“I can help,” I offered.
This time, it was my mom who looked from me to Joe and back again, a pleat forming between her eyebrows.
I busied myself collecting empty serving plates while Joe drank his tea and bagged up the trash.
“We’ll be home in an hour,” Nicole said as he loaded the cooler onto a handcart. “An hour and a half, tops.”
As if she expected to come home and find a sock on Joe’s bedroom door. My flush deepened.Not that he had…
Not that we would…
“Ready?” Joe asked.
“Yes!” Too loud. Too eager.
His mouth crooked.
I ducked my head, avoiding my mother’s eyes.
We climbed the hill to the Village, the sun striking through the leaves. Birds flitted and called in the trees. From the carriage barns, the smell of hay and horses carried on the breeze.
“Thanks for being nice to my sister,” Joe said.
The starburst in my chest swelled, radiating heat through my whole body. “It’s easy. Today was fun.”
“Yeah.” He frowned at the road ahead as if it were a problem he had to solve.
We moved to the side of the road as a big three-horse-hitch carriage plodded by with a load of visitors touring the island. I waved.
“She told me a little about her ADHD,” I said as we resumed walking. “You know, she doesn’t need you to fix her. Some things she just has to figure out on her own. All you can do is love her.”
“You would know.”
Why would I know? Because Hailey and I were kindred spirits? Because I didn’t want someone to fix me, either? Because I wanted Joe to lo— My heart stumbled.
“Because you’re a teacher,” he said.
Right. Right. “That doesn’t make me an expert.”
“And you’re female,” he continued, oblivious.
I pulled my straggling thoughts into line. “Hailey said something about ADHD presenting differently in girls,” I said.
“No, yeah. Guys have it easy. They can dig a hole or kick a ball or go fishing and that makes them friends. Girls need…”
“Tea parties,” I supplied.
A corner of his mouth ticked. “Something like that. How did you get her to invite Liv?”
“Extortion.”
He shot me a startled look.
I grinned. “You know Liv has a crush on you.”
He grunted.
“Not that I blame her,” I added. “You do have that whole tall, dark, and broody older-man vibe going on.”
