“She totally did.” Ellen’s eyes go wide. “That’s why you said that mean thing! Oh man. This is just like Kira’s K-dramas.”
“It’s not likea K-drama.”
“It’s exactly like a K-drama. Star-crossed lovers, dramatic tension, everyone watching.” She gestures around the coffee shop. “Great-Grandma’s already planning the wedding, I can tell.”
“There’s not going to be a wedding.”
“That’s what they always say in episode one.” Ellen shrugs. “And then by episode sixteen, they’re making out in the rain.”
“Ellen!” Hazel has finally extracted herself from Grandma Hensley’s clutches. “Leave the poor man alone. He doesn’t need a eight-year-old relationship coach.”
“I’m providing valuable insights.”
“You’re being nosy.”
“I learned from the best.” Ellen beams at Grandma Hensley, who waves proudly from her booth.
Hazel sighs the sigh of a mother who has accepted her fate. “Come on. I have to open the boutique. The tourists are already lining up.”
“But I want to see what happens next!”
“Nothing’s going to happen next. Mr....” She looks at me questioningly.
“Levi.”
“Mr. Levi is going to drinkhis coffee and work on his music, and you are going to help me fold scarves.”
“Spring break is supposed to be fun, Mom.”
“Spring break is supposed to be a week off school, not a week off helping your mother survive tourist season.” Hazel practically drags Ellen toward the door. “Sorry about her. Day one of spring break and I’m already exhausted.”
“Age is just a number, Mom!”
“Get in the car, Ellen.”
The door swings shut behind them. The coffee shop feels suddenly quiet.
I look down at my soaked shirt, my water-stained notebook, my cold coffee.
Then I pick up my pen.
She crashed into me like she always does?—
I stop. Stare at the words.
They’re not good. They’re not even close to good.
But they’re something.
I keep writing.
FIVE
DELILAH
I’m not even out of my car before Ellen appears on the Hensley House porch like she’s been waiting for hours.
Which, knowing Ellen, she probably has.
