“I can handle that,” she says softly before holding out her hand. “Give me your phone.”
“What?”
She rolls her eyes. “I’ll give you my cell phone number, and you can text me if you think of anything else you want tomorrow.”
Once again my body betrays me and I do as she says. When she hands me back my phone, I stare at the number there with her name and a yellow flower beside it.
“Now is when you give me yours so I can do the same,” she goads.
I stare at her. Why did she just give me her number? Why did I take it? She snatches back the phone and works some more magic before handing it back to me with a laugh and then disappearing up the stairs. When I look down at my screen, I see that there’s a message, and dammit if I’m not fucking smiling again.
TALLY:Have a good night, Cowboy.
CHAPTER 17
Tally
HOPE HARBOR TOWN CHAT
RAYNA:Don’t forget book club has been moved to tonight!
BABS:I’ll be there with my giant blue alien dildo for the presentation
STEW:Mayor! Mayor! Someone should be monitoring this chat!
PENNY:There will be no dildo demonstrations at the bookstore. We BUY, READ, and DISCUSS books. We don’t present them!
FLETCHER:Ladies, could you take this to a private group chat?
BABS:Oh, Fletcher, don’t be such a prude!
* * *
Unlike most people, I enjoy the rain. I like the way it sounds when it drums against the roof. I especially loved it when, growing up, I would retreat to one of the cottages that had skylights in it. When we were in high school, Penny and Iused to grab sleeping bags and spend the night out there if there was a rainstorm. I felt like I was a flower on those nights, wild and free.
Which means that when I wake up and it’s raining, I’m thrilled. It feels like a second chance. Like maybe my dad is washing away all the bad from the last week and giving me a fresh start.
Pulling on my rain jacket, I head outside and pad lightly down the path toward my car, hoping to not get my legs too wet, only to spot one of the metal canisters I’d placed on my mother’s porch tipped over sideways with the flowers spilling out. The wind from the rainstorm must have knocked it over. I should clean up the mess before she has a chance to slip on it. I’m just setting it back in its place when the front door swings open.
“Tally!” my mother says in surprise.
I glance up from my crouched position and stand, swiping at my now wet knees. “Hi, Mom.”
Her face breaks into a smile, and she leans against the door, holding it open. She’s wearing a cozy sweater and a long skirt, and her glasses hang on a beaded chain around her neck. In this moment she looks so much like how she used to when Dad was still here: warm and excited to see me. I almost burst into tears.
“Are you the one who put them there? I would have said thank you, but I thought it was Walker.”
I try not to let my face fall, even though her words sting.
“I wanted to brighten up your porch,” I tell her.
“Well, I love them.”
“Good.”
I take a step closer. “I’m really sorry about uncovering the tulips.”
My mom shakes her head. “You didn’t know. As Walker pointed out, we probably should have talked to both you and Penny.”
