“So do I,” Benny said, eyes pleading. “If I could take it all back, I would. I’ve regretted it every day the past two years. Spending a month in the hospital with a collapsed lung was not my greatest moment, okay? Not saying I had it worse than Seb—”
“Stop comparing,” Seb said. “It’s oranges to apples.”
Jazmine shook her head. “Idiots. Both of you should understand why I’m not going to sit around and watch my friends almost die. I’m going back to town. Stay out here if you want. This place is a grave.”
“Jazmine, wait!” I called out. Was she truly this upset over what we’d just done? Or was this outburst caused by something else, like maybe her being hung up on Benny? I hated that I didn’t know. “Please, Jaz. Stay and talk this out.”
“Not in a talking mood,” she answered. She tried to stomp away, but she had to stop and duck into the tunnel, ruining the impact, especially when Punkin came through after her.
Dammit.This was not how I wanted this trip to end. Now I was anxious about Jazmine and hating that she was upset enough to leave.
Across the cavern, Lulu argued with Benny. I tried to listen to what they were saying but couldn’t concentrate because it was all I could do to stand, with my ankle beginning to swell. Seb pocketed the rusty key and offered a hand to help me up.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said, helping to brace me up while I hobbled on one foot. “Hate to tell you, but that’s going to suck later when it really starts hurting.”
“We need to go after Jaz.”
“Give her some time to blow off steam. Can’t paddle a canoe with one arm,” he pointed out. “She ain’t goin’ nowhere without us.”
Oh. Right.
“I just don’t understand why she’s so upset...”
Seb lifted his eyes to me. “No one likes to feel powerless. Especially Jaz.”
Why did she feel powerless? Her sprained arm? Maybe. I justcouldn’t help thinking about that conversation I’d overheard when the two of them showed up at the cottage this morning. Didthathave anything to do with her mood?
I didn’t get a chance to find out, not while everyone was squabbling. I focused on hobbling my way out of the cave without reinjuring myself. We found Punkin guarding Jazmine, who was outside by the canoes, sullen and not interested in talking to any of us, which hurt my feelings. But I gave her space, and we paddled our way back down the Little River to the party dock in Benny’s backyard. And once there, everything fizzled out pretty fast. If I thought the Wags would be spending a nice day, hanging out together, I was wrong. Benny was busy with Lulu, and Jazmine’s mood hadn’t improved. To all our surprise, her sister, Patty, was waiting for her when we docked because Jazmine had texted her to come pick her up.
Patty gave me a little wave from her truck, and I waved back, feeling ineffective and concerned.
“Seriously, just let her cool off. She’ll come around,” Seb told me. “Let’s get you back home before we both freeze to death in these wet clothes.”
I nodded, and after saying goodbye to Benny and promising to meet up again to discuss the key I’d found, we loaded into Seb’s Bronco, and he sped the entire way back to Heron Cottage. We barely said two words the entire way, both lost in our own thoughts as the gentle narrator on Seb’s audiobook talked soothingly about visiting castles in Spain.
But after pulling into my driveaway, Seb sighed deeply, shut off the engine, and looked at me. “Well, that was... something,” he said, tugging his wet shorts away from where they stuck to his thighs. “I know I told you I’d poke around under the hood of yourcar today. But I need some clean clothes and a shower, so I better go do that first. God only knows what kind of bacteria were growing in that cave water. We probably contracted Legionnaires’ disease.” He shivered violently. “Fuck me! Why are wet clothes so cold?”
“Just...” I sighed and pushed open the passenger door. “Take a shower here.”
One brow shot up. “Seriously?”
“Probably have fresh clothes of yours in the cottage—I assume their yours. They were all over the floor of my room, and for some dumb reason, I didn’t burn them all.”
Seb’s face went from surprised to happy. “That would be great.” He jumped out of the Bronco, with Punkin following. “Really hope you’ve got myBun in the OvenT-shirt. People always ask me how far along my wife is when I wear it.”
I groaned and let us inside the cottage, where Punkin raced to the water bowl in the kitchen. “You can take the shower first. I’ll dig out some clothes and leave them outside the bathroom door.”
“Thanks, Paige. I really appreciate it. Seriously.”
He headed to the bathroom while I went to my bedroom and dug out a trash bag from my closet that contained his clothes—mostly T-shirts and shorts. A pair of boxers with a Christmas tree print. Several mismatched socks. I pulled out some things and quickly changed out of my own wet clothes, feeling relieved to slip into an old fuzzy housecoat.
And also anxious.Seb is getting naked two walls away.Was that a normal thing that old friends did, let them shower in your house while you parade around in a housecoat? I briefly worried Nana would disapprove. Then again, this was sort of an emergency, one might say, so maybe it was totally fine.
By the time I’d placed Seb’s clothes next to the bathroom door, I heard the water in the shower shutting off and knocked on the door. “Hey. Your stuff is sitting here, and I let your dog out through the back because she was barking.”
The door unexpectedly opened, and Seb’s wet head poked out. Soap and shampoo wafted from him as he towel-dried his hair. “That’s fine. She won’t jump the fence. What’d you say before that?”
There was too much glistening skin on display. And also not enough, because my animal brain was curious to see what was hidden behind the door. I guess all it took was one accidental boob graze for me to turn into a maniac.
