‘With things the way they are I can’t think of a better time to get out of Savannah,’ she countered, already halfway up the stairs. ‘What if this is the last chance we ever get to take a vacation together?’
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence,’ I muttered, following her into my room, but she waved off my offence.
‘Even if the world doesn’t end, I still have to go back to school in a week. A lot of people might say that’s worse than the apocalypse.’
‘No,’ I replied. ‘They wouldn’t.’
Undeterred, Lydia opened my closet and began tossing potential outfits onto my bed: shorts, skirts, shirts.
‘It’s not that I don’t want to,’ I said, a blue linen sundress slapping me right in the face. ‘But things have changed since I saw you yesterday. Wyn thinks the wolf that attacked at the dance might be a lone wolf and—’
She stopped what she was doing and I cut myself off as her eyes flared.
‘Is this about Wyn? Are you choosing a guy over your best friend?’
‘No!’ I exclaimed. Angry Lydia was a scary Lydia. ‘Well, not entirely. I can’t just up and leave town when so much is in flux, whether Wyn is here or not.’
‘Yes, you can.’
Sometimes there was no use in debating with her.
‘Em, be reasonable. You could just as easily end the world in Hilton Head as Savannah,’ she said, returning to her task. ‘And you can bring Wyn. There’s heaps of room at the house. The two of you can catch me up on the Lone Ranger in the car.’
‘Lone wolf and it’s not funny.’
Jumping in front of her, I held out my arms, defending my clothes from her Terminator-like focus. ‘I’m only trying to protect you.’
With a caring but condescending tilt of her head, she pushed my arms gently down by my sides.
‘I know and I love you for that. But, Em, it’s three weeks until the next full moon, Hilton Head is only an hour away if you need to get back quick and it’s not as though you’ve had any creepy premonition that told you not to take a vacation – have you?’
‘No,’ I admitted. ‘Although there isn’t an official system where I put in for official leave. I can’t guarantee nothing will happen while I’m gone.’
Lydia walked me backwards to my bed until my thighs bumped against the mattress and I knew I was going to cave before she started speaking.
‘You need a break, you deserve a break. A tired witch is a sloppy witch, am I right? This is exactly what you need. One week of sun, s’mores and whatever else you choose to do with your time.’ She pinched her shoulders together in a theatricalshow of a shrug. ‘I don’t know, maybe it would be nice for you and Wyn to get out of town.’
‘You’re not helping yourself,’ I replied, my heart skipping several beats at her not so subtle implication. ‘Wyn might not be able to come with us. Like I said—’
‘Lone wolf, I know, got it,’ she interrupted. ‘But think about it, no parents, no curfews, noAshley. Just the two of you under the same roof. It’ll be dreamy.’
‘No parents? What about your grandmother? Didn’t you say this trip was the whole reason your mom is in town? What aboutJeremy?’
‘Stuck at work, thank the Goddess. Mom is meeting us there on Friday, said she had some things to take care of in town, and Virginia isn’t coming at all, she’s having another one of her migraines. You and your boy could get some real, quality alone time.’
My mind raced back a few hours. He wanted it to be perfect.
‘What if,’ Lydia handed me her phone. ‘You call and let him decide?’
The cell phone was too heavy in my hand. What if he said no? What if he said yes? The sun was only just over the horizon and I was already sweating.
‘I’ll call him, just not right now,’ I promised, passing the phone back. ‘Why don’t you go and we’ll follow later today or maybe tomorrow? Wyn has his truck, we can drive down together and meet you there.’
The smile on her face froze and I could practically see her brain working behind her eyes.
‘Do y’all have any coffee?’ she asked sweetly. ‘I’m just dying for a cup.’
‘Probably?’ I replied, thrown by her response. ‘Ashley usually has the coffeemaker set to brew around now.’
