AllFreeNovel
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“I’ll be here for a while. I’m not sure how long. But even if I go back to Texas, we’ll keep in touch. We’ll talk and text on the phone. I’ll come back to visit. Maybe you’ll come see me, too.”
“I’d like that. I’ve never been to Texas. Plus I want to see your place. Maybe go to your house in Belize.”
Summer looked excited about it, too. “That would be a fun vacation for all of us.”
Haley liked that she wanted to be with them. “Give me your phone. I’ll put in my number. I’ll even log into my TikTok account so you can see the videos we posted and the other stuff I do, since you probably don’t want your own account.”
Summer handed her the phone. “I totally want to see how many likes you get for it. Plus you’ll be able to get in touch with me whenever you want. For anything,” she added, letting Haley know it was okay to call just to chat.
“You’re really nice.”
“You are, too. Thanks for being so welcoming.”
Haley glanced at her. “You mean, when Natalie hasn’t been.”
“I think she’s just being cautious.”
“She’s being a b—brat.”
“Nice save on that b-word.” Summer patted Haley’s knee. “It’s okay about Natalie. I burst into her life unannounced and made things complicated for her. She’s graduating in a couple of weeksand thought all the attention would be on her. And it will be. In a couple of days, my being here won’t seem so novel and everyone will be doing their thing like always and it won’t seem so strange that I’m here.”
At that moment, Miranda came in. “Dinner’s ready.”
Summer stood and brushed her dress down her legs. “I meant to come and help you tonight.”
Miranda waved that off. “It sounded like you two were having a lot of fun up here.”
Haley jumped up with her phone and ran to her mom. “Check this out. Summer did the dance challenge with me.” She showed Miranda the video.
“Wow. You two look really great together.” Miranda smiled at Summer.
“Haley is a great dancer. We worked out the steps together until we got it just right.” Summer looked at her. “I hope your friends like it.”
“It’s better than anything they did.”
“We had fun; that’s what counts the most.”
Haley thought so, too.
Miranda brushed her hand over Haley’s hair. “I’m glad you had fun. It’s your turn to set the table.”
Haley turned to Summer. “Thank you for hanging out with me today.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“Wait until I show Dad what we did.”
Summer eyed her with a grin. “Next time, I get to pick the activity.”
Haley couldn’t wait. “What do you want to do?”
Summer tilted her head. “Have you ever played chess?”
“A little bit. It’s confusing.”
“I’ll teach you all my tricks.”
Haley frowned. “We used to have a family game night, but we haven’t done it in a long time.”
