“You must’ve missed her weekly postcards on the singing bowls and the flutes.”
“Maybe she’ll like that more than the fiddling and decide to stay. Never know …”
No chance.
“So …” I’m relieved he’s standing here, an arm’s length away. And anxious. And oddly fluttery. It’s the first time I’ve been alone with him since Sunday dinner—minus broken glass andpolice cars—and I’m trying to hide all those feelings that are now tangled up in the new worries that have descended with Adrian’s drunken stunt, so I busy myself with the empty carts. “HowisSaint Boo? And what’s the update on the window? I saw them calking it yesterday afternoon. Is it costing your parents a fortune?”Should I be completely sick to my stomach? Because I am.
“Boo is fine. As for the window …” He squeezes one eye closed.
“Oh boy. That’s what I thought. I’m already downing expired Benadryl I found in my grandmother’s medicine cabinet to make me drowsy enough to sleep at night.”
“That sounds super not good,” he says, frowning. “Don’t do that.”
“Evie says it’s safe for cats and dogs and babies, so I figure it’s okay for Josies.”
“Look, the window is mostly installed and should be finished up by tomorrow. It wasn’t cheap, but it was no Summers & Co by a long shot, so stop taking expired allergy medicine. Seriously. Okay?”
“Okay.” I tap my fingers on the receiving table, a little nervous. “Any word from the Summers or the police?
“There isn’t such a thing as CCTV in Beauty, and no private security cameras caught them. The lady who owns Regal Cosmetics on the corner said she’s willing to testify that she saw a blue car drive through here at that time, but she didn’t see the actual crime. And neither did we.…”
“But weknowhe did it. And they never had me breaking the window on camera either.”
“But they had my confession,” he says. “And Adrian will flay the skin from his body before he confesses.”
“Then what happens next?”
“I don’t know, honestly. My dad’s a little worried. I think some of the damage is covered by our insurance, but mostly he’s concerned about Levi Summers and how it affects us long term, businesswise.”
“He’s your father’s biggest customer?”
“Pretty much. But it’s more than the actual dollars he pays us. If he takes his business away and tells other people to do the same …”
I nod. “Yeah, I get it. He can have you guys blacklisted.”
“That’s one way of putting it. He’s got a lot of influence in this town. Owns a bunch of property. The department store. The newspaper.”
The magazine,I think, but I definitely don’t say it out loud.
“What are your parents going to do about it?” I ask.
He scrubs the back of his neck and shakes his head, shrugging with one shoulder. “They’re just waiting to see how things shake out.”
“Lucky?” I ask in small voice. “Do you think I should tell them that I broke the department store window? Would that help?”
His brow lowers. “Absolutely not. You said you wouldn’t, Josie.”
“But—”
“We already talked about this.”
“Why, though? Wouldn’t it be better for your parents if Levi Summers knew I did it? I don’t want to ruin their business—this is my fault.”
“What about LA? What about your father not taking you in if you have a police record? What about your mom putting you in a car and dragging you out of town before your grandmother even comes back—what about that, huh?”
Oh. Did I say that in the police station? Wait …
Is he worried I’m going to leave town again before Grandma comes back from Nepal? I try to catch his gaze with mine, but he won’t look at me. His eyes light everywhere but on my face, and that’s how I know for certain.
