“No one guessesorangutanthat fast without peeking!” Dylan yelled at Tully, and the whole room dissolved into laughter.
I slipped away to the kitchen for a glass of water. I took a minute to drink it, enjoying the quiet for a second. I was leaning against the counter when Camden walked in, head ducked, like he’d had the same idea.
“Oh—sorry,” he said, stopping short.
I moved at the same time, which made us bump shoulders. My glass sloshed, dangerously close to spilling.
“Watch it,” I said, half laughing, half flustered.
He reached out instinctively, steadying my wrist before I could drop it.
“Guess I’ll always be crashing into you. Our origin story coming around full circle again and again,” he said softly.
The heat of his hand lingered on my skin, and I pulled back reluctantly. “Some things never change.”
He smiled, softer than his usual smirk, and it made my chest feel strange. “You were good out there,” he said.
I raised an eyebrow. “Turns out I’m excellent at stick figures.”
“That, and we seemed to know what the other person was thinking, whether the drawings were good or not.” His eyes caught mine, playful. “I drew a circle and you yelled, ‘Santa!’ before I even got to the beard or hat!”
We laughed. I didn’t know what to do with the way he was looking at me, so I filled the glass again just to have something to hold.
“We did make a pretty good team,” I said.
“Pretty good.” He nodded. “That’s high praise from you.” His voice had a teasing lilt, but it was quieter, almost thoughtful.
The noise from the living room surged—Noah shouting, Goldie cackling—and the spell snapped. Camden stepped back, running a hand through his hair. “We should probably get back.”
“Right.” I nodded, clutching the glass.
As we walked back into the room, I couldn’t shake the awareness of his shoulder brushing mine.
He leaned in. “Hey, if you’re not too busy, would you want to––”
There was a loud roar of laughter from everyone, and we glanced over, startled. Goldie waved us over.
“You’ve got to hear this,” she said, but before she could say anything else, Stella breezed into the living room, wiping her hands on a dish towel.
Stella Whitman was one of the most beautiful humans ever…one of my favorite people on earth. Besides being gorgeous, she was warm, and kindness seeped out of her pores. She and my mom had been best friends since the time we moved into this neighborhood, and they were more like sisters at this point. Goldie and I had gone on many little getaways with our momsand always had the best time. I’d missed her almost as much as I’d missed Goldie while I’d been away at school.
“You kids are eating me out of house and home,” she said, shaking her head, though her smile was full of affection. “I’m going to run to the store and grab a few more things before you empty out the pantry completely.”
There was a chorus of protests and offers to go with her, but Stella waved everyone off. “I’ll be quick. You won’t even miss me. Keep playing. I love the sound of all my kids here.” She smiled at all of us. “Love all of you people,” she said, giving Everett a kiss.
“Love you!” everyone called out.
“Carefully, babe, the snow is picking up out there,” Everett said.
“Okay, I will,” she said, giving him one more kiss.
The door shut behind her, and the game carried on. But after a while—forty-five minutes, then an hour—Everett called her. While it was ringing, he asked, “Has anyone heard from Mom?”
They checked their phones, and no one had gotten a text or call. Thirty minutes later and still no sign of her, Noah got up. “I can go look for her.”
“She probably ran into someone she knows,” Goldie said, though her voice had a brittle edge.
The room’s energy had shifted. Worry threaded into the sudden silence.
