“Fine. We’ll circle back. What are you wearing over the top?”
I reach for the green cardigan. She slaps my hand away. “No, Lily. Bad.”
I pull it on anyway. It’s my lucky charm, even if I’ll never admit that to her.
There’s ten minutes until we have to leave for the café when a knock sounds at the door leading to the stairs. I open it to find Brandon standing there.
He’s never come upstairs before.
“Hi,” I say, startled. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, fine.” He’s about to say something, but then his eyes sweep over me. “You look beautiful.”
“Oh.” I blink. “Thank you.”
He gives a small, almost self-conscious smile. “I have a surprise for you—a present.”
“For me?”
“Yes. From the music shop.”
He lifts a tall black canvas bag into view.
“A guitar case?” Ellenor asks, appearing beside me.
“A gig bag,” he explains. “Soft and padded. You can wear it like a backpack. I thought it might make your walks to the café easier, now that you’re a regular performer.”
“Wow. Thank you,” I breathe.
He turns it so I can see the logo printed on the side: Cole Clark.
“Oh my God…”
“It matches your guitar,” he continues. “I had to special order it from London—”
His voice cuts off as I hug him without thinking, my arms wrapping around him before I can stop myself. His coat smells faintly of cedar.
“I can’t believe you did this,” I whisper against his shoulder. “Thank you.”
He doesn’t speak, but I catch the faintest sound of a quietly pleased chuckle.
“Aww, you guys are so cute,” Ellenor drawls before snapping her fingers. “And where’s my present, Brando?”
We both know she’s joking, but it surprises me when Brandon says, “Check your phone.”
She frowns. “What are you on about—?” Her eyes widen. “No. Is this real?”
“What is it?” I ask.
“He sent me aWords with Friendsrequest.”
“I thought it might make amends for the game I abandoned,” he says mildly.
“Might.”She narrows her eyes at him. “But only if you actually finish this one.”
“We’ll see.”
Ellenor insists they each place a word now in the interest of maintaining ‘foreign relations’.
