“Be nice or I’m eating your fritter.”
Amelia glares at Lizzie in the rearview mirror. “I will leave your ass at the beach.”
“I like the beach,” Lizzie says with a shrug.
“Bean, why is your gas light on?”
“Oh, it came on a few minutes before we got home last night.”
“I’m not pumping gas for you,” Amelia claims.
“Think we can make it to Oregon before running out, so someone else can do it?” Lizzie wonders.
“Oh my god, I’ll pump the damn gas.” I shake my head and laugh at the two of them.
“Do you even know how to do that, city boy?” Amelia asks me without looking my way.
“It’s been a minute, but I’m sure I can figure it out.”
And I do. As I’m filling up, Lizzie hops out of the back seat.
“Grabbing snacks for the road. Want anything?”
“I just ate a fritter,” I laugh.
Lizzie stares at me. “So?”
“I’m good, kiddo.”
She shrugs and runs inside.
When the tank is full, I get back in the car. Amelia starts it up and pulls around to the side of the building.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Fucking with Bean,” she says with a shrug. She stares out the windshield toward the doors and sips her coffee.
“We really do need to talk, Amelia.”
“We’re not doing it today in this car.”
“Well, no, obviously not. But soon. Before the wedding.”
“We’ll see,” she huffs.
“I miss you. I miss us.” Nothing feels right when she’s pissed at me.
She closes her eyes for a couple of seconds, taking a deep breath.
“We’re not doing this now, Alex. Bean’s wedding is in four days. I’ve worked hard to keep Tiffany and Stephanie from ruining it, and I’ll be damned if we let our bullshit fuck with her day,” she declares.
Lizzie walks out of the store and gets halfway back to where we were originally parked before she notices we’re not there. She spins around to look for us before stomping over and throwing open the back door.
“You. Suck.”
“That’s for all the goddamned gum wall selfies you sent me yesterday.”
Lizzie grins. “Worth it. That was funny shit. So was this. It’s been a long time since you pulled that move. I wasn’t expecting it. Well played, Minnie Sinclair. Well played.”
