Page 32 of Something About September

And she wanted it back. She couldn’t keep doing this. She turned her head away, then stood.

“Maybe we should go,” she said, keeping her back to him.

He was silent a moment, and she almost turned back to him. But she knew she’d do something she’d regret if she did. She was all too relieved when she heard him get up. “Let’s get going.”

They walked back to his truck in a silence that felt loaded, rather than filled with the comfort she had grown used to.

Chapter 21

Rebecca was in the kitchen, pulling mixing bowls out of a low cupboard, when something small clattered to the floor.

She crouched, brushing aside a curl of dust, and felt a small, unexpected jolt of recognition. It was an enamel apple charm. Red, chipped at the edge, the loop bent slightly out of shape. It had been Sabrina’s, a fourteenth birthday gift from Rebecca, and she had lost it, years ago. The two friends had looked everywhere for it, before becoming convinced that it was gone for good. Rebecca turned it over in her hand and felt a tug of longing. She still hadn’t spoken with Sabrina after fleeing the Calloways’. She didn’t feel ready to talk about why, but she also knew she didn’t want to go any longer with such a divide between herself and her best friend, not during the limited time she was here in Bramley Hollow.

She pulled on a navy-blue wool sweater and poked her head out of the kitchen door. “I’m going to run something over to Sabrina’s,” she said lightly. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Okay,” Cort said, not looking up. “I’ll still be here.”

Outside, the afternoon air was crisp but not too cool. The wool sweater was the perfect layer. Rebecca walked quickly, the charm warm in her pocket. When she arrived at the orchard, she didn’t have to look too far for Sabrina: She was walking out from a row of trees, a small basket of apples in her hands. Her eyes lit up when she saw her friend, and Rebecca felt relieved.

Sabrina approached, holding out the basket. “Here,” she said. “It’s a new kind of apple we’re growing this year. We only have a few trees. It’s called…” She thought for a moment, then laughed. “I actually can’t remember. Something melodramatic. Autumn’s Ambrosial Glory? Fall Fantasy? I lose track.” Rebecca took the proffered apple, which was the color of a sunset over Bramley Hollow: yellow, then pale peach, then a dusky pink. “It’s supposed to be a cross between a Honeycrisp and a Granny Smith,” Sabrina said as Rebecca took a bite. The apple had the texture of a Honeycrisp, with a delightful sour edge.

“I love it,” Rebecca said, mouth still full. Sabrina bit into one, too, and closed her eyes.

“I think this might be the perfect eating apple,” she said. “A candy treat, in apple form.”

“Speaking of apples…”

Rebecca reached into her pocket and held out the charm. “Look what I found, while cleaning out a cupboard.”

Sabrina gasped. “Oh my God, I’d almost forgotten all about this! I was so upset I lost it. You bought it for me yourself. All I need is a pair of pliers, and it’ll be good as new.”

“I should have asked Cort,” Rebecca said. “He could have fixed it in a heartbeat.”

Now Sabrina raised an eyebrow, but her expression was gentle. “How are things going?” she said. Rebecca thought about playing dumb, pretending she didn’t know what her friend was really asking her, but she couldn’t do that. She didn’t feel ready to tell Sabrina the reason she had fled the dinner party, but she didn’t want to keep her at arm’s length about everything.

“We talked,” she said. “At your house. About the dance, about the fact that I went and how hurt I was. It’s a conversation that feels like it’s not exactly finished, but it also feels like the start of repairing what happened. Of really being friends again.”

“Friends,” Sabrina repeated.

“Yes.” Rebecca kept her voice firm. “I’m not going to lie and say my heart doesn’t skip several beats a day, with him around the diner so much—but I believe I am, slowly but surely, becoming immune to the Cort Adams Effect.” She took another bite of apple. “Don’t worry, okay? I’ve got everything under control.”

Sabrina’s expression was thoughtful, and Rebecca could see concern in her eyes. She could tell her friend wanted to ask what exactly had been behind Rebecca’s desperate flight away from the Calloways’ dinner, but also that she didn’t want to press her to talk about something she wasn’t ready to discuss.

“You’ve got so much going on,” was all she said. “I appreciate you taking time out to come deliver this to me.”

“I’ve got a lot going on—how about you? This is the busiest time of year for you. I probably shouldn’t keep you.”

“Actually, you’ve saved me a trip. I know you really don’t cook much for yourself, and I’ve got an extra frozen chicken potpie, and some cinnamon buns, crowding my freezer. Can I please unload them on you? You’d be doing me a favor—I need the freezer space.”

Rebecca knew better than to argue with Sabrina when she was trying to give her food. They walked to her apartment to pick it up, and then Sabrina accompanied her friend to the top of the long driveway that led back to town. She squeezed Rebecca’s arm.

“Whenever you want to talk, about anything, I’m here. Okay?”

“I know that,” Rebecca said. “Really. I’m just…” But she couldn’t explain it, so she just juggled the food so she could give her friend a quick hug before heading back the way she had come, her arms laden, but her heart lighter.

—

“Mind if I keep going?” Cort asked her later as the sun sank low outside. “I don’t have Pip today and I’d love to get this wall closed up again before I go.”