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“If you’re turning up here with it, you’d better fucking hope so.”
The stack wobbles in his hands as he looks from me to the door and back again, but I make no move to help him.
“Uh, I’ll just…” He awkwardly steps around me, balancing the boxes badly before ringing the bell.
He shuffles from one foot to another, peeking over his shoulder to find me still watching him. His gaze flies back to the door so fast I’m surprised he doesn’t give himself whiplash, and the way his eyes bulge when Jacob opens the door almost has me chuckling.
It’s been a long time since we managed to do that, apart from Ivy, I guess, but that surprise wasn’t intentional.
“I’m not hiding from anyone,” I argue, crossing my arms over my chest.
She doesn’t answer, doesn’t push for anything more, instead picking at some dirt on the edge of her dress, unfastening her sandal before adjusting one of the straps and refastening it.
“Fine.” I sigh. “We’re playing hide and seek. I guess you missed the game or something.”
“Yeah, or something.”
“Why are you hiding?” I ask, a sadness in her voice that I don’t like—it makes my tummy twist.
“Uncle Derek said I should be a good girl and go play quietly while the grownups did their thing.” She rolls her eyes, flicking her hair over her shoulder and turning to me fully. Her hot hand lands on my thigh and she hisses the words out between clenched teeth. “Like I’m some kind of toddler getting in their way. Do I look like a baby to you?”
She doesn’t wait for an answer before continuing her tirade. “Honestly, he’s such a bore. I don’t know why he had to come today. Daddy said this would be fun, and now I’m stuck in the middle of this… this garden, and you won’t even show me the way out. Everyone here is so mean.”
Huh.
My leg tingles where her hand meets it, her skin way softer than my busted-up knees.
“Come on,” I say, standing and holding my hand out to her.
If she wants fun, I can show her fun.
I might have followed her through the gardens and chuckled a little when she went around this same corner for the second, and third, time, but that doesn’t have to be all today is about. Today can be about fun, and avoiding my family with a perfectly good reason, for as long as possible.
She hesitates, her fingers twitching like she wants to take my hand and go but isn’t sure it’s safe to.
“What other choice do you have? You’re already lost,” I say calmly, and yet, she still thinks about it.
Just when I’m ready to give up and sit back down, she slides her palm against mine, intertwining our fingers before standing up.
“If you abandon me somewhere and run off, I swear I’ll find out who you are and make your life hell,” she promises with narrowed eyes.
“You can try.” I grin.
Pulling her along is easy, and fun, as I head down the same path she has done so many times, only, instead of taking this turn or that turn and looping back, we keep going. Heading past the decorative gardens and the fishing lake, through the archway of trees and around the corner to the play area. My favourite play area.
Excitement ripples in the air as she strips off her sandals, abandoning them where I stand as she hurries her steps, sinking her toes in the sun-warmed sand.
“There are buckets and things in the chest,” I say, pointing it out. Nothing gets left lying around out here, there’s always someone coming along and smashing the sandcastles to nothing before packing everything away. “That’s one of Sophie’s favourite places to be.”
“Who’s Sophie?” she asks, bending down to grab a handful of sand, squeezing it in her palm.
“My sister.”
I don’t know why I don’t go over and join her, sit on the edge of the pit and wiggle my toes in the sand. It would be nice, I do it with Soph, but something about her is different, and I can’t help but watch in awe, waiting to see what she does next.
I stand in silence, watching the grains tumble between her fingers as she opens them, the sand tumbling into a little pile next to where she crouches, repeating the process.
“She’s got good taste,” the girl replies with a smile.
