Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes
Page 60

“I tried. You wouldn’t listen.”
I suddenly felt stupid. “Joe, I’m so sorry. I thought…” I looked away in embarrassment.
“Hey,” he put his fingers under my chin and turned my face to his. “I don’t blame you. It looked bad and you didn’t know me very well. That’s how I knew you really liked me though. You knew about Hilary, yet you were still interested in me.”
“So why can’t you go to the police?”
The blinds of honesty closed in his eyes. They looked cold in contrast. “I can’t answer that. Tonight.” He stressed. “If you give me until next week, I think I can tell you then.”
“And you won’t help me with number fifteen until you can tell me?”
He nodded. “I want you to know everything first, so you don't think I tried to trick you.”
The next week, I think began to sink in. “Wait a minute,” I turned my head to the side, scrutinizing him. “You keep telling me Monday, but it might actually be later.”
“What difference does a few days make? You’ve waited this long, what’s your hurry?”
“Maybe I’m tired of waiting.”
“What happens in three days?”
“Why won’t you go to the police?”
We reached a stalemate, and Joe wasn’t pleased. He just lost his upper hand. But instead of getting angry, he sighed. “Let's eat.”
We sat down, the mood heavy around us. It made me sad and depressed. This wasn’t how I wanted to spend my time with him. He was hiding things from me, but I didn’t want to spend the two days I had left figuring it out. Since he was hung up on my insistence that Sunday was the day everything had to be done, maybe I should just pretend it didn’t exist.
“This is good. I’ve never had Chinese food before.”
Joe’s mouth fell open in shock. “What? If I had known, I would have ordered. How did you know what to get?”
He laughed when I told him my reasoning. “You need to go to a Chinese buffet. You can try all kinds of different things on a buffet and then you’ll know what you like next time you order.”
“Maybe we could go next week,” I said, trying my new tactic.
The merriment in his eyes fell away. “I thought the world was going to end on Sunday.”
I shrugged. “Maybe you’ve convinced me it won’t. So what do you say? Wanna go with me?”
I couldn't help noticing he wouldn’t look me in the eye when he spoke with a chipperness I wasn’t used to hearing him use. “Yeah, sure.”
That seemed odd. Maybe he and Hilary really weren’t over, but it didn’t matter if they were or not. I only needed him for two more days. Facing death made me shameless.
Joe tried to restore our lighthearted mood and demonstrated how to use the thin wooden chopsticks in the bag. He showed me how to hold them like a pencil and pinch the ends together, then had me try. We held our chopsticks in the air, pinching at nothing in the air. Joe was pretty adept with chopsticks. I just made a mess.
I laughed. “Maybe if I can master this, I can put this in the number twenty-nine spot.”
“Oh, yeah. Get your list and let’s go through it.”
“Why do you want to help me?” Even though I vowed not to ask questions, this one made me curious.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” he looked at me, cringing a bit. “but I’ve never met anyone who has had so few life experiences. I like watching you live ’ em.” He smiled. “Plus, it sounds fun.”
I retrieved the list and set it on the table between us. It looked more battered than the last time he’d seen it.
“I see you’ve checked off more things.”
“Yeah, and a few more things today.” I picked up a pen off the table. “Today was dance…” I checked it off.
His eyes twinkled. “You danced?”
“Yeah, in the Henryetta splash park.” Last week I would have been embarrassed to admit it. Today I was proud.
He chuckled. “I sure would have liked to have seen that.”
“Dress like a princess…” Check.
“Why am I missing out on all these? Was this while you were dancing in the Henryetta splash park? What were you wearing?”
“No, it was not.” I laughed. “It was later. My niece Ashley put a tiara on me and enough makeup to help me establish a new career as a prostitute.”
“I might like to have a say in your career choice.” His voice was low in my ear.
If I had any hope of crossing off fifteen, I would have let him go on. Instead, I gave him a playful shove. “We have work to do. Focus.”
“Learn to knit.” Check. I waited for him to say something. When he didn’t I turned to him. “No comment?”
He raised his eyebrow in an apologetic gesture. “Knitting doesn’t do anything for me. Sorry.”
I laughed. “What if I said I was knitting you a scarf?”
“Are you?” The excitement in his voice surprised me.
“I could be…” I gave him a wicked look. “For a price.”
“Monday. Moving on.”
“Picnic in the park.” Check.
“You really never went on a picnic in the park before?” He asked softly, sadness creeping into his voice.
“No, but you know, it’s okay. I did today.”