you up, not taken your calls, whatever. What did he do to make you forgive him?”
“Never happened. It was always me who did the standing up. Some lake emergency and I never showed up. I had to jump off a dock in my prom dress.”
“Yeah? What did you wear instead?”
“Oh no, you don’t. This is about you. How are you going to make Stacy believe that you really do care?”
Twice, Nate opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He gave a sigh of defeat as he drove over the bridge to the lake.
In silence, he parked the car and they went inside the house. They stood by the door, looking through to the outside, neither of them moving.
“You should go pack,” Terri said, and Nate nodded. As soon as he was down the hall, she called her father.
“Where have you been?” Brody shouted. “I had to do that damned meeting all by myself. You know I hate those things! You and Nate will have to put up with—”
“Stacy’s arriving tomorrow morning.”