My eyebrow arched in surprise as my heart filled. “She said that? Oh, my god. That’s so sweet.” I smiled back at Amy.
She nodded. “Yep. It is. You guys produced a great kid. She’s doing so well. Wait till you hear from her science teacher, she loves all the research she’s doing. Even stumped her with questions.”
“Hmm. That’s great to hear.” Chalk put his arm around my shoulder.
A joyful smile came to my lips.
We met a whole bunch of teachers and learned that Sarah had improved her grades and was getting along with all her classmates.
Finally, we headed out into the sultry heat of the Mississippi night hand in hand.
Chalk then said, “See, I told you that we had nothing to worry about. Our daughter is doing just fine. More than fine.”
“Ugh! I hate how I worry so much. I wish I didn’t.”
“You’re a mother. That’s a natural thing to do.”
“I guess so.”
Wheelz was different from the bars I knew in California, or maybe it was just this one. The feel of the place was a little grittier. The crowd was a mix of rough around the edges folks and regular everyday people. Wheelz showed how the two very different groups could co-exist.
Harper, who I’d met before, greeted me with a wide open smile and squishy hug. “Hey girl! You came down to see your man play?”
I blushed. It wasn’t like me and Chalk were official technically, but from the way Harper approached it, I presumed Chalk had been talking about me as if we were. “Yes. I hope someone can give him a run for his money tonight. That’s something I would like to see.” I ribbed Chalk.
“That’s not happening, sweetie thing. Undefeated, and I’m gonna stay that way.” Chalk poked his tongue at me as he grabbed two pool cues. One for me, one for him.
I took my cue and laughed at him. “Oh, really? Maybe I can win one game.” I chuckled.
Chalk was laughing, then his face dropped a little. I watched where he was looking because I thought it might have been that Rocky guy. The change was subtle, but I caught it. I swivelled around and saw Angie.
Does she need to be everywhere we are? Can’t she find her own place to go to?
As soon as I saw her, I turned back around to fixate my focus to the pool table and Chalk racking up the balls.
Then Angie came over, she had this cocky walk, with her way too perfect legs and her way too perfect waves in her golden hair. “Well, well, well I see you have another female opponent,” she said in a bitchy tone with a cackle.
A tight smile lifted on my lips as the porcelain balls clacked together inside the triangle.
“Hey Angie, how you doing?” Chalk’s tone was casual as he glanced over at me.
I kept quiet. If I spoke, I was liable to say some horrible things. I wanted my stomach to calm down but it was still tossing around. Something about Angie Carmichael really bothered me. An indescribable feeling I couldn’t put my finger on.
“I’m pretty good.” Angie grinned. “Chalk. You gonna let Lucinda win a game? You have to let her win at least one.” There went that screechy laugh again.
Now it was anger replacing the tossing around feeling inside my stomach.
“Angie, relax,” Chalk warned her in a low voice.
Another one of the Rebels I’d met the last time came over, and I was hoping he would distract her.
“Hey guys,” Coyote said with a big smile but it quickly faded once he recognized the tension between us all.
No one answered as Chalk came a little closer to me and started to rub his pink chalk on the end of his pool cue.
Angie had to keep on going, “Oh, don’t get your panties in a bunch, Chalk. I’m just messing around. Everybody knows I’m the only one that can get close enough to beating you.”
I knocked the balls around in the triangle with force. “Actually, we used to play a lot, didn’t we, Chalk? We had a lot of fun back then, before we had Sarah, right?” I smiled wide at Chalk.