by Shana Norris
I held up one hand and started to laugh. “Okay, okay. One question at a time.”
Paisley joined in my laughter and warmth spread through me. This was what we’d been missing the last few years—true friendship. We were cousins, bound by blood, but now we were connected through much more.
A couple hours later, I patted my face dry as I looked in the hall bathroom mirror. It was about two o’clock in the morning. and Paisley and I had just gotten home from the party in the valley half an hour ago. We’d been up eating ice cream in the den, trying hard not to talk too loudly and wake up Pop and Mimi. I planned to wake up early to practice for the scholarship interview, so I really needed to get to bed.
But there was so much energy flowing through me, keeping me awake. It had been a fun night with Paisley, much to my surprise.
I stared at my reflection in the mirror, biting my lip. All that talk about the DJ business made me wonder if I really should go for that scholarship interview. It was only a few days away, and though there was no guarantee that I’d get it, going for it meant that I could possibly be turning my back on what I really wanted to do. I wasn’t interested in being a math major or even a math teacher one day. I wanted to work on music composition and business. Running Mega Watts Mobile DJ service made me happy. The idea of studying math for the next four years at Greensboro College didn’t.
Maybe I could confess this to Paisley and see what she thought. She was pretty good at giving advice.
“Paisley?” I whispered as I poked my head into Andrea’s old room. A nightlight shone in one corner of the room, casting light across the bed nearby.
Except that the bed was empty.
I stepped into the room. “Paisley? Are you in here?”
She had gone to bed before I’d gone into the bathroom, so I didn’t know where she might be if she wasn’t in her room.
A light outside the window caught my attention. I moved toward it, leaning to look out.
In the driveway, I could see a figure standing next to a car. The streetlight near the road gave enough illumination to see that it was Paisley, dressed in her pajama pants and T-shirt, her arms crossed over her chest.
A chill spread through me as I recognized the car she stood next to. Rory’s car. I could only make out the shape of his head in the dim light.
What was Paisley doing talking to Rory in secret at two in the morning? She had sworn that there was nothing going on between them, but this didn’t seem like nothing.
As I watched, Paisley bent down toward the open driver’s side window. An arm reached out to touch her cheek. My breath caught in my throat as Paisley leaned into the window. I couldn’t make out faces or details, but it was obvious that they were kissing.
Chapter 21
Sleep never came that night. After seeing Paisley kiss Rory outside, there was no way that Paisley could deny anything was going on between them. Not after I saw the evidence right outside her window.
How could I have been so stupid? Rory’s erratic behavior, Paisley’s flirting—of course something was going on the whole time. Of course it didn’t matter if Paisley looked like she was being sincere.
When my alarm finally went off, I was still lying awake staring up at the ceiling. I hit the Off button and pushed myself out of bed. I needed to get out of the house and get away as soon as possible.
After dressing quickly and pulling my hair back into a messy bun, I slipped down the hall, tiptoeing to keep from attracting attention. I heard the TV on in the den. Paisley’s voice drifted toward me, and then Andrea’s in response.
Holding my shoes in one hand, I hurried across the kitchen to the back door and slipped outside, closing it quietly behind me. Letting out a long breath, I fought back the tears that stung my eyes. I would not cry over this. I didn’t need a guy, especially not one who had done nothing but lie to me since I’d met him. Especially when there was another guy, one who had let me know that he actually cared for me.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and typed out a text.
Hey, what are you doing today?
Within seconds, Miguel texted back. Hey. Good to hear from you. Nothing much, you?
Trying to find something to do before work. Want to hang out?
I’d love to. What do you have in mind?
Not sure. Come pick me up? We’ll decide when you get here.
I’ll be there in ten minutes.
I waited for Miguel outside on the front porch, hoping that no one would look outside and see me. I didn’t want to talk to any of my family at the moment, and I certainly did not want to even look at Paisley. Every time I thought about her and Rory, my fists clenched tight and my chest swelled with painful breaths.
Miguel stayed true to his word and arrived within ten minutes, his black truck pulling up to the curb in front of my house. I jumped up as he got out of the truck and walked around the side, meeting me at the passenger door.
“So,” he said, smiling wide as he reached for the door handle. “Where do you want to go?”
I climbed into the truck and hopped onto the seat. “How about a few games of pinball?”
