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I had no control over these imaginary people.
Literallynone.
“You’ve sighed about sixty times in two minutes.”
I looked in the direction of Max’s voice. He was wearing his usual casual uniform of sweat shorts and a white top, but he’d switched today’s out for a vest top instead of a t-shirt.
“Are you watching me?” I asked him, raising my eyebrows.
He shook his head. “I was weeding the beds around the lake and heard you out here muttering to yourself.”
“I wasn’t muttering to myself.” Was I?
“You were. Muttering and sighing. Something about stupid fictional people.”
Oops.
“Oh.” I glanced away. “Sorry. I don’t realise I do that. I didn’t bother you, did it?”
Max paused. “No.”
“That would have been more convincing without the pause first.”
“I was trying to be nice.”
“Not very hard.”
He sighed and dropped his head back.
I held up my hands. “Sorry for disturbing you. I didn’t know you were here.”
“You didn’t disturb me. I was almost done.” He waved a pair of gardening gloves that I hadn’t seen until now.
“Right.” I gave him a small smile and looked away, out at the lake. The mama duck I’d seen when I’d arrived was happily swimming along the clear surface, and her babies were a little bigger and scattered around her, doing their own thing. “Why are you staring at me?”
“I’m sorry, were we done here?”
“You said you were almost done weeding, so I took that to assume you would go back to it.” I turned to meet his gaze. “Was I wrong in that assumption?”
“You know, it might not kill us to try to get along.” Max walked over to the bottom of the steps and leaned on the fence post there. “My grandmother is very fond of you. I don’t see it personally, but you’re here for a while, and I’m sure we’ll run into each other a lot more.”
“Wow. Is that how you charm a woman?”
“I’m not trying to charm you, Ellie.”
“Given that you’re essentially suggesting that we be friends, you might try to charm me instead of insult me.”
“I said it wouldn’t kill us to try to get along—not make friendship bracelets and sing Kumbaya around a fire.” His lips twitched to one side. “But fine. We don’t have to.”
I stared at him flatly. “Why would we get along? You just told me you don’t understand why your grandmother like me.” I paused. “Actually, I think she only likes me as an extension of my books.”
“All right. I was just offering.”
I mean… he wasn’t wrong.
“Fine,” I said right as he was about to turn around. “But that means you can’t be mad if Winston escapes.”
Max paused. “I can’t promise that.”
