“You can thank me later, when you get a perfect medium-rare steak on your plate.”
Laughing, I walk over to find out what has my daughter squealing with glee inside the house.
“What’s that about?”
“She’s going to do my hair,” Lou says.
“I was just telling Lou about that time Paige did your…” Jerry starts to say.
I give his shoulder a shove, making him grin.
“Nobody needs to hear that story,” I say.
“I beg to differ,” Lou says.
“Maybe someday,” I tell her with a flirtatious smile. After I know she likes me as much as I like her.
“I have a question,” she asks, quietly. Conspiratorially, even.
“What’s up,” I whisper back.
“Where did Jules and that hot guy with the mustache go?”
“Mac?” I ask her, looking around for my two childhood friends.
“Yeah, the hot one,” she repeats, and I scowl.
“Damn, man,” Jerry says with a boisterous laugh. “I have never seen you jealous a day in your life, Grady.”
“Fuck off,” I say, and Lou steps closer, placing her hand on my cheek.
“I think I like it,” she says. Then, she winks and walks off toward the house and my daughter.
“You’re cooked, man.”
“Fucking roasted,” I agree, because there isn’t any point denying it. So far, there isn’t a single thing about Lou that I haven’t liked. She’s been raw, honest, and vulnerable enough to let me know so many sides of her, so quickly. Like it’s natural. I know it isn’t, though. It’s something else, that weird invisible tether between us. “But where are Jules and Mac?”
“I don’t know, but my guess is the cold ran off and they’re into the hot on the other side of the fence.”
Those two could never stay away from each other for long. It’s what made them so volatile. Hot and cold. Love and hate. There was no middle ground. Ever.
How much trouble can they get into with only twelve or so hours before Juliet is packed back up and on her way to Portland, though?
“Steaks in ten,” Dad hollers.
“Everything else is ready; we’re just waiting on you,” Mom tells him.
“No! I need more time,” Paige wails from inside.
“You hear that, Mackenzie,” I yell over the fence. “You’ve got ten minutes.”
“Fuck off, Grady,” Juliet yells, and both Jerry and I crack up.
Paige attempted braids. She doesn’t kno^w how, so, mostly Lou’s hair is a series of loose twists connected by tiny little flower clips.
Regardless, Paige was proud and Lou wore it all night like it was the most beautifully crafted hairstyle she’s ever had. Now, Paige is passed out. Mom and Dad have called it a night, and Jerry went home because he has the early shift tomorrow. All that’s left is me, with Lou on my lap in one Adirondack chair, as Juliet and Mac share the other.
When I raised my eyes at the two, Juliet stuck her tongue out at me and said, “Mind your own self, Grady.”
