“Lloyd will be looking for me.”
“Thank you,” I said. “For coming back. I’m still going to Salem to see if I can speak to Hope Abbott.”
“Good.” She smiled. “Drop me a note if you learn anything helpful.”
“Where do I send it?”
“My mother’s house in Dallas, Texas. She keeps all my mail, and I stop in there from time to time. It’s not a perfect system, but it works.” She told me her mother’s name and address.
As Annie started to walk away, I put out my hand to stop her.
“Yeah?” she asked.
“Do you ever think about what you’re doing?”
She put her hand on my cheek and nodded. “Every day—but I’m in too deep to stop now.”
I placed my hand over hers. “You’re never in too deep. Please think about stopping—for me.”
Something passed over her face, and she offered a smile. “I’ll do that, kid.”
And then Annie walked out of my life again.
It took me a couple of minutes to compose myself after she left. When I was finally ready to meet Lewis, I walked over to the lemonade stand.
He was waiting, squinting into the crowd, no doubt looking for me and Irene.
When he saw me, he smiled. “Did you talk to Annie?”
My lips parted. “How did you know?”
“She got word to me through the Green Lantern that she was in town and wanted to see you. So I told her we’d be here today.”
Warmth filled my chest. “Thank you, Lewis.”
“Anything for my friend’s little sister,” he teased with a wink.
Irene appeared in the crowd as she moved toward us.
Lewis’s gaze shifted toward my cousin, and I saw something there that I’d suspected for the past couple of weeks.
He was falling for her.
“She’s a sweetheart,” I said to him.
He grinned but didn’t take his eyes off her. “It’s her fiery side I like the best.”
“She’d be lucky to have you.”
He looked back at me, searching my gaze for permission to move on.
I smiled and nodded.
He reached out and drew me into an embrace.
I hugged him back, thankful I still had his friendship even though I hadn’t been able to give him my heart.
I prayed that he would find what he was looking for with Irene.
