“Sounds like you might need more chairs,” he observed. “Maybe some people can stand?”
“I was just thinking that!” Liz called out from the living room. Of course she could hear us. “We don’t needeveryoneseated.”
“How long’s the ceremony?” Colin asked.
“Colin,” I said.
“Twenty-five minutes,” Liz replied. “If the minister doesn’t grandstand.”
“We’ll play him off, like an award show,” Colin told her, and she laughed.
We?
Just then, the door to Juvie opened and my mom came out. “Colin?” she said, clearly surprised. “I thought that was the guys bringing the rentals I was hearing.”
“I keep offering to help,” he said, getting up and giving her a hug. “Liz won’t let me.”
“Well, we don’t have enough chairs,” Liz herself told us as she came back in, wiping her forehead with one hand. “Maybe they have some cheap ones at Bly Supply?”
“How cheap?” my mom asked. “You don’t want them collapsing.”
“At this point I’ll take my chances.” Liz picked up her phone. “Let me text Clark and see who’s going today.”
“What’s Bly Supply?” Colin asked me.
“Like a Costco but locally owned,” I explained. All I could think of was toothpaste.
“I’ve got my car.” Colin nodded toward the porch. “Trunk’s bigger than it looks. Finley and I can go hunting for chairs.”
Just like that, we were a unit. Clearly, for him, wiping awayour breakup, not to mention the time since, was that easy.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Liz said immediately. A beat. “Although you could maybe pick up some more drinks…”
“Sure.” He pulled out his phone. “Give me the details.”
“I’ll find the list.” She turned and began rummaging through a stack of papers on the table. “Where did I…”
My mom took hold of my elbow, steering me into Juvie. She shut the door behind us. “You didn’t mention Colin was coming.”
“Because I didn’t know.” She raised her eyebrows, taking a seat on the narrow bed. I plopped down beside her. “I think he’s having an identity crisis.”
“At eighteen?”
“He’s advanced,” I told her.
She laughed out loud, then put a hand over her mouth. “Sorry.”
“He dumpedme. Shouldn’t I be the one acting out?”
“Not your style,” she said. “Thankfully.”
On the other side of the door, Liz was back on the phone. I wondered what Colin was doing.
“Look,” my mom said, “I’ve been thinking a lot about what we talked about the other night. I hope it wasn’t too much for you.”
“It wasn’t,” I replied. Then I added, “I’m glad to know all that stuff, to be honest.”
“You are?”
