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“Are they not grieving well?”
“I think it’s actually the opposite. They’ve already started clearing out rooms in her house, so I’m sorry if the one they place you in is a mess. There’s just so much crap. Her closets are stuffed with decades full of… I don’t even know. I mean,” she laughed, a relieving sound, “you name it, it’s in there.”
As Aubrey pulled onto the I-5, she told me more about the week I’d missed with her and Ethan up there. She asked how Rowan’s cat was and told me about his neighbors, the same ones he told me she baked for. I kept Charity to myself because, as much as I was desperate to shame him with Aubrey, I felt bad for the guy. Well, he punched Ryan Marshall and told me I’m off limits.
“Would you tell Ezra I was off limits?”
“Um. Say what now?” Aubrey glanced at me as she switched lanes.
“If he hit on me, or his friend hit on me, would you tell him I’m off limits?”
“Ezra hit on you?” She gasped, cackling in the seat next to me.
“Is that so hard to believe?”
Aubrey was quiet as she turned onto a gravel driveway lined with evergreens. “No. I think you and Ezra would make a really cute couple, but he’s seeing someone.”
“Okay.” I threw my hands up. “I’m not interested in Ezra, and he didn’t hit on me, but I’m asking hypothetically. Why would I be off limits?”
She parked next to a row of cars outside the stone house. It looked cold even in the summer heat, washed by elements and covered with twisting vines. Some of Ethan’s family members moved around the property, waving at Aubrey when she climbed from the car.
I met her at the trunk, where she peered around to see that we were alone before she spoke again. “Ethan told them you’re off limits. All of them. I’d like to think they follow through, but now you’ve got me worried about Ezra.”
“He was just an example. Forget I said his name,” I grumbled, annoyed she wasn’t really listening to me. “Can’t I decide my limits?”
“Well, of course, but he’s just trying to protect—wait. Is there someone you want to be with? Is it Ezra? Oh, my god, it’s Rowan.”
Gaping at her, I couldn’t believe her words. “Where’s the bathroom? I’m going to be sick. Look, forget I said anything.”
“I will, but you’ve got me worried now.” Aubrey took my suitcase from the trunk and squeezed my arms. “Did you hear what even happened with Rowan last week? I bet he’s going to be a disaster when he gets here.”
I froze, worried about what she meant. The old me, me before Rowan displayed humanity a week ago, would’ve not cared at all. But now, after feeling the air move around me when he knocked Ryan away, I was curious.
Following Aubrey inside, she introduced me to some of Ethan’s family as they were preparing for the wake to follow his grandmother’s funeral. His dad took my suitcase and carried it upstairs somewhere as Ethan came to find us from moving furniture with his cousin.
His hug felt so good. It was like falling into familiar, into normalcy. Although, I thought back to Aubrey telling me he made me off limits, but I’d pick that fight with him on a day we weren’t in black and preparing to attend a funeral.
Ethan’s grandmother was religious, popular, and wealthy. That meant the church service was enormous, filled with bagpipers and actual white orchids. I sat near the front with Aubrey, who sobbed the entire time. I didn’t blame her. I met Ethan’s grandmother a few times, and she was amazing. A spitfire with such sass, even when she was ill. Once her casket lowered, Aubrey gave me her car keys, and I drove us back to the museum of a house.
Waves gently lapped the shore along Elliott Bay as I stood in the yard, watching the early evening light glisten on the water. Kids ran around without a clue of what the day really meant. Adults laughed, cried, and gorged themselves. I did the same, having no shame in my emotional eating.
Closing my eyes, I let the warmth cocoon me while listening to the kids and waves. Familiar cologne swirled around as footsteps tapped along the tile walk behind me.
“Hi,” Rowan whispered at my side. His arm brushed against mine, engulfing my skin with a buzz of awareness. I peeked through one eye, smiling to myself when I closed it again.
“You don’t look like a disaster.”
“Am I supposed to?” His laugh was deep, and I hated how I felt it in my stomach.
I opened my eyes and watched his mouth part. “Aubrey said you’d be a disaster after whatever happened to you this week.”
Rowan rubbed his jaw, looking at the waves while he spoke. “They suspended me for two games. It doesn’t look good on my record, but it was worth it.”
“Because…”
“I promised Ethan I wouldn’t let the baseball players break your heart,” he shrugged, “and stopping a sleaze from messing with you was a good start.”
“Wait.” I grabbed his arm. “You were suspended because I’m off limits?”
