Page 184 - Where the Dream Ends ebook

Marc Erdrich

“Will you spend the night with me?” he blurted out, inter-
rupting her. He heard himself say it, but he couldn’t believe it.
His face flushed, his eyes became glassy, and the old familiar
itch in his back was there to trouble him. Cathy, on the other
hand, eighteen-year-old Cathy, didn’t miss a beat. She looked
straight into his eyes.

“Maybe,” she said, playfully.

“Maybe?” He let go of her hands, leaned back and sat up
straight in his chair. Just then several of Cathy’s friends came
into the room chattering.

“Hey Cathy, us and some of the guys are goin’ over to the
lake. Wanna come?” one of them asked. They ignored Eddie
completely. Cathy looked at them, then at Eddie, then back to
them.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Just give me a few minutes.” Eddie looked
disappointed.

“Well, I guess that settles the maybe.”

“No… no, I’ll come,” she said. I’ll just go over to the lake
with the gang for a while — I don’t want to run out on them
— and then I’ll come over to your place. Where do you live?

“Just a few miles from here,” he said, his enthusiasm re-
turning. “You take the old turnpike out to Maple Avenue, then
turn left. I’m the third driveway on the right, about a half mile
down the road. You can’t miss it. It’s gravel. I’m the cottage on
your right as you come up the drive.

“Okay, then,” she said. “I’ll… I’ll see you later.”

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