“I’m sorry, I eat hot stuff all the time. I don’t even taste the spice anymore. Do you want me to make you a new one with just Hadley’s Pico?”
“I’m good.” She waved her hand in front of her mouth a few more times. “Actually,” she gave me a squeamish smile, “I might use your bathroom if you don’t mind.”
“Sure.” I motioned with my finger to the hall and watched her go. When she was out of sight, I brought my eyes to Hadley. “How’s your taco?”
“Mine doesn’t fluster.” She eyed her taco as if she expected it to dance or something. “Is yours flustering?”
Looking down at my empty plate, I hardly remembered eating either of my tacos, let alone tasting them, but they were gone. “Yeah, mine was flustering.”
“Hey, Dad.” Hadley straightened her spine, sitting up even taller. “Can I show Elinora my room?”
“Sure…if she wants to see it.” I dabbed a napkin to the corner of my mouth.
Hadley shot up from the table and ran down the hall, yelling into the closed bathroom door, “Wanna see my room when you’re done pooping?”
Shaking my head at Hadley’s superpower ability to humble me, I wanted to slide off my chair and hide under the table. Sometimes it was too much. Thankfully, the bathroom door cracked, and Elinora emerged with an amused smile on her lips. “Sure, I’d love to see it.”
“Are you coming too, Dad?” Hadley glanced over her shoulder.
I held my breath. This was one of those times where it would appear I was pushing too hard. I hadn’t planned on it. Now that it was all unfolding, I also didn’t want to stop it. “If you want me to.”
“Let’s show her what we made.” Hadley led the way down the little hall to the only bedroom in the apartment and opened the door, announcing, “Tada!”
Elinora lumbered into the room and her lips parted, but she didn’t speak as she turned in slow motion. Truthfully, I was terrified for her to see it. Just as I thought she might not notice it, Hadley exclaimed, “Look at my wish strings!” I closed my eyes, praying it didn’t look like I was pushing too hard.
eleven
Elinora
My heart thumped against my rib cage so hard, it was going to bruise. A long knotted dandelion string draped from the curtain rod of Hadley’s window. The flashback it gave me was so beautiful it hurt. I didn’t know what it meant, but the silence in the room told me it meantsomething.“I need to use your restroom again.” I tucked back out of the room without looking at Graham, who stood watching me from across the hall.
“Are you feeling okay?” Graham called through the bathroom door. His words were hesitant at best.
“I’m maybe fine.” I tried to pace, but the tiny bathroom was only a few feet long. I dropped to sit on the edge of the tub while I drove my thumb nail between my lips, biting down hard. Over and over while his footsteps traipsed down the hall and back again.
He must have had his face pressed to the door when he asked in a quiet voice, “Are you sure? I can get you some medicine?”
My nail broke into my mouth, and I spit it in the trash. It was a disgusting habit I never let anyone see, but it was my lifeline to sanity now. “No medicine.”
“There’s a drugstore right down the street. They are open twenty-four hours and will have anything you need.”
“No, thanks.” After a moment, his footsteps padded away. I sat on the edge of the tub and stared at the wall.Why is this affecting me so much?
It didn’t make sense for a guy I’d known for the shortest summer in my youth to have stayed in my head all these years. Nor was it explainable that we’d run into each other without even trying, that we both got so flustered when we were around each other.
And the dandelion strings . . .
It meant he hadn’t forgotten me either.
I ran cold water in the sink and splashed a big wave on my face. My shoulders cringed as my mind alerted and reset, freeing me of my fluster. With brave fingers, I opened the door and emerged to find the bedroom light dark. A soft clattering noise came from the kitchen.
I tiptoed down the hall and found Hadley snuggled on the center sectional couch with a pink blanket, watching a cartoon on the older model TV in front of her. Her eyelids drooped as I snuck past the living room to join Graham at the sink, where he was washing the dishes. “Are you better?” He kept his eyes low on his scrub brush, moving it in a circle on a plate.
I walked until I was standing shoulder to shoulder with him. “I don’t know.”
“You can sit down if you want, or I can take you home.” A look of concern washed over his face as he turned and squared his body with mine.
My gut fell into a freefall. “I’m not sick.” His gaze softened but it never wavered. I didn’t dare move. If I did, I wouldn’tstop until I was in his arms. The image of Hadley’s room and the dandelion strings slammed into my brain. “When did you do that?”
