OCR Text |
Show 68. the other room, they heard the coughing subside. JD wished he hadn't said anything at all. JD studied the syrup left on his plate, then shoved back his chair, too. It wasn't that he'd have to swallow his own pride to go. He owed Mr. Evans more than money for that loan. No one else would have given it to him. And Gayle. She'd acted so pleased when she handed him the little note her mother had written. He didn't want to hurt her feelings. "Maybe Bob Gillispie won't let me off the hook," JD said, to no one in particular. "It might all be decided for me-" The air was snappy with cold when JD left home the next Friday night to walk to Gayle's. He'd been keyed up all day. Walking would do him good. Besides, Gayle had promised to meet him so they could be alone a few minutes before the dinner party, as Mrs. Evans called it. His dad hadn't said anything about the invitation since Sunday. JD knew he was trying not to interfere, even though the association with Charlie Evans galled him so much he could hardly stand it. Actually, having to ask off work had tortured JD more than anything else. Bob Gillispie had laid down the law twice already. As it turned out, Mr. Evans had called Gillispie and personally asked if JD could get off Friday night. "'We've planned our whole evening around JD Anderson!'" Gillispie had mimicked Charlie Evans talking to him on the phone. "'We're having other guests who count on seeing him.' Hell," he'd gone on, slamming a lid on the iron pot. "Look what you got yourself into with that crazy UFO story!" JD had simply stood there, waiting for what his boss would say next. The answer could be yes, no, or kiss off! Charlie Evans was a big man in Red Butte, but Gillispie with his pinched mind and nasty disposition wouldn't like being shoved around by influence. "Could I work Sunday instead of Friday? Would it make that much difference?" JD asked. "The difference is that I can't count on you anymore. I don't want help who has to play games with the schedule all the time. I'm trying to run a business here." In the end, Gillispie had told him to go, but also warned that he was on probation. Any more shenanigans and he could look for work |