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“Yeah. Stop hogging us,” Bella said with a huff. “Can we stay with Meemaw or Grandma tonight?”
“Not tonight,” I answered much too quickly.
“Why not?” Emery whined.
“Because…” I let my voice trail off because I couldn’t think of a logical excuse.
“Because,” Tori continued for me, “it was supposed to be a surprise, but we’re going to build a blanket fort in the living room tonight. We can eat dinner and watch a movie in there, and you two can even sleep in it if you want to!”
Both girls cheered and jumped around. Phew. Disaster averted. Thank you, Tori. Again.
“Well, if we can’t have them tonight, can you at least let them hang out with us here for a few hours?” my dad asked. “I’m sure you two can find a way to keep yourselves entertained without them, right?”
“Can we please, Mama?” Emery asked, those big puppy dog eyes impossible to say no to. Not that I needed to. Pride was safe. There were plenty of people around to keep me from being alone with Tori and doing something I shouldn’t.
“Of course. You all have fun. We’ll meet back up with you later.”
Once they all walked away, I looked over at Tori who was already staring at me with a huge shit-eating grin on her face that I suddenly had the urge to kiss off of her. Ugh. “So, what should we do?” I asked, keeping my hands placed firmly to my sides and my lips far from hers.
“Wanna get some food then walk around the vendor tables again? There was definitely some stuff I might want to buy. It might be cool to take a closer look at Dakota’s art now that the girls aren’t with us asking a million questions about why the women she paints don’t have clothes on.”
I laughed at Tori’s very accurate description of our time at that booth. “That sounds good to me. How would you feel about pizza?”
Tori’s smile grew even bigger. “I always feel good about pizza.”
After eating two slices of pizza each and sharing an ice cream sundae with more rainbow sprinkles than should ever be consumed in someone’s lifetime, we revisited the booths.
After studying Dakota’s paintings for a very long time, Tori decided on one of two women, both naked, embracing under a rainbow. It was gorgeous, but I had no clue where she was going to put it.
“Maybe once I finally get my own place, I’ll put this in my office,” Tori said as if she had heard my unspoken question.
I tried to ignore the way my heart clenched in my chest, but it was impossible when it hurt so bad. I hated the thought of Tori not being right down the hall from me. I had gotten so used to it, I forgot the arrangement was only temporary. “Is that something you’re planning to do soon?” I asked as nonchalantly as possible, even though all I wanted to do was break into tears.
“Is it something you want me to do?”
“No!” I answered much more intensely than I intended to. “I mean, not if you don’t want to. If you want your own space, I completely get it, but I’m happy for you and Bella to stay as long as you want. If that’s what you want. It’s up to you.” I knew I was rambling at this point, and I was sure my face was beet red, but I couldn’t help it. The thought of Tori not living with me had me way too overwhelmed to act normal.
“Hey, Rosemary…” Tori put her hand on my arm and shot me a crooked smile that was unfairly adorable. “Just breathe. I’m not planning on going anywhere. If you want us to stay, I’m happy to. I just don’t want to intrude.”
I looked at the spot where Tori’s hand was burning into my arm, then back at those lips that had somehow appeared even more kissable now than they had just a moment ago. “You could never intrude.”
“Good.” Tori licked her lips then bit down on the bottom one. “Now please look me in the eyes. You’re making me crazy right now.”
I snapped my eyes away from her lips and looked all around us to make sure no one was paying attention to what was happening. Luckily, Dakota’s booth was the one we were closest to, and she and her girlfriend were in their own world. “Sorry,” I said as my face turned red once again.
“All good. Want to keep walking?”
I nodded, but as we started to walk, I could have sworn I felt eyes on me. I looked at Tori, but she was staring straight ahead. As I searched around us, I noticed a girl who appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen with her eyes laser-focused on me. When my eyes met hers, she quickly looked away, but a moment later, she locked her eyes with mine once again. I smiled just in case she was someone I was supposed to know, then looked down at my feet as I continued to walk. A moment later, I stopped suddenly when I bumped into something. Or someone. It was the very same girl that had been staring at me before. What the hell?
“I’m so sorry,” the girl apologized. “Ugh. I’m being so weird right now. I’m sorry.” Instead of moving out of the way, she stayed rooted in place and did an awkward half wave. “Hi, um, yeah… I’m not sure how to say this, so I’m just going to go ahead and do it. I’m Fern Hytha. I’m the girl—”
I didn’t have to listen anymore to know exactly who she was. I could never forget that name, no matter how much I tried not to think of the events of that awful day. How did you ever forget the person that your spouse died while saving?
Chapter 12
I looked over at Tori, who was already staring at me with wide eyes. When I looked back at the girl, I tried to form words but my mouth was so dry, I couldn’t. As if reading my mind, Tori handed me the water bottle she was holding. I chugged almost the whole bottle then handed it back to her.
“Yeah, I, umm… I know who you are.”
