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“What?” Riley’s nose bunched up cutely as she stopped at a stop sign and looked over at Harlow. “You’ve been a tour manager for years. You work with celebrities.”
Harlow laughed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I guess I mean I’ve never met one in the wild before. It was always at a concert or an event, not in their town.”
“That makes sense.”
Taking a left at the stop sign, they drove in silence a few more miles until Riley turned into a subdivision of older but nice homes. Most were two-story homes with manicured lawns and fenced in backyards. Flowers of every shape and color dotted the various landscapes as they pulled into the home of Riley’s parents.
Or what Harlow assumed was Riley’s parents’ house.
“Here we are. The house where little Riley grew up.”
“I love it.”
As they got out of the car, Harlow was surprised when Riley came over to her and took her hand as they walked up the sidewalk to the front door. Harlow wasn’t sure why Riley was holding her hand, but she didn’t question it. In fact, she liked it. She’d have to evaluate those feelings later.
Riley let herself into the front door as Harlow followed behind her.
“The favorite child has returned home,” she called out in a singsong voice. A tall woman who looked like an older Riley came around the corner of a room and into the foyer. She had her arms outstretched as Riley dropped Harlow’s hand and went to her mother. “Hi, Mommy.”
“My sweet baby.” Lauren kissed the top of Riley’s head. “I’m so happy you’re home. I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.”
“And this must be Harlow.” Keeping an arm around Riley’s shoulder, Lauren held her hand out to Harlow. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Riley’s mom, Lauren.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too. Thank you for having me over.”
“Are you kidding? You’ve been living with Riley for a month. We should have rolled out the red carpet for you.”
“Mom,” Riley pouted, “I’m not that bad to live with.”
“Yeah, she’s actually fine to live with. Except she hogs the sheet.”
“I do not.”
“I freeze most nights.”
“Oh, please,” Riley waved her off with a laugh. “You have that whole big blanket to keep you warm.”
“So, I’ll take it that the pull-out bed hasn’t been fixed yet.”
Riley and Harlow exchanged a look. The bed had been fixed the day after it broke, thanks to the help of the crew putting together the stage. But they had kept sharing a bed for whatever reason. Harlow hadn’t had the heart to kick Riley out; the bed was big enough for both of them anyway. However, she’d never asked Harlow her reasoning for staying in bed with her. The truth of the matter was Harlow didn’t care what the reasoning was. She’d grown to love Riley’s presence every night beside her.
“Oh, well, um,” Riley looked to Harlow for help.
“The bed is really big, so it’s not a problem to share.” Harlow shrugged, trying to let Lauren and Riley know she didn’t care about sharing the bed. “It’s been fine.”
Lauren arched an eyebrow and gave a quick glance to Riley. It was probably a mother’s instinct to not like the fact her daughter was sharing a bed with someone. But if Lauren thought that, she didn’t say it. Harlow assumed it was just her own insecurities projecting that feeling onto Lauren.
“Well, I’m glad Riley is at least on her best behavior. Usually she hogs the whole bed.”
“I know how to be considerate. Where’s Dad?”
“Out back. He’s getting the fire pit going. It’s such a beautiful night we thought we could sit out there and talk and roast marshmallows or whatever you want. Maddie and Walker are coming over, did they tell you?”
“No, they didn’t, but that’ll be fun.”
“I invited Nana and Mimi, too, but they weren’t sure if they were coming yet or not.”
