Page 52 of Autumn on My Mind

At sunset.

Dominic

That’s not good.

ME

It is not.

I think this is going to be a “ruin the mood” moment.

Any ideas?

Dominic

Actually…yes.

If you’re up for a drive?

I stay up late checking over a batch of creative briefs that one of our editors submitted last minute. It takes longer than I expect, because it’s a batch of twenty done by a new hire, and I have to correct most of them. Once I’ve updated my time sheet, I set my laptop aside and burrow beneath my covers.

Thanks to Alvina’s snoring, however, I sleep very poorly. I arrive at Bugelbach’s in a zombie-like state the next morning, just in time for the Saturday morning rush.

I make it to my lunch break through sheer willpower alone. My smiles are porcelain and ready to crack; my chipper, let’s-have-fun! attitude is manic. I am a sleep-deprived loon.

But I’m a self-aware sleep-deprived loon. And I know that I will not make it the rest of the day without some reinforcements. So I call in the cavalry, and like rescuing angels, Ari, Liv, and Liv’s bodyguard—Tate Walker, brother of Dom’s friend Bennett—arrive fifteen minutes later, caffeine in hand.

“Here you go,” Liv says, passing me a massive styrofoam cup of Dr. Pepper. She’s looking a bit wary, and Tate is close by her side.

“You are beautiful,” I say as I jump up from the bench where I’ve been waiting and snatch the drink from her. “You are goddesses. All of you.”

Tate looks skeptical about this, but then he shrugs and drifts off to a nearby bale of hay, settling with ease and keeping an eye on us.

“The corn dog stand only has bottled water,” I say as I down half the soda in ten seconds flat.

“No good,” Ari says, shaking her head and tucking some dark hair behind her ear. “We’ve got your back.” Then, when I continue to gulp my drink instead of answering, she laughs. “I guess it’s been a long day already?”

“A long few days.” I sit back on the bench and scoot over so they can join me, and then I tell them about the shampoo mishap.

“And Daryl actually told her her hair looked nice?” Liv says when I’ve finished, her brows jumping with skepticism.

“Yes!”

“Maybe he really did think it looked nice?” Ari says, but her voice is unconvinced. She leans forward so she can see me from Liv’s other side. “Is that possible?”

“No!” I wail. “It looked horrible!” I set my empty cup on the ground between my feet and then let my head drop into my hands. “He’s so sweet to her!” I look up again, my tired eyes desperate, my voice deranged. “I don’t know—should we just let them date?” I pause. “Maybe he could fix her!”

Liv and Ari give this suggestion exactly the reaction it deserves: disapproving frowns.

I slump in my seat, sliding down the bench. “No, you’re right—you’re right. Okay.”

“So…what are you going to do?” Ari says, wrinkling her nose. She knows that whatever the answer is, it will be unpleasant.

“I don’t know,” I say. “Figure out how to break them up, I guess. Which I would feel bad about if it were anyone else, but…”

“It’s your parents,” Liv says with a tired nod. “Yeah.” She exchanges a glance with Ari and then goes on, more tentatively. “How is it, talking to him and everything?”

“Great question,” I say, my voice flat. “I don’t even know.”