The Skyline is warm and smells like fries, grilled meat, and everything good in the world. A handful of patrons occupy the booths, and a cheerful waitress with a Santa hat points us toward an open table near the back.
We slide into the booth and find an outlet to plug our phones into. The menus are laminated and feature all kinds of comfort food and delicious-looking fare.
"This place is nice," I say, scanning the options. "I want to eat everything."
Harlon's watching me with that soft expression again, and when I look up, he quickly studies something fascinating on his menu. "Pot roast sounds incredible right now."
Our phones both buzz to life simultaneously from the wall.
I grab mine, seeing a flood of texts from Sadie.
Are you alive? The roads are terrible!
Please tell me you found shelter
PIPER ANSWER ME
Harlon isn't answering either which is making me nervous
I glance at Harlon, who's staring at his own phone.
"She thinks we’re both dead," I say.
"Yeah." He types something and hits send. "I told her we're both fine. That we’re in Hope Peak and had to wait out the storm in a cabin last night."
My phone vibrates.
BOTH of you???
You were in the same cabin TOGETHER?
Oh this is EXCELLENT
What happened??
No—don’t tell me. Just take your time. Get here safe. Really. Take all the time you need.
I look up at Harlon. "She knows."
"She suspects."
"Those are not suspicion emojis. Those are 'I'm definitely into this and I'm smug about it' emojis."
He sighs, rubbing his face. "Sadie's been wanting this for a while."
"What?" The word comes out too loud, and I lower my voice. "She has not. What are you talking about?”
He meets my eyes. "She told me once that she thought we'd be better together than you and Jayce."
My heart goes berserk. "When?"
"About a year ago. I told her she was insane, and to drop it." His voice goes quiet. "That even if…” he stops himself. “That I wouldn’t do that to my own brother.”
The waitress appears before we can dwell on that, and we both order quickly—pot roast for him, shepherd's pie for me. The moment she's gone, the tension settles back over us like a heavy blanket.
“Maybe we should talk about something else, then,” I say, rubbing my arms.
He nods. “What’s new on the app front? Last I heard, Sadie mentioned a stargazing app you built.”
