AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It was an exhausting day. Best crowd we’ve ever had at the Easter egg hunt and with the fewest mishaps.”
“That’s excellent. I followed the updates throughout the day and it looked like an amazing day. Weather looked perfect.”
“It was. Couldn’t have been any better. And I got to see my family for a lot of the day, and we hung out at Grinny’s tonight…it’s been a while since I’ve had that much time with them. Took the dogs with me and they are nice and tired.”
“I’m glad,” I say quietly. Glad about her day,reallyglad she’s talking to me.
“How’s your mom?”
“Today she seemed the most like herself. My mom is normally full of energy, so it’s been strange to see her so subdued, but she was chatty today and ate a little more, looks better too.”
“That’s great news.”
It’s hard to tell if she’s just being polite when she really wants to hang me up by the balls or if my apology did the trick. So I double down.
“I’m sorry I was a prick last night.”
“Youwerea prick,” she agrees. “Thanks for apologizing.”
“Do you forgive me?”
“I do,” she says.
I blow out a long gust of air, relief knocking me sideways.
“I’m so gone over you, Scarlett,” I say, leaning my head against the headboard. “And I’m gonna blow it a lot probably. For example…I don’t think I’ve called a girl in a decade.”
“You’re more of a texter?”
“I guess so, yeah. More of a plan things in person and then do the follow-up with texts kind of guy. I haven’t ever done a long-distance thing, haven’t had the agony of waiting all day for someone to call…” I pause when she laughs. “Honestly, I usually regret giving my number to anyone, not this…wishing you’d call.”
“You could’ve called me at any time,” she sings.
I hit FaceTime on my phone, and she accepts, grinning wide.
“Oh, could you FaceTime me again and I’ll answer from my laptop? I want to see you better,” she says.
We hang up and I grab my laptop, calling her from there. When she pops up on my bigger screen, my stomach and chest flutter erratically.
“Well, this is a helluva lot better. Why haven’t we been doingthisall week?”
She’s on her bed, positioned about like I am, only she has Lucia and Delgado nestled in next to her. Delgado’s body is snug against her thigh and his little head is propped up on her leg.
“God, I miss you. I want to be where Delgado is right now.”
Her cheeks flush and she looks down, her teeth sliding over her lip. “I miss you.” She sounds hoarse and I frown.
“Are you getting sick?”
“I think I just yelled too much. We do this relay toward the end of the event, where everyone has to leap with all their legs attached to a partner and see how many of their eggs they can keep in their basket. It’s hilarious. The winners were these twin little girls who are staying at the lodge this week. Owen was certain they’d cheated. I wish Ivy had been here—she would’ve had so much fun.”
“I wish she could’ve been too. Her week hasn’t been even half as much fun as all that—lots of hospital time and worrying about Daisy. She’s been really anxious about my mom and it’s hard to see that little girl sad about anything.”
“She’s so happy, it breaks my heart to think about her going through all that heaviness,” she says. She shakes her head. “Why can’t everyone live forever?”
“I know. I don’t like the dark places my head has gone this week,” I admit. “Anyway, we’re on the other side of it…and I hope we won’t have to deal with any of this again for a very long time. Never works for me. What else is happening over there?”
“Vera let my brothers know—about the two of us.”
