mentioned to Jamie that we’d better be going. My mom got the car keys from her
pocketbook and handed them to me, still giving me the once-over as we headed out the
door. I breathed a sigh of relief, imagining that I’d somehow gotten away with something,
but as I walked Jamie to the car, I heard my mother’s voice again.
“Come on over anytime, Jamie!” my mom shouted. “You’re always welcome here.”
Even mothers could stick it to you sometimes.
I was still shaking my head as I got in the car.
“Your mother’s a wonderful lady,” Jamie said.
I started the engine. “Yeah,” I said, “I guess so.”
“And your house is beautiful.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You should count your blessings.”
“Oh,” I said, “I do. I’m practically the luckiest guy alive.”
Somehow she didn’t catch the sarcastic tone of my voice.
We got to the orphanage just about the time it was getting dark. We were a couple of
minutes early, and the director was on the phone. It was an important call and he couldn’t
meet with us right away, so we made ourselves comfortable. We were waiting on a bench
in the hallway outside his door, when Jamie turned to me. Her Bible was in her lap. I
guess she wanted it for support, but then again, maybe it was just her habit.
“You did really well today,” she said. “With your lines, I mean.”
“Thanks,” I said, feeling proud and dejected at exactly the same time. “I still haven’t
learned my beats, though,” I offered. There was no way we could practice those on the
porch, and I hoped she wasn’t going to suggest it.
“You will. They’re easy once you know you all the words.”
“I hope so.”
Jamie smiled, and after a moment she changed the subject, sort of throwing me off
track. “Do you ever think about the future, Landon?” she asked.
I was startled by her question because it sounded … so ordinary.
“Yeah, sure. I guess so,” I answered cautiously.
“Well, what do you want to do with your life?”
I shrugged, a little wary of where she was going with this. “I don’t know yet. I
haven’t figured that part out. I’m going to UNC next fall, at least I hope so. I have to get
accepted first.”
“You will,” she said.
“How do you know?”