Rip choked.
I laughed as I tucked my legs up right as he lifted and put them down when it felt about right. He slammed the door closed as soon as I was in the seat, and I couldn’t help but smile at how unnecessarily nice he was being. The second he was behind the wheel, I told him, “Rip, you know you don’t have to be nice to me because of the accident. It wasn’t your fault.”
He didn’t even bother sliding me an annoyed look. “We already talked this shit over.”
This shit.
And he didn’t blame himself.
Yeah, sure.
“Good, I’m glad you don’t blame yourself, but seriously, you don’t have to drive me around. I’m not Miss Daisy. We’re even. We’re good. I would still go to work if you and Mr. C let me, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
What did he pick up on? “We’re still not even,” he had the nerve to try and claim, using that dry tone with me.
I didn’t want or mean to glare at him, but… what the hell? “Why?”
He shrugged. “’Cause we’re not.”
Right then, my phone vibrated, and I glanced down to find a new message from my sister. Then another one came in.
Lily:I have to work until 5 but COME SEE ME. I MISS YOU SO MUCH.
Lily:You can hang out at the restaurant with me.
Another one came in before I finished reading the first two.
Lily:My room is really small but SLEEPOVER. We can share a bed like old times.
And then another one came in, and I couldn’t help but smile at her messages.
Lily:Are you already on your way?
I loved her. I loved her so much.
Me:Not yet but I will.
“What’s that smile for?” asked the man beside me.
Slipping my phone back into my purse, I still couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. “My little sister has to work, but she told me to come see her, so I guess I am going to get a car to take me.” Just thinking about her made me feel better. “I miss her so much,” I told him with a sigh. “And even though I’m really sorry about your truck, and I feel bad I have to take time off, I’m excited I get to go see her. I could use a few dozen of her hugs.”
He “hmmed” me.
Making a list in my head of what I should pack, I was genuinely surprised when my phone started vibrating, but not in the way it did with a message. It was a call. Half expecting it to be Lily, I paused when I had it in my hand and saw the San Antonio area code on the screen. Was it the lawyer guy again?
I only hesitated for a second before answering. “Hello?”
There was a loud noise in the background before a man’s voice came over the line. “This Luna?”
Okay. That didn’t sound at all like the man I had spoken to weeks ago over Grandma Genie. “Yes?” I replied, knowing I sounded uncertain but not really caring.
“Fucking finally,” the man on the line muttered, and I had to pull the phone away from my face to look at it, because who the hell was this?
“Excuse me?” I asked when I brought it back to my face.
He didn’t make me wait. “We need to talk,” the man went on, shooting the words out quickly. “Sooner the better.”
Wait.Wait.
