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I raise an eyebrow at her. “Well, this isn’t a trade-off, but you’ve piqued my interest, so let’s hear it.”
Determination grows in her eyes. “You have to find me and tell me the next time you’re upset about something with your grandma.”
Her words sweep over me the way her hand swept down my arm earlier. Since I’m not unsettled right now, they don’t exactly calm me, but they dosomethingto me. Something nice and warm and welcome.
I could get used to her.
I stick out a hand. “Deal.”
“Deal.” We shake hands. “Well, I’ll go find Rae. I need to take her home and put her in different clothes.”
“All right. I gotta help Bill clean up before I disappear.”
I spot a tiny girl hurrying up to us and recognize her even though she’s somehow covered in ice cream.
I let out a laugh as I add, “Oh, yeah, Raedefinitelyneeds new clothes.”
Liv yelps when she sees her. “What in the world, girlfriend?”
“Can I get in the pool again?” Rae asks as she holds out her arms. “I got some ice cream with Jessie and then I dropped it all on me.”
I laugh again and Liv joins in. “No, you can’t get back in the pool to wash off your Neapolitan ice cream. Let’s tell Abby goodbye and then go home for a bit.” She looks at me, still smiling. “Do you think we can meet at the place in about forty-five minutes?”
I nod. “Perfect. I’ll see you guys there.”
As the two of them head off to find Abby, I hear Liv filling Rae in on our dinner plans. The kid is audibly excited even after they’re out of sight.
I give a cheerful clap before I start looking for Bill, because I’m suddenly thrilled that this party is over.
|| 5 || Liv-Andria
On one hand, I can’t believe I accepted Landon’s dinner invitation. On the other hand, I’m happy I did.
As new as his presence in my life is, he feels…well, I don’t think‘familiar’is the right word.‘Comfortable,’maybe. I’m finding that he’s just easy to be around. Easy to talk to.
I’m not the only one who thinks that. As she and I freshened up after the party, Rae told me all about how excited she was to eat pizza with her new friend. As soon as we saw him in the Papa Angelo’s parking lot, she jumped into conversation with him, and she hasn’t quieted down since…and we’ve just been seated after a twenty-minute wait.
And Landon is going right along with it, bless his soul.
She has already questioned him about his full name (Landon Lucas Wintermute), how old he is (twenty-seven), whether he likes ham or turkey better (ham), and some other things I don’t even remember. She asks him now, “What’s your favorite color?”
He tells her, “I like black.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s so plain, I think.”
He probably really means it, since he said earlier that he likes my plain brown shirt.
“Hmm,” Rae says. “Yes, black is a very plain color.”
“Yep. What’syourfavorite color?”
“Purple!”
I chortle at that. “Really? I thought it was pink! It’s been pink every day of your life, hasn’t it?”
“Well, maybe, but today is a whole different day, Annie!”
