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She pushed me off of her playfully and I reached for her head again, but she ran away and down the road toward The Baking Tin. When we made it to the bakery, I stopped, noticing the white Mercedes parked out front.
Darcy and Beau followed my gaze to the car and Beau belted out, “Shit! Who in Aveline is driving a Mercedes? Did someone win the lottery?”
Darcy chimed in, “I bet it was the Donovans! You know they have like eight kids and they just took them all to Disney World. That had to have cost like a million dollars.”
They both moved closer to the car, but I stopped.
“Lettie?” I said quietly, looking around to see if I could spot her. I didn’t expect to see her back so soon. We had planned for a second date over the weekend after her classes had ended for the summer, but that was definitely her car, and that was definitely her stepping out of the Teddy’s pet clinic wearing a school uniform.
Holy school girl.
“Lennie? Who is Lennie?” Darcy asked, looking back and forth down the street while Beau had his face practically plastered on the window of her car.
“Damn, this car is ridiculous!” Beau said, waving to us and tapping on the glass. “Leather interior. Tuck, check this out!”
I batted my hand at them as I walked slowly toward the clinic. “Not Lennie, it’s Lettie. And get your nose off her window!” I waved, trying to get Lettie’s attention, and when she looked up, a smile spread across her face.
Lettie ran across the street and slowed just as she reached me. “Hey!” she said, out of breath.
“Hey yourself. What are you doing? I didn’t expect to see you so soon.” I couldn’t help that my pulse quickened at the sight of her and there was a goofy grin that took up half of my face.
She looked down at her feet. “Surpriseeee!” she said, elongating the ending of the word. She kicked at the sidewalk and squinted one eye as she peered up at me. “You have time?”
I looked at my wrist, pretending to check the time. “Oooo, I don’t know. I’m pretty booked.” I ran my hands through my hair.
“Oh, really?” Lettie said, catching my sarcasm. “You could tell that by your wrist?”
“Yes, that’s where I keep all of my important dates, don’t you?”
She chuckled. “I use a planner, but I could see how your wrist would work quite nicely.”
I looked at my arm again. “Oh, would you look at that? Something just opened up.” I put my hands in the pockets of my shorts and shifted my weight. “Looks like I got all the time in the world.”
Her eyes brightened and I reached over and touched the sweater she had tied around her waist. I’d never seen anyone wearing a school uniform. At least, not in real life. But she was standing in front of me in a plaid skirt with a buttoned-up, white shirt tucked in. Her long socks came up so high that they touched the bottom of her skirt, and she had a blue sweater even though it was practically one hundred degrees out. Honestly, the sight of her in it made my heart skip.
“Nice outfit,” I teased.
“Shut up,” she said, bumping into my shoulder.
“Are we interrupting something?” Darcy came bounding over. I had almost forgotten she and Beau were there. She took one look at Lettie and shrieked, “Oh my God, you’re the rich one, aren’t you?”
“Darcy!” I exclaimed, embarrassed at her boldness. I mouthed, “I’m sorry”to Lettie, but she just laughed.
“What?” Darcy said, “Only rich people go to schools where you have to wear uniforms. That’s your car isn’t it? Youarerich!” She paused, thinking. “Huh, I guess the Donovans didn’t win the lottery after all.”
I was pleading with Darcy to stop, but Lettie didn’t seem to mind. “Well,” she began, “I’m not rich at all. My parents, however? Yes, they are very rich.”
Darcy grabbed Lettie by the arm, linking their elbows and pulling her along the sidewalk with her. “That is so cool. I’ve never met anyone rich before. Tell me what it’s like. Do you have a vacation home? Is your house a mansion?” She gasped. “Oh my God, do you have a butler?”
Darcy and Lettie became friends in a matter of minutes and she and Beau were completely accepting of taking her to the Hidden Hollow. I hadn’t mentioned that I’d already taken her there the other day, and Lettie put on an Emmy-worthy performance pretending she had never seen it.
While Beau and Darcy were swimming and jumping off a few of the rocks, Lettie and I were sprawled out on a blanket, talking.
“You couldn’t get enough of Aveline, huh? Had to come back early?” I broke off a piece of my chocolate-filled puff pastry and handed her half.
She accepted the piece and took a bite. “Pretty much. I feel like this might be the only place that I can be myself.”
“Is that what you were doing at the pet clinic today?”
