August Moon Read Free Page B

into Battle Lake, already bustling as tourists drove their boats and RVs into town. I nodded at Harold Penderly, the owner of the Hardware Hank, out front washing his own windows, and pulled into the library parking lot, cruising into the spot marked “Reserved for Librarian.” I stared at the yellow brick building that I had come to know so well, and shook my head to clear out any sentimentality.
    The phone greeted me shrilly as I unlocked the front door. I jogged over to it, my keys jingling in my hand. “Hello?”
    “Mira! I was hoping I’d get you.”
    My heart leapt to kiss the phone and then dropped like a bag of kittens tossed in a river. “Johnny?”
    “Yeah! How are you? I just called your house, but you weren’t home. Did you know Kennie Rogers is there?”
    Anger, disappointment, and a third, unrecognizable emotion fought for my attention. “Yes. What can I do for you?”
    He sighed. “You sound mad, Mira. I don’t blame you. I should have called last night, and I’m sorry I didn’t. You know when I left you to go check in with my mom? When I got to her place, there was a call from the University of Wisconsin. At Madison.” There was a pause as he waited for me to respond. “Mira? Are you there?”
    “Yup.”
    “It’s amazing, but it was one of my old professors! She said she has a six-week project she needs a research assistant for, and it might lead to a full ride for fall semester. She said she needed me out here immediately.”
    “Here? You mean you’re in Madison right now?” My old friend, the hangover, suddenly felt like a hangman’s noose.
    “Yeah!”
    “I thought you were taking a year off to help your mom.” It was a spiteful thing to say, and I immediately regretted it after I heard the guilt in Johnny’s voice.
    “I was, but she said she’s fine and would never forgive herself if I didn’t go.”
    “Well, I guess there’s nothing holding you back. Good luck.”
    He was quiet on the other end of the line, so quiet that I almost apologized for my chirpy, dismissive words. “I’ll be visiting a lot. There are some people in Battle Lake who I care a lot about.”
    “Yeah, there’s some nice people here.” I squished my eyes shut. I hated being a crybaby.
    “I mean you, Mira. I think we have something.”
    “I guess we’ll never know, huh? You’re in Madison, and I’m moving back to the Cities.”
    “What?”
    “Yeah, there’s not much for me in Battle Lake, you know?” I liked myself a little less with every word that cracked out of my mouth, but I couldn’t stop. “You’re a good friend, and we should keep it that way. Hey, maybe we can be pen pals!”
    A pause. “That’s what you want?”
    “It is. I’ll be sure to check in on your mom for you when you’re gone, okay? Until I move, that is.”
    “Okay. Fine. Bye.”
    “Bye, Jeff!”
    “What?”
    “Johnny, I meant! Sorry. I was just putting away a book by some Jeff guy. It’s still early, for me. Bye, Johnny .” The name of my murdered ex-lover dangled heavy in the air between us, and I couldn’t for the life of me decide if I had thrown it out there on purpose.
    He hung up without another word. I went into the back room to splash water on my face. On the way, I gathered all my feelings around me like a billowing parachute, carefully folding and tucking until they fit into a neat knapsack, which I put off to the side. It was the last time in my life I’d be able to compartmentalize so easily.

August lumbered in, the weather grew impossibly hotter, and farmers muttered about drought as their crops turned crispy and their irrigation systems taxed the water supply. The tourists loved the hot, clear weather, and the beaches and local shops were packed like seeds in a pomegranate. The out-of-towners seemed not to notice the lawns turning brown or the watering bans, and happily packed themselves into Stub’s every night to enjoy live music and juicy, butter-knife steaks. In this way, the dance between