Pulling up to the store, I lean my bicycle against the building. Waves crash and seagulls dance along each other in the sky. I walk into the store with an action plan, and I’m kind of excited to get started.
If it weren’t such a last-minute request, I’d have gone to the store and bought supplies I know will help him. But we can worry about that later.
“Riley?” Ellie calls out from one side of the store.
I stop in my tracks and turn to look at her. “Oh, hey. What are you doing here?”
“I was bringing August some lunch and decided to pick up some stuff for Rowan.” She walks toward me and tilts her head. “What are you doing here?”
I say the first thing that comes to mind. “I’m here to help August with some work.”
I wasn’t expecting those words to come out of my mouth. I was expecting something along the lines of, ‘Just here to grab a new swimsuit.’Then again, Ellie knows I own about fifty of those. But you can never have enough.
I’m tired of fighting and coming up with lies or excuses when it comes to him.
Ellie’s eyebrows knit together. “Wait, he reached out to you?”
A knot forms in my stomach.
“Uh.” My voice cracks, and I stammer. “Yeah, he texted me. Something about paperwork.”
“And you came here willingly? Like he didn’t blackmail you or something, did he?”
I chortle at the thought of August blackmailing me. “I chose to come here and help. No blackmailing. Not even a bet.”
Ellie studies my face. The same blue eyes as her brother’s, bouncing back and forth between mine. Suddenly, I feel like I’m in an interrogation room, waiting for the twenty questions to hit.
She slowly narrows her eyes at me, and I widen mine, coming up with answers to questions I don’t know yet.
The corners of her mouth turn up into a smile as she shrugs both shoulders. “Okay. Let me know how it goes. I’m gonna get going, I’ll see you later?” She hugs me.
“Yeah. See you later.”
She saunters through the store and disappears through the exit.
TWENTY-FOUR
AUGUST
There’s a knock at the door while I try to clean up the office. I look at my phone.
She’s five minutes early.
“Come in.”
“Hey.” Her voice is cheerful and not at all judgmental. Small stars are scattered along her forehead and chin.
I squint and tilt my head, wondering what those are and if she knows they’re on her face.
Her fingers touch them. “Oh, right. For a minute, I forgot these were on me.” She lets out a sheepish laugh. “Whoops.”
“What are they for?”
“Pimples,” she says matter-of-factly.
The last time she was here, she saw the mess I’ve created. It’s a bit more chaotic now with the added sticky notes.
I hear a deep, slow whistle come from Riley when she peers around the room.
