She was intrigued. “I’ve never gone through a car wash before.”
The receipt jerked in his hand. “You’ve never washed your car.”
“That’s what rain is for.”
“You can’t be serious.” He looked faint.
Nadine should have known that a man who ironed his socks would not see this in the same light as she did. She looked out the window and saw the faded “Wash Me” her brother had written with his finger the last time she was home. “All right,” she said. “I’ll try it.”
Wes paid for her snacks, and although he didn’t skip back out to the car, it was close.
“What do I do?” she asked.
“Drive over there.” He pointed to the entrance. “Then we make sure the windows are up and put it in neutral. That’s it.”
“No people?” she asked.
“Not at this one.”
Nadine pulled up as Wes opened the bag of BBQ chips. “Is this something you do a lot?” she asked. “Go through car washes?”
He picked out the perfect wish chip, its sides folded until they touched, and handed it to her. “It’s calming. You’ll see.”
“You like things tidy,” said Nadine. She closed her eyes and made her usual wish, the one that hadn’t changed since she was a teenager. The car lurched forward, and a spray of water obscured the windshield.
“I do.” He ate a chip. “It makes me feel as if part of my life is under control. I suppose I should have added that to my answer about the ironed clothes when you asked.”
Before she could reply, huge rags slapped against the car, and soapy water sluiced over the windshield as Nadine’s phone dinged at the same time as Wes’s did. “You owe me a beer,” she said absently. She hoped the message wasn’t another one from Lisanne, although that was gutless, and she should just deal with her friend’s success. But she was still too sour about the situation, which she didn’t feel good about.
It was her mother checking in, which wasn’t much better.Where are you? We went by your apartment with some food and your downstairs neighbor says you haven’t been home.
She was going to kill Otto when she saw him, the snitch.He’s been in and out so he probably didn’t see me, she lied. It was easier to throw Otto under the bus. One day, she could tell her mother to bug off, but that wasn’t today.
Okay, sweetie! Happy you’re safe. Lunch next week? Your dad cleared out your old room.
That was strange.Okay, but why?
So you can move in! Have you talked to your landlord about your lease?
Nadine ground her teeth.Mom, I said I was fine.
Sweetie, you know we’re right.
She shut her eyes until she heard Wes put away his phone. He gaveher a crooked smile. “My mother.”
“No way. Mine too.”
They sat in silence as the car shook from blasts of air. Nadine watched the little balls of water slide up the windshield. “You want to talk about yours?” she asked.
“Not really. You?”
“No.”
The car jerked, and Wes nodded at the gearshift. “You can put it in drive now. We’re done.”
Nadine drove away, marveling at how much she could see. Maybe Wes was onto something with this car washing idea. She merged back into traffic.
“The thing is,” they said at the same time.