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“It got very complicated,” I say, cutting a triangle of pancake and putting it into my mouth. “I couldn’t keep track of who thought what about that relationship.”
“This is what I miss by not living in Sprucevale anymore,” Caleb says reflectively. “All this nonsense you people get up to.”
“We kept you up to date on Daniel’s ridiculous situation,” I protest.
“Seth kept me up to date on Daniel’s ridiculous situation,” Caleb corrects. “And he’s the only one who bothered to tell me that Eli was secretly hooking up with Violet last year—”
“You were through-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail,” I point out. “I had no idea when you would have cell service, or whether you’d be checking, or whether the situation would have changed by the time you got my voicemails—”
“Seth managed,” he says. “For a while I got into the habit of turning my phone on every time I got to a high point in the hopes that I’d have a block of gossip texts.”
“Levi doesn’t believe in texting,” June says.
“I know,” Caleb says. “You know about his phone, right?”
June laughs.
“I had no idea those still worked,” she says.
“It’s only five years old,” I say, frowning because I don’t approve of them ganging up on me.
“What happened with Eli and Violet?” June asks. “I thought they were just… together.”
Caleb pushes his plate away and grins again. I swear that being the first to know my gossip has made my youngest brother practically giddy, and I’m very annoyed by it.
“They hated each other growing up,” he says. “And then — Levi, jump in whenever — they wound up working at the same place about a year and a half ago, and next thing everyone knew, Eli’s car was parked outside Violet’s house every night while they also swore up and down they couldn’t stand each other.”
“They thought no one knew,” I explain to June. “Eli doesn’t always think things through, and apparently neither does Violet.”
Caleb gives me a look, and I ignore it pointedly.
“But they got over themselves and now they seem quite happy,” I finish.
“Why not just tell people they were dating?” June asks, her elbows leaning on the table, mystified.
“Because Eli can be the most difficult person alive when he puts his mind to it, and apparently Violet gives him a run for his money,” I say.
“All of you love convoluted situations,” Caleb says. “You could always meet a girl, ask for her number, and take her on a date. Perfectly simple, no need for high-level sneaking, secrecy, and skullduggery that’ll inevitably get found out.”
June and I look at each other.
“I think Seth takes girls on dates,” I volunteer, and Caleb just gives me another look.
“That’s not dating,” he says, standing and holding out his hands for our plates.
“Wait, what’s Seth doing?” June asks.
“Who, not what,” Caleb says. “You really have been away, haven’t you?”
“Apparently,” June says. “Tell me everything.”“Do you mind parking a couple houses away?” June asks as I turn into her neighborhood. “I told my parents I went out for a long walk so it would probably undermine my lie if I showed up in your truck.”
“I could just say I found you on the side of the road, looking lost,” I say.
June gives me a look.
“Or I could come up with a better lie than that,” I offer.
“Could you?” she asks, laughing.
I pull to the side of the road in front of a big brick house that looks almost, but not quite, like June’s parents’ house.
“I could say,” I tell her, thinking. “That you accidentally wandered into the forest, and I just so happened to be in the forest at that very moment and came upon—”
“Can I just stop you there?” she asks.
“You walked into town and I saw you at the Mountain Grind,” I say. “And I offered you a ride home. There, how’s that?”
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” she says. “But I’m just gonna stick with long walk for now.”
We look at each other, both in the cab of my truck. It’s full daylight and anyone driving past could see us, and I know that, but I can’t bring myself to care.
Then we both start talking at the exact same time.
“That was really—"
“What are you doing—”
We stop. June starts laughing, and I smile, take her hand in mine, kiss the back of it.
“What are you doing later?” I ask.
“That’s not the question you should be asking,” she says, leaning against the headrest of my truck, relaxed and beautiful, her blue eyes on me. “The question you should be asking is, what’s Caleb doing later?”
“He has mysteriously elected to spend the remainder of the weekend at my mom’s house,” I say.
“In that case, I’m free,” June says. “What time should I come over?”
“Any time,” I tell her.
We kiss goodbye, long and slow. I’d rather not. I’d rather have stayed in my bed all weekend without a care in the world, but she’ll be back tonight and that will have to be good enough.
