She tapped on her name, but the call went straight to voicemail. She didn’t have April’s or Olive’s numbers, so she did the only thing she knew to do and went to Ramona’s house. It was close enough to walk, but Dylan wasn’t too proud at this moment to run, cameras be damned.
And she was sure they were on her. She heard her name through the breeze, Ramona’s name too, and the whole situation made her head and heart feel as though they’d switched places in her body.
You’reina publicity stunt, Dylan.
Dylan slowed to a calm but brisk walk, which probably made her look even more ridiculous.
She could fix this.
Shewouldfix this.
At the Rileys’ front door, she straightened her tee—an old Evenflow shirt she often wore to set, because she didn’t give a shit if it got lost or stolen or ruined. She knocked on the door, a green-leafed wreath circling the small glass window in the center. She held her breath, thought of what she could possibly say when she saw Ramona, but as the door latched open and Mr. Riley appeared, she still had nothing.
“Hey there, Dylan,” he said.
“Hi, Mr. Riley.”
“She’s not here.”
Dylan’s mouth opened but closed again. Ramona’s dad stood in the doorway, wearing the most dad clothes Dylan could imagine—khaki pants and a short-sleeved navy button-up—and he held a cup of what smelled like Earl Grey tea, wore glasses on the end of his nose. It was all sonormal, tears swelled into Dylan’s eyes.
Then they raced down her cheeks, not even bothering to ask Dylan’s permission. They simplyran, as though set free from captivity.
“Oh, Dylan,” Mr. Riley said. “Honey, it’s okay.”
Thehoneyjust made it all worse, a veritable flood, and Dylan could only stand there swiping furiously at her face.
“Come in,” Mr. Riley said, opening the door wider. “I’m sure she’ll be back soon. I’ll make you some tea.”
Dylan shook her head, sniffing snot back into her nose. If she went into that house now, she’d probably end up sobbing against Mr. Riley’s chest. “That’s okay, but thank you. I’m going to go try and find her.”
Of course she said all of this between hiccups, which just made her look all the more pathetic.
“Let me at least get you a tissue,” Mr. Riley said.
Dylan laughed, then nodded, and Mr. Riley disappeared for a few seconds before returning with a whole box of lotion-infused Kleenex.
“Thanks,” Dylan said, taking the gift without argument. She plucked a white tissue from the box, wiped at her face.
“No problem,” he said. “You know, Ramona usually likes to go to the lake when she wants to think. Ponder life, I guess.”
Dylan paused in her cleanup. “Yeah?”
He nodded, a small smile on his lips. “It’s a big lake, of course, and I’m not sure exactly where she is, but you know, if you needed some ideas.”
Dylan smiled back, then threw her arms around Mr. Riley in a quick hug. He patted her back, and, after a few more effusive thank-yous, Dylan took off down the street with her box of Kleenex.
She knew exactly where she would find Ramona Riley.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
Ramona was relievedthat the moon was full and bright. The sun had just disappeared for good, her phone was turned off, and she wasn’t nearly ready to leave this beach.
This cove.
Theircove.
