I winced and pretended not to overhear. This was brutal. The worst. I regretted not bringing headphones, and the next hour was the same level of awkward. Steve askingnormalquestions, and Nora answering like she was competition to be the weirdest person on the plant.
“Nora, what do you do for fun?”
“Oh, I like chopping off my hair and collecting ladybugs to fight my plants’ enemies.”
If she was going to legit try to make new friends, or date, she needed to bring everything down to level two…not keep it at level-ten crazy. Needing to escape the awkwardness, I made my way over to the west side of the lake and started in on the newspapers and cups littered everywhere. Teens loved coming to the lake to hang out—and drink and smoke and hook up—but seeing all the legit damage made me want to do more to help. I could try to do this every other weekend. Get Grace and Gilly to come. Okay, Gilly would find an excuse, but still, there was more we could do.
The June sun beat on my neck, and I immediately thought of Nora. The poor woman never saw that much sun, and I didn’t even think to offer her sunscreen. I’d figured we’d be done before the heat got bad, but shit. My skin was already sensitive to the touch, and I looked over to see if she had any redness.
Steve bent over to pick up trash while another woman—not Nora—stood next to him and laughed. I frowned.
Did my buddy just ditch her? That shit wasn’t cool. I walked toward him, and he nodded in greeting when I got a few feet away. “Dude, where’s Nora?”
“Oh, your friend?” he said, laughing and making his eyes go wide. “She asked me about marriage, Fritz. Marriage. Things got uncomfortable after that, and she excused herself to use the facilities.”
“Christ. I know she’s…she’s different, but she’s into volunteering and donating, and I know that’s your thing.”
He nodded and took off a glove and put his hand on my shoulder. “You meant well. Didn’t work. At all. Like, no match. And honestly, not sure I’m up for you trying to set me up again.”
“She’s not….” I stopped. “You sticking around to help finish?”
“Hell yeah. It’s gorgeous outside and plus…” he said, jutting his finger over his shoulder. He mouthedhot moms.
“Thanks for driving out. If you’re up for doing it again, let me know. Pisses me off seeing all the trash.”
“You got it. And by again, you mean you and me, right?”
I flashed a quick grin before heading toward the main area where thefacilitiesreleased a horrible smell. It was unmistakable, and I leaned against the trailer for a few minutes waiting for Nora to come out, but she never did.
My stomach tightened. Was she crying or something? Shit. “Nora?”
No response. I went up the stairs, and both doors were unlocked, and units unused. Where the hell was she?
I scanned the area from the little lift I had on the trailer and couldn’t see her black tank top or her pink hair. She wouldn’t be stupid enough to jump into the lake, hopefully. Could she swim?
Oh God. Could she?
I immediately pictured her in the lake, asking me, “Fritz, how do I float? Can I pay someone to hold me up?”
“Nora!”
No response.Again.I pulled out my phone and groaned at the limited service I had, knowing calling her wouldn’t be an option. My heart pounded against my ribs at how dumb of an idea this was—bringing her out here and leaving her with Steve. I was an idiot. She just didn’t know common things that we did growing up around here. Like don’t drink the lake water, or don’t wonder off from the group…
I pinched the bridge of my nose and looked around again.
My stomach flip-flopped like I was on the descent of a ride at Six Flags when pink hair caught my attention. She was on the east side of the lake, bending onto the ground. Without thinking, I jumped off the tailer and jogged toward her, ignoring the pointed looks from the organizers because I certainly didn’t stick to my area. When I approached her, I was expecting her to be upset or embarrassed.
She wasn’t either of those things. She had a huge smile on her face as she stood up and walked over to the field filled with wild flowers. She touched each flower with a gentle embrace, bending over to smell it before she moved onto another with excitement almost buzzing from her.
It was mesmerizing. How she moved with grace, how she seemed lost in her own world, completely unaware that there were twenty bees around her or that she was off the path by ten yards. She was so focused, like she wouldn’t be anywhere else. My chest got tight, trying to think about something I had done to ever havethatexpression on my face. That pure joy.
Music started playing from across the lake, making Nora look up, and her mouth formed a prettyohshape when her gaze landed on me. “Fritz.”
“Hey, Dora.”
“Dora?”
“Yeah, like Dora the Explorer?”
