lot like
her
car.
Cautiously, she rolled all the way up to stand. Gambler rose and joined her, bumping along at her side as she stole across the lawn on the balls of her feet.
“Whaddaya think, Gambler?” she asked, scratching him behind an ear. “Who do you bet that is?”
But Gambler wasn’t talking.
Yes. Her car. Her very own, pea-soup green VW bug had stopped right at the front door. For a single, spontaneous moment, Jane imagined that the car had driven itself to Orchard Way. To be with her.
Then she thought:
Lily.
It had to be. Lily was here.
She watched as the car’s door opened. Music blared and was cut.
Then
he
stepped out, unfolding his six-foot-plus, pale noodle of a body.
Caleb Price. It took Jane a moment to register this.
She watched him stretch. Back and forth, then side to side, then a toe touch. His glance swept the house before he shambled up the porch steps and flattened a hand to the front door. His other hand passed back and forth across his forehead, rubbing it like a genie’s bottle. One of his habits. Jane could feel the flint of memory strike her anger. It caught and sparked inside her.
What was Caleb Price doing prowling around here?
He edged toward the living room windows, cupping his hands and mashing his face to peer through the glass. Then he stepped away toward the dining room window. Of course he couldn’t see her. But the longer Jane watched him, the more she wondered what it was Caleb Price did see. Did he have the same view of Orchard Way that she did?
She turned to examine her car. Secondhand, it had been a birthday gift from her parents last year. Its hood was still marked by the patchwork of an off-colored paint job, but the car had never gleamed like it did now. Jane had preferred it dusty, broken in, with wavy traces of dried raindrops on the chrome. But Lily liked everything to shine.
Or maybe
he
was the one who kept it so clean.
Abruptly, Caleb turned from the house and jogged down the porch steps, then disappeared around back toward the barn where Granpa housed his tractor. Jane stayed where she was. She spied Ganesha, her elephant-head key-chain ornament, in the ignition.
She’d bought Ganesha at the Metropolitan Museum of Art gift shop last spring, during a school day trip to New York City. The little tag that came with him explained that, according to Hindu belief, Ganesha became the God of All Existing Things after he won a contest against Kartikay, his little brother. Jane had kept the tag in her underwear drawer and had read it until she could recite it.
When given a task to race around the universe, Ganesha did not start the race like Kartikay did, but simply walked around his father and mother as the source of all existence.
Jane had liked Ganesha because he looked like a lucky charm.
She liked him better after she learned he’d won that contest against his younger brother.
Caleb had circled around and now was back at the front of the house. At the front stairs, he reached down and pinched off a branch of verbena. It hung limp between his fingers like a cigarette as he turned and strolled down the lawn. Jane followed. Gambler, too. His tail and ears perked up taut, as though held by strings.
At the steps to the pool, Caleb peeled out of his tattered shoes and sat. He arranged himself neatly. Legs crossed, spine upright, face tipped to the sky. Jane walked to the other end of the pool where she could keep her eyes on him while also keeping her distance.
He couldn’t see her. She was sure, she was positive of that. But could he see something? Caleb Price had a different awareness. Everyone knew that. Ever since that time he’d almost been killed by that dog, Caleb had lived in a cloud of rumors. Kids said crazy things about him. That he could levitate. That he was a mind reader. That his heart beat only twenty-two times per minute.
Jane had been disappointed by that hospital visit allthose years ago. She had wanted more from Caleb. She had wanted
her
car.
Cautiously, she rolled all the way up to stand. Gambler rose and joined her, bumping along at her side as she stole across the lawn on the balls of her feet.
“Whaddaya think, Gambler?” she asked, scratching him behind an ear. “Who do you bet that is?”
But Gambler wasn’t talking.
Yes. Her car. Her very own, pea-soup green VW bug had stopped right at the front door. For a single, spontaneous moment, Jane imagined that the car had driven itself to Orchard Way. To be with her.
Then she thought:
Lily.
It had to be. Lily was here.
She watched as the car’s door opened. Music blared and was cut.
Then
he
stepped out, unfolding his six-foot-plus, pale noodle of a body.
Caleb Price. It took Jane a moment to register this.
She watched him stretch. Back and forth, then side to side, then a toe touch. His glance swept the house before he shambled up the porch steps and flattened a hand to the front door. His other hand passed back and forth across his forehead, rubbing it like a genie’s bottle. One of his habits. Jane could feel the flint of memory strike her anger. It caught and sparked inside her.
What was Caleb Price doing prowling around here?
He edged toward the living room windows, cupping his hands and mashing his face to peer through the glass. Then he stepped away toward the dining room window. Of course he couldn’t see her. But the longer Jane watched him, the more she wondered what it was Caleb Price did see. Did he have the same view of Orchard Way that she did?
She turned to examine her car. Secondhand, it had been a birthday gift from her parents last year. Its hood was still marked by the patchwork of an off-colored paint job, but the car had never gleamed like it did now. Jane had preferred it dusty, broken in, with wavy traces of dried raindrops on the chrome. But Lily liked everything to shine.
Or maybe
he
was the one who kept it so clean.
Abruptly, Caleb turned from the house and jogged down the porch steps, then disappeared around back toward the barn where Granpa housed his tractor. Jane stayed where she was. She spied Ganesha, her elephant-head key-chain ornament, in the ignition.
She’d bought Ganesha at the Metropolitan Museum of Art gift shop last spring, during a school day trip to New York City. The little tag that came with him explained that, according to Hindu belief, Ganesha became the God of All Existing Things after he won a contest against Kartikay, his little brother. Jane had kept the tag in her underwear drawer and had read it until she could recite it.
When given a task to race around the universe, Ganesha did not start the race like Kartikay did, but simply walked around his father and mother as the source of all existence.
Jane had liked Ganesha because he looked like a lucky charm.
She liked him better after she learned he’d won that contest against his younger brother.
Caleb had circled around and now was back at the front of the house. At the front stairs, he reached down and pinched off a branch of verbena. It hung limp between his fingers like a cigarette as he turned and strolled down the lawn. Jane followed. Gambler, too. His tail and ears perked up taut, as though held by strings.
At the steps to the pool, Caleb peeled out of his tattered shoes and sat. He arranged himself neatly. Legs crossed, spine upright, face tipped to the sky. Jane walked to the other end of the pool where she could keep her eyes on him while also keeping her distance.
He couldn’t see her. She was sure, she was positive of that. But could he see something? Caleb Price had a different awareness. Everyone knew that. Ever since that time he’d almost been killed by that dog, Caleb had lived in a cloud of rumors. Kids said crazy things about him. That he could levitate. That he was a mind reader. That his heart beat only twenty-two times per minute.
Jane had been disappointed by that hospital visit allthose years ago. She had wanted more from Caleb. She had wanted
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