Chapter 14
Memphis sat on the gate of his parked pickup as he spotted Ty, Lucas, and their friend, Margo, coming down the long stretch of dirt road. It was a rare warm day for the beginning of October, and boy, was he glad they were taking advantage of it.
During her lunch break yesterday, Ty hadn’t mentioned bringing her friend, Margo, along. In fact, it wasn’t until this morning that he’d gotten a text from her, asking if it’d be okay if she joined them. Memphis was reluctant at first, wondering if it meant she wanted this to be more of a friend thing. Until she’d added a second text.
Ty:It would be nice to have an extra set of eyes on Lucas in case I get…distracted.
That dot, dot, dot made Memphis’s belly burn with desire. He had a feeling she was referring to the way they’d been distracted while putting the ice pack on her face. In that case, it would be very nice to, like she said, have an extra person there to keep an eye on Lucas. They’d be in the river, after all.
Memphis hopped down from the truck as Ty pulled her silver sedan behind it. Already he could hear Lucas in the back seat.
“Hi, Memphis!” he was yelling.
Memphis gave him an enthusiastic wave in return. “Hey there, little man,” he called as he moved to the side of the car where the window was rolled halfway down. “You ready to go tubing?” They did their high five and fist bump through the open space.
Lucas gave him a big nod. “Yeah. But I don’t feel very good.”
Ty, who was stepping out of the driver’s side, furrowed her brow and hurried over to him. “What do you mean?”
Memphis took a step back as Ty tugged open the door and unlatched the belt holding his safety seat down.
“Here,” she said, “come get some fresh air and see if that helps.”
The front passenger side flung open next, and out stepped Ty’s friend.
She had a good five inches on Ty in height and a smile that looked like it might never quit. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Margo. Thanks for letting me crash your date.” She adjusted the tank top she wore over her swimsuit.
Memphis shook hands with her. “Memphis. And I’m glad you came along. It’s nice to meet you. Ty has a lot to say about you and your mom, Holly. It sounds like she’s very lucky to have you.”
“Thank you,” she said, her cheeks turning a shade of pink. “I think she’s lucky to haveyoutoo.”
Lucas piped out a groaning sound. Memphis glanced back to see where Ty had taken him and spotted the two huddled beside some bushes.
“Hope he’s okay,” Memphis mumbled.
“He’s probably fine,” Margo said. “Lucas gets carsick sometimes. I thought Ty gave him a children’s motion sickness pill though…” She drifted off as a new noise burst from the small huddle by the bush. A loud gag followed by a splashing sound.
“Oh, crap.” Margo rushed over to where Ty was patting Lucas’s back. He’d thrown up. The poor little guy reallywassick.
“It’s okay,” Ty was saying, her hand smoothing up the back of his head. “Do you need to throw up some more?”
Memphis knew if he caught a whiff of it, he’d start throwing up himself. So he offered moral support from a safe distance. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Umm…yeah,” Ty said. “The keys are in the ignition. Use them to open the trunk. You’ll see a grocery bag in there with a change of clothes. Would you mind bringing them to us?”
“Sure thing.” Memphis did as she said while Ty directed Margo next.
“Stay with him, will you? I’m going to wash his shirt and swim trunks out in the river.”
Margo was already covering the small boy with the towel she’d been holding only moments ago, stepping into action as if she were part of the parenting team. “You okay, buddy?” she was asking him.
Ty was scraping the clothes on a slanted rock and wringing them out. Over and over she repeated the action, sniffing the items in between each wash.
The sharp sound of a whistle gained Memphis’s attention. “You got those clothes ready, Casanova?” Margo asked.
“Oh,” he said with a sigh. “Yeah, sorry.” He resisted the urge to plug his nose. All he needed to do was hold his breath, hand over the clothes, and back away. He did that very thing, waiting until he was clear back at the truck before he dared breathe again.
“Did you take your pill before we came here?” Ty asked as she hurried back over to Lucas and Margo.
