Vex grins from ear to ear. “Isn’t love grand?”
Idiot.
My phone vibrates.
Fiona:Dash’s mom is here.
What? “Gotta go. Someone take notes for me.”
“I will,” Everett smiles and turns to Ethan. “Wanna see me activate a nuke?”
Definitely an aneurysm.
Mine
Fiona
“You’re all anyone is talking about on The Street.” Hope sits down next to me on the picnic table.
Great. “That was all supposed to be a secret.”
Hope snorts. “There are no secrets here. This place is one big soap opera. We should call it Willow Street Lives…or maybe The Ever-Changing Lives of the Women of Willow Street…no, that’s too long. The Street of Change. Days and Nights of Willow Street.” She shakes her head. “The girls and I will have to brainstorm some more. But every girl is demanding Dyce train them so they can stand up to the bad guys.”
“Hope, I didn’t do it alone.”
She grins. “I know. Dad carried you out of there. The two of you are in love. Nonna said you’re going to get married soon. Can I be your maid of honor? Daria and I could do it together. We could get matching dresses and walk down together. I don’t think Dad is going to have a best man because Uncle Gabe won’t do it.”
“Honey, it’s not that he won’t. It’s that he can’t. He needs a lot of therapy before he starts walking again.”
“Still.” She pouts. “I could have pushed him down the aisle. How are we going to work on finding him a wife if he’s living in this weird rehab center in the middle of nowhere? Uncle Antonio hates the idea. He wants Gabe to get a therapist to come here.”
“That’s not how it works, Hope. Doctors of that caliber have to help more than one person at a time.”
“Dad could pay the doctor whatever to come take care of Uncle Gabe personally. Maybe Nonna and I could find him a beautiful physical therapist. She could move into Uncle Gabe’s house, and they could fall in love.”
“You’ve been reading way too many romance novels, young lady.”
“I know, but wouldn’t it be romantic?”
“And illegal.”
She waves her hand. “Details. No one cares if you’re in love.”
“Doesn’t he already have a therapist at the rehab center?”
“Details.” She sips her hot coffee. “Did you know Cammie and Raid are still flirting with each other? They need to start dating.”
“How did your dating drama go?”
“Horrible. None of my tricks are working. He still won’t date me.”
I bet Max loves that.
“Nonna won’t help me come up with a plan. She said to respect his wishes too, and waiting until I’m older wouldn’t be a bad thing. Now I’m thinking of dating someone else.”
WHAT? “Why? I thought you loved him.”
“I do. But I’m a teenager, and I wanna date. I wanna go to prom, not with my cousin or one of my friends. I wanna make out with someone at the movie theater. I want to go on a hayride.”
