I put down the candle. “I can go with you.”
“No, take your time.”
He hurries away before I can stop him. I squint at his back, wondering why he didn’t want me to come. Did I say something dumb without realizing? Was I boring him? I hope this isn’t an excuse to get away from me.
I turn back to the candles and pretend to inspect each one, nerves making my palms sweat as I wait. A few minutes later something white waves in my peripheral vision. I turn to see Will with a bouquet of white daisies wrapped in brown paper. He holds them out.
“For you.” He closes the distance between us. “I wanted to surprise you. I thought you deserved them since you found that daisy fairy for me. I hope you like them.”
“Oh!” I squeeze them so tight I might accidentally snap the stems. “Wow, I love them. That’s so sweet of you.”
We keep walking and I can’t stop thinking of Mom and how thrilled she’ll be to hear about this entire day. She’ll want to know everything about the city, the flea market, and Will. Plus, after boycotting Instagram and every other app for the last few weeks,it would be pretty amazing to have something good to post. So I suck up all the courage I have and ask him, “Could we get a photo together? You’re the first British friend I’ve made here.”
“You consider me a friend, then?” he asks, smiling. “Good. I need more friends.” He leans close so that our faces are only inches apart. “Smile!”
Ah, sweet, sweet redemption. I’m plastering this sucker alloverthe internet.
“Oi!” We turn to find Frank coming toward us. “I’m bored.”
Will purses his lips. I try to act natural and not like my heart is sinking at the idea of him leaving. “It’s fine,” I say. “I should find my friends anyway.”
“I could drive you back to Emberton if you’re ready.”
My pulse quickens. “Do you mind?”
“Certainly not. What kind of gentleman would I be if I abandoned you here?” His hand grazes my arm and my skin tingles where he touched me.
We find Sage and Huan at a used-book booth. Sage is so engrossed she doesn’t notice us, while Huan is busy on his phone. Dev is nowhere to be seen.
“Hey, guys,” I say.
“Finally!” Huan exclaims without looking up. “It’s impossible to get Sage to leave and I don’t know where Dev went to. Have you seen him?”
“Right here.” Dev walks into the booth, quickly shoving a paper into his pocket.
“So...” I’m suddenly nervous. “I think I’m going to head back to Emberton now.”
“Weren’t you listening before?” Dev asks. “The van doesn’t come until four p.m. We still have time to see the guildhall before we go back.”
“Oh, well...” I glance at Will. “Um, Will’s going to drive me back.”
They snap to attention at that.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Sage says.
“She’ll be perfectly safe,” Will replies. “I don’t have room for everyone, but I have enough space for one more. Maybe you’d like to accompany us?” He smiles mischievously at Sage. I might be jealous if it weren’t for her palpable disinterest.
“I’ll go,” Dev blurts.
I take a step closer to him. “That’sreallynot necessary.”
His gaze shifts between Sage and Will, looking wary. “Sure it is. That way, you know, Sage has more time here to look around.”
“Then you stay with Sage,” I whisper. “I’ll be fine.”
He rolls his eyes. “Having a British accent doesn’t preclude someone from being an ax murderer. Didn’t you ever watchLuther?”
He strides over to Will and Frank, and I’m pretty sure they heard that last comment, judging by their concerned glances. I huff in annoyance and follow along.
