Under the Viaduct, H. Anderson [top young adult novels .TXT] 📗

pause that seemed to last for hours, he said, “Yeah. Yeah, you can. When I’m back on my feet, I’ll call them.”

Derrick clapped his hands once. “Well, that’s solved.” He handed Blayne a paper he’d just printed out. “Now, go over to one of those computers against the wall and enter your information in. The job number on this paper should be the first one you apply to.”

“What kind of job is it?” Blayne asked.

“A construction job. They don’t care about your past. All they care about is that you show up and work hard and aren’t afraid to work in the elements.”

Blayne snorted. “Elements I am used to.”

Derrick’s lips tightened, and he lowered his voice. “That, I’m sure of.”

Kaylee wrote her phone number down on a sticky note and handed it to Blayne. “I’ll be in the waiting room.”

The drive back to the viaduct was a quiet one. Blayne seemed deep in thought as his leg bounced and he stared out the side window. Kaylee didn’t dare interrupt him. As her tires crunched on the gravel that probably wasn’t supposed to be used as a road, she turned to him. “It will probably be a few days at least before they call.”

“If they call,” he said.

“They will.” She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt. “Maybe you should consider staying at Max’s for a few nights, just so I can find you easier if—when—someone calls.”

He ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. “No. I don’t feel comfortable doing that. I’ll stick close to…”

Her ringing phone interrupted him. “Hello?”

The voice on the other end answered, “Hello. Uh, I’m looking for,”—papers shuffled—“Blayne Ellis?”

Kaylee smiled. “He’s right here, hold on a second.” She handed the phone to a somewhat bewildered Blayne.

His eyes widened as he listened, then he answered, “Yes, ma’am.” He glanced at the clock in the car’s dash. “Yes, I think I can make it there in a half hour.” Listening. “Yes, ma’am, I know where that is.” Listening. “Thank you, ma’am. I’ll see you shortly.”

Missing her hand completely the first time, he handed Kaylee’s phone back to her, nearly dropping it the second time, too.

“Well?” she asked.

He turned to face her, a small smile forming at the corners of his mouth. “Can you take me to an interview?”

“Now?”

He nodded and swallowed. “The lady said they need someone that can start right away and my application was the first one she came to that said that.”

Shifting the car into reverse, Kaylee did a three-point turn and headed back out to a main road. “Where we going?”

“CU Denver. They have a trailer on site for a construction job there—a business school—she wants to interview me there. I’m hoping you know where that is?”

“I do.” She smiled at him and squeezed his hand before concentrating to pull out onto the busy street.

She parked a couple of buildings away at Blayne’s request. Now Kaylee waited impatiently for him to return. He’d been gone for over thirty minutes. She chewed on her nails, a habit she had picked up as a pre-teen. She spit a bit of fingernail toward the steering wheel and cursed under her breath as she surveyed the damage to her thumb-nail.

It was an unusually warm day for the end of December, and she sat with the car off and the window cracked just a little to keep the windows from fogging up. She replayed the phone conversation she’d had with Blayne’s mom after he’d headed for his interview. The call had been full of tears and thanks. She’d thought for sure her son was dead, buried in some unmarked grave somewhere. She thanked Kaylee over and over and promised to send his birth certificate overnight mail. As badly as she wanted to talk to her son, she understood why he wanted to wait, and told Kaylee to tell him she and his dad and sister love him and couldn’t wait to see him again.

She’d taken a break before calling her own mom to tell her to expect the package and send it on to Kaylee ASAP.

“Kaylee!”

She jumped and looked out the windshield. Blayne, big grin on his face, hurried toward her, waving some papers in his hand. She smiled as she threw open the car door and hurried to him. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground. “I got the job! I start tomorrow.”

He set her down and stared into her eyes. “This would never have happened without your help.”

Blood rushed to her head. His clean, crisp scent filled her nose and his joyful eyes filled her sight. His hands still rested at her waist, the papers in one of them rattled in the breeze, her hands on his shoulders, and she froze, afraid that any movement would make him let go and step away. And she did not want him to let go. Did she? Her body gave a resounding “no,” but her mind flew to the multitude of reasons why she should. She stepped back and dropped her arms to her sides awkwardly. “That’s great! So, so great!” Her vocabulary had taken the midnight train to Georgia, or something.

“Yeah,” his voice rose in pitch a little and he cleared his throat. “She…uh…she said I can borrow some tools and a tool belt until I have money to buy my own. But I need some steel-toed boots. Do you think the shelter would have any?”

“That’s great.” Kaylee winced inside at her third use of “that’s great” in the last ten seconds. “I mean, that’s really nice of her. Let’s go see if the shelter has boots.”

Blayne’s face turned sullen, and he looked at the ground and mumbled. “Did you get a hold of my parents?”

“Oh,” Kaylee clapped her hands together, “yes! I talked to your mom, and she was so sweet and so relieved to know you’re okay. She cried the whole time—happy tears. She’s going to overnight your birth certificate to my parents’ house then