“I don’t want to go to a different school. I want to stay with Kai.”
Aunt Maddy squeezes my shoulder tighter. “And you care Lily wanted you to go to Ashworth Academy?”
I roll my eyes. “Yes, I know it was Mom’s dream.”
Maddy’s eyes water. “Don’t roll your eyes. You don’t know how hard Lily worked to make sure we didn’t struggle.”
I lower my guard and wrap my arms around Aunt Maddy. “I do know. She worked too many jobs to take care of us and Grams. I promise I won’t let her down.”
Maddy holds me close, whispering, “I just don’t want it to be all for nothing. She can’t come back and fix it for us.”
“Maybe she can. They never found…” Why did I let that slip out?
Maddy pulls out of the hug and presses her hands against the sides of my face. Her eyes bore into mine as they shine with unbroken tears. “Baby,” she whispers. “You know she’s gone. She’d never disappear. She’d never leaveyou.”
I gulp and nod. For the past ten years, Maddy has always felt this way. Mom’s file is still marked as a missing person with the Sheriff’s department, despite Maddy’s protests. Maddy is adamant something deadly happened to Mom. She told law enforcement countless times Mom is dead because, with every fiber of her being, she knew Mom would move heaven and earth to get back to me.
To be honest, I don’t think about Mom often. Aunt Maddy does a good job of keeping her memory alive. Lily West was an empowered woman. At sixteen, she took herself, her twelve-year-old sister, and her baby girl out of an abusive home in Logan’s Point.
We moved to Victoria Falls with nothing to our names. We were so lucky Grams took us in. Not only was she the owner of Morton’s Cafe and gave Mom and Maddy jobs, but she also gave us room in her two-bedroom house. Grams was a widower and didn’t have any kids of her own. Mom said therewas an instant connection the first day they met. I miss Grams just as much as Mom. She died a few years after Mom was gone. It was a lung disease, and in the end she needed machines to help her breathe. She left the house and the cafe to Aunt Maddy and me in her will.
“I promise to study more,” I say as Aunt Maddy’s hands tremble against my cheeks. I have no idea how I’ll magically learn how to study, but I can’t let down these women who helped raise me.
Maddy releases my face and wipes under her eyes. “I know you will, baby.”
“Kylie and I have cleaned most of the workstation,” I say in a weak tone. “Any chance we can take off soon?”
Aunt Maddy nods, opening the office door. “We’d better get going. You’ve got a last-minute gift to buy.”
I groan as I walk out of the office. “What am I supposed to get him?”
“He’s your best friend’s twin brother,” Maddy says, following me out. “You have to know something he’s into.”
My mind shutters through memories of Milo. I barely acknowledge his existence. As I think about each of our encounters, he’s always a background character in my story with Kai. Lightbulb. In most of those instances, he’s in the background reading a book.
“Let’s just play it safe and go to the bookstore.”
Maddy claps. “Well done. You figured it out on your own.”
“Okay, genius,” I tease. “What book should we get him?”
Maddy’s face droops with puzzlement. “I dunno. He’s such a whiz kid. Just get a gift card.”
I wink. “My thoughts exactly.”
“Everything okay with you two?” David asks, approaching the counter.
“It will be once Jamie improves her grades,” Maddy says.
Kylie gives me subtle side-eye. Any classes we share, she always seems to coast through.
Maddy leans into the kitchen, calling out to Jake and Laura. “We’re heading off. Are you okay with cleaning and locking up?”
“Noproblem,” Jake calls back.
Aunt Maddy turns around and Laura emerges from the kitchen. She’ll give Kylie a hand, keeping an eye on the cafe floor.
“I’m driving Jamie to the bookstore, and then to the boys’ house,” Maddy says, grabbing her coat and rounding the counter. “I’ll meet up with you after?”
