“His girlfriend,” she says. “Back in Arizona.”
“Ah.” Kendall picks up a magazine and pages through it idly. How Jacián managed to get a girlfriend is beyond her comprehension. “Is he always so ornery?”
“Nah. He just hates it here.”
“So he tries to make everybody else’s life miserable too?”
Marlena sighs. “I guess. But seriously, since we moved here, nothing has gone right for him. Back in
Arizona he had a weekend job at an indoor soccer arena, which he loved. He had a summer job at a soccer camp in the mountains that he had to give up because my parents made him work here on the ranch. He had his girlfriend, and a huge class AA school with a terrific soccer team.
“We finished school there and moved here, and within a week Sheriff Greenwood and the state police were knocking at the door and insinuating all sorts of crappy things. And then Grandpa put Jacián to work chasing down cattle and delivering meat. We didn’t have a clue what we’d be doing here.” She shifts, trying to get more comfortable. “He was pretty happy about the soccer team once he saw you all play, ‘cause most of you are not bad, and it was so cool that Coach was doing so much to get a scout to come out to Bozeman for a game. But now that’s over too.” She sets the phone on the coffee table again. “And he’s fighting with his girlfriend.”
“He’s fighting with everyone,” Kendall says. The water shuts off.
Marlena shrugs. “He’s really not a bad guy. He’s actually got a very sweet side.”
“Well, what about you?” Kendall asks. “What did you leave behind? Do you hate it here too?” Kendall feels a bit of protectiveness bubble up. She knows very well that Cryer’s Cross is an odd kind of town and that things move a little slower out here than they do in big cities. She knows that riding your horse into town is unheard of in the rest of the country, but here it happens now and then with one of the old-timers.
Marlena smiles. “Me? Oh, I love it out here. It’s so pretty with all the mountains, and the air is so clean, and you can see the stars. I’m glad we got to move here. Living in the hot, dirty city — it just wasn’t my gig.”
“Well, that’s cool. Do you think your parents will stay out here? Like, for a year, or indefinitely?” Kendall hears a door open, and a moment later another door closes.
“I think we’re here forever, as long as my grandfather is. It’s kind of tradition with our culture, you know?
It’s very important to my mom that we take care of Grandpa now that he needs help.”
“That’s cool. I like that.” Kendall hugs her knees and rests her chin on them. She likes Marlena. It’s actually not bad having a girl to hang out with now and then.
Kendall’s mother calls. “The car has a dead battery, and Dad’s out in the back forty with the truck. He’ll be out till late. Can you ask Hector to run you home?”
“Sure. He’s not actually here right now.”
“Well, maybe Marlena’s parents or Jacián can do it, then? I’m kind of stuck here. If they can’t, call me back and I’ll walk over and we can walk home together. But the help are working extra hours for the next few weeks, and I’d like to offer them something to eat.”
“It’s cool, Mom. I’m sure I can get a ride. See you in a bit.”
Kendall hangs up the phone. “So, uh,” she says, “any chance your parents are coming home soon? My mom’s car has a dead battery.”
“Not until dark.” Marlena turns her head and calls, “Jacián!”
“No, that’s okay,” Kendall says. “I can wait for Hector.”
“Jacián!” she yells again, and then she says something in Spanish.
A moment later he comes down the hallway. “I’m going to tell Grandfather you said that,” he says.
“What do you want?”
“Kendall’s mother’s car has a dead battery so Kendall needs a ride home. And you also need to cook dinner for me, Mama said. I’m starving for a Whopper and fries or something. When are they going to get a fast-food place around here, huh?”
Kendall glances away. “Sorry, Jacián.”
He’s silent for a moment and she doesn’t want to see the look on his face. “Okay,” he says. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah.” She is painfully conscious of her smelly sweat-damp clothes. She grabs her backpack and soccer bag and leans down for a quick hug. “Bye, Marlena. Hope you feel better tomorrow.”
“Are you coming again?” Marlena asks, hopeful.
“I–I don’t know. Maybe.”
“I hope you can. Come tomorrow.”
Jacián strides to the door and heads out to the barn. Kendall follows and gets in the truck as he starts it up.
“You reek,” he says, wrinkling his nose.
“Thanks,” Kendall says.
They travel in silence, Jacián taking much more care with the truck on this ride compared to the previous one.
Kendall thinks ahead to tomorrow’s drive, and her anxiety kicks in. “Can you pick me up a few minutes earlier tomorrow?”
“Why?”
“I just. . I just like to get to school a bit earlier.”
“I like to get to school when it’s time for school to start.”
Kendall feels the stress building. Her mind starts whirring again, worrying about not getting the room set up the way it needs to be. Worrying about wanting to deal with seeing Nico’s empty desk before the whole class gets there. She bites her lip and looks out the window. “Fine,” she says. She’s going to have to handle it.
He glances at her, brow furrowed, and then turns his eyes back to the road. A moment later he’s pulling into the driveway. He drives up to the apron and stops next to Mrs. Fletcher’s car. Puts the truck in park, rolls down the windows, turns off the ignition, and pops the hood.
Kendall looks at him. “What are you doing?”
“Can you get your mother’s car keys, please?”
“She leaves them under the floor mat.”
Jacián stops and stares at Kendall. Shakes his head a little. “I will never get used to this small-town crazy shit,” he mutters. “It would have been stolen within ten minutes where we’re from.”
Kendall shrugs. “Not here.”
“I suppose you don’t lock your doors at night, either.”
Kendall’s eyes widen. “What do you mean by that? And yes, we do lock them. All of them. So don’t bother testing it.”