Hours later, Iwas in my sweatpants, eating freshly procured rainbow sherbet, going through my parents’ bookshelves looking for something to read. Grocery shopping had been anentire ordeal where we walked down every aisle, sometimes more than once, while Gram tried to convince me to go down with her and Gramps to Sacramento. She was convinced that if I just checked out the boys in the Aces chapter down there, I’d find someone to cure me of my doldrums.
She’d actually said doldrums.
Mom was on a mission and left us halfway through the trip and was waiting in the car by the time we were done.
I was freaking exhausted, and I didn’t want to talk to anyone for the rest of the day.
Dad was somewhere outside, Mom had disappeared into her room, and I could’ve sworn that I could hear my phone ticking like a bomb where I’d stuffed it in the bottom of my suitcase.
On the bright side, we hadn’t run into anyone we knew at the store, and before we’d split up, I’d thrown a bunch of snacks in Mom’s cart while she pretended that she didn’t notice.
Finding an old favorite of my dad’s on the shelf, I carried the book over to the couch and settled in. One of the best things about growing up with parents who were readers was that when they saw you in the middle of a book, they generally left you alone. I couldn’t count the nights over the years when I’d looked up from whatever story had captured my attention and realized that the three of us had been sitting for hours in complete silence, all of us absorbed in our own novels.
I’d barely reached the fourth chapter when there was a quick knock on the front door, and then it swung inward. Scootching down in my spot, I barely glanced up, hoping that whoever it was would walk right past me. Instead, my cousin Rumi stopped and ruffled my hair.
“Hey, loser, where’s your pop?”
“Out back,” I answered, jerking away from his hand.
“Cool.”
He disappeared toward the back of the house, and I realized his wife was still standing in the entryway.
“Hey, Nova,” I said, closing my book. I could find my page again easily—I’d read the book so many times before. “What are you guys doing today?”
“Rum wanted to borrow something from your dad,” she replied, moving over to sit on the other side of the couch. “He can’t find a couple of his tools, and he thinks they got stolen.”
“He probably left them somewhere.”
“I know, but don’t tell him that, or he’ll go on and on about howhetakes care of his tools.”
“Ah, the bliss of zero self-awareness.”
Nova laughed and leaned back against the couch. “What are you up to?”
“Went shopping with my mom and Gram earlier, and now I plan on rotting for the rest of the day.” I lifted my book and snuggled even further into the couch.
Nova nodded and glanced around the room. I watched her carefully because it seemed like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t. My shoulders started to tighten with anxiety, but I tried to keep my expression neutral, waiting for whatever it was.
“Listen,” she said finally, turning her head to look at me. “I just wanted to tell you if you feel like doing something while you’re home, I’m usually available in the evenings. I mean, Thursdays I work until seven, but all the other nights I get off at five. There’s a new used bookstore downtown and a place where you can drink beer and paint canvases that I’ve never been to and thought looked kind of cool.”
I tried not to look surprised.
“You know,” she said with a shrug. “If you want to. Rotting is fun, too.”
“I’d love to,” I said quickly. “Man, that is not what I thought you were gearing up to say.”
Nova shot me a small smile. “Yeah.”
“Go ahead,” I said with a sigh. “Hit me.”
Her eyes twinkled, and she backhanded my shin.
“That’s not what I meant.” I lightly kicked her thigh.
“I don’t have anything to say,” she replied. “I know what it’s like to have the whole club talking about you. Having that kind of family is a good thing in a lot of ways, but the downside is that everyone is always in everyone else’s business.”
“No shit.”
