They sounded…insane. Dissolvable pots. Recycled journals. Bags of hair.Uh, what?
The woman behind the counter looked as freaked out as I was.
I plastered on a smile and tapped the counter with my hand, cutting off Nora midsentence. “She’ll be staying in the same building as me. Here, let me write down my number. I’ll come get it when it makes its way back here.”
“Sounds good, sir.”
“Are you searching for it now? Who is looking for my stuff? How does this work?” Nora asked, her husky voice catching me off guard. It was a great radio voice, but the brief moment of appreciation evaporated when she huffed and pouted.
A grown-ass woman pouting was not a good look.
“Let’s go,” I said, putting enough sugar into my voice so it didn’t come across rude. Nora planted her feet down, and I gently tugged her elbow with two fingers and she moved away from the counter. “Do you have enough stuff to get through tonight?”
“Get through?”
“Yeah. Clothes, toothbrush, that stuff.” I guided us out of the exit and toward the truck. She stopped about ten feet away and raised her eyebrows. “What?”
“Isthisyour vehicle?”
The judgment in her tone had me grinding my teeth to keep my reply professional. “I’m driving it for a bit.”
“Hm.” She twisted her lips into a scowl, and while I moved to get in on my side of the truck, she stared pointedly at the passenger-side door.
“You can open the door yourself, Atwood.” I shook my head, already imaging the horror on Gilly’s face when I told her about this. Nora Atwood had grown up to be a prissy, stuck-up weirdo.
Nora grimaced and opened the door. She slid into place with her nose turned up and clutched her bag against her chest like I was going to steal it from her. My god, she was not the same girl she’d been at eleven years old.Thatgirl would’ve dived headfirst into the back of the truck with her tongue out. But this woman looked horrified.
I sneaked a glance at her, and she played with one of the million bracelets on her wrist.SAVE THE OCEANpopped out in big letters, and I let myself roll my eyes. Judging people on appearance was shitty, but there were so many red flags right now, I couldn’t stop judging her. “Care about the ocean, huh?”
“Yes. People are so careless about the trash growing in it. Something needs to be done.”
“And bracelets help?”
She slid me a look cold enough to make me almost feel bad. “Yes. All proceeds go to clean water charities.”
“Okay then.” I tapped my fingers to the beat of a popular rock band and found myself highly amused. I had no idea what my mom was doing or why Nora was here and going to be living across from me, and a part of me wasn’t sure Nora even knew. “Why are you coming to live in this wonderful small town? The nightlife here is nothing like the city.”
She scoffed and crossed one leg over the other, forcing her large T-shirt to ride up and expose skintight black shorts. Relief flooded me that she did have something on underneath, which was a weird thought to have. She was an adult. She could take care of herself.
“My parents left me no choice. I must show a ‘real’commitment and be forced tolive on my ownfor a few months. Then I get my inheritance to start my Good Vibes Greenhouse Plant Therapy business. Honestly, I don’t understand why they are so upset that I blew through money. It was just a million dollars.Like…we have the money.” She waved her hand in the air, causing the bracelets to move along her arm. The whole rainbow of them.
“You blew a million dollars?”
“Notblew.They wanted me to donate to a local school, and instead of getting them books, which they have at the library, I bought them plants. Oh, you should’ve seen their faces. Awe. Joy. They were thrilled, and the teachers werespeechless!”
Yeah, no shit.
“Anyhoo, that’s why I’m forced to do this. Show them I can…live on my own so they’ll give me the start-up money.”
I bit my cheek to prevent myself from saying I doubted she’d succeed. “Oh,” I said, swallowing down the urge to laugh. “I see.”
I did not see. Not at all.
“It’s no worry. I have a plan.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Anthony Carter will agree to marry me. He owes me ahugefavor. We can make it quick, and being married will meet the requirements of my trust. It’s either get hitched or wait until I’m twenty-seven,” she said, her brown eyes lighting up with hope as she smiled. “Do you work for him too? I haven’t seen him in a while.”
