Chapter 6

Bo said he shouldn’t have given up on me so quickly, and I shouldn’t stop looking. Maybe he was right.

* * * *

When I got back home, I saw Ernie sitting on the porch swing. It swayed gently back and forth. I walked up the steps and sat beside him.

“You didn’t want to go into town with the others?” I asked. It was Saturday night, after all.

“Nah. I rarely ever do. Thought I’d hang out here and wait for you.”

Okay…“Why?”

“I thought you could use some company after the thing with Jonah.”

“Well, I appreciate that, but—”

He cut me off. “Did you have fun this afternoon?” he asked, continuing to rock us in a soothing rhythm. I noticed in the dim porch light that Ernie had changed from the sweaty clothes I’d seen him in earlier into a faded T-shirt and jeans. His head was bare.

“It was eye-opening,” I replied. “It turned into something of an orgy. Not for me, though.”

“Bo still mooning over Bulldog?” he asked, staring up at the sky. The stars were pretty this time of night.