Miguel’s brown eyes lit up. “It feels like forever since we’ve done that.”
“It has been forever,” I told him, laughing.
Miguel shut the door and then walked back around the truck to climb onto the driver’s seat. The truck smelled just like I remembered, like him and the pine scent of the air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror and the lingering smell of burgers and fries. Inhaling deep, my mind flooded with memories from a year ago. Rory and Paisley could have each other.
We found the Pinball Museum just opening for the day when we arrived and only a few other people waiting to get in. The museum housed old arcade games, and visitors could play them all for as long as they wanted after they paid the admittance fee. Back when we were dating, Miguel and I loved to come to play the pinball games, fiercely competing to see who could get the highest score.
I hadn’t been into the game museum since we’d broken up because it had been filled with too many memories of him. Our first date was at the museum, and our first kiss happened in front of the Ms. Pacman machine. Nothing in the place had changed; it was like stepping back in time to a year ago, like we were being given another chance to just pick up where we’d left off and make this thing work.
“Come on,” Miguel said, grabbing my hand in his warm one. “I’m ready to show you who’s boss when it comes to pinball.”
I snorted. “We’ll see who comes out on top.”
We lined up at our usual pinball machines, our hands poised over the buttons. It wasn’t long before we were immersed in the games, laughing and cheering whenever our balls hit all the little pieces on the gameboard and made them light up.
“I am so kicking your behind, Watts,” Miguel told me, his eyes locked on his game.
I dared a quick glance at his scoreboard. “I think you’d better look again. I have way more points than you.”
“We’ll see who has more points after this shot!” Miguel pounded his hand against the button, but let out a loud, frustrated groan when he missed the ball and it fell into the hole, ending his game.
“Oh, too bad,” I told him, trying to look sympathetic despite my victorious grin. “Better luck next time.”
Miguel came over to my game and placed his hands on the glass top, covering up the majority of the gameboard.
“Hey!” I shrieked. “No fair!”
I missed the ball thanks to Miguel’s intervention and my game ended, too. “Sorry,” Miguel said. “Better luck next time?”
I jabbed him in the side. “I still beat you. I have two thousand more points than you.”
Miguel grabbed my hand, pulling me closer to him. “It’s just a game, Watts,” he said, looking down at me with his wide eyes and sexy smile. “There are better things to occupy your time with.”
We stood so close, I could feel the warmth radiating off of Miguel’s body. He held my hands tight in h
is, and his eyes roamed over my face, from my eyes to my lips and back again. I did the same as I looked back at him. There we were, a year later, back in our old hangout, standing so close like we used to. I wouldn’t run away this time.
Miguel’s head leaned toward mine. He pulled me closer, his heart thrumming against my chest. I closed my eyes.
“Kate,” he said. When he didn’t kiss me, I looked up at him. His eyes were questioning me. “You aren’t into this, are you?”
“Um,” I said, stepping back and pulling my hands from his. He knew me too well for me to try to hide anything.
Miguel nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Yeah.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean …”
Miguel gave me a smile. “It’s all right. We gave it a shot, right?”
I bit my lip, nodding. “Yeah, I guess so.”
I paused, remembering what Paisley had said about honesty—maybe it didn’t just apply to Miguel.
“Miguel, I did miss you. I mean, I do—” I started.
“Me too. Let me guess,” he said, holding up a hand. “It’s just hard to separate what you felt then for what you feel now, right?”
My mouth fell open. “Yeah, now that you put it that way, that’s exactly it.”
He laughed softly and wrapped me into a big hug, lifting me off the ground a little—just like always. He set me down, his hands on both my shoulders. “Yeah. I get it. I really care about you, Kate. Don’t forget that.”
The radio filled the silence on the way back to my house. Miguel pulled to a stop at the curb in front my house and turned toward me, smiling a little. “Text me some time,” he said. “We can still be friends, right?”
I had one hand on the door handle, but I paused and said, “Of course. And if you’re ever in Greensboro, you can come visit me at school.”
“Your interview is tomorrow, right?” Miguel asked.
I nodded, my stomach roiling with nervousness. “Yes, it is. I’ll be so glad when it’s over.”
Miguel grinned wide. “I know you’ll do great. Good luck. Or is it bad to say that? Break a leg?”
I laughed and we agreed to text and visit when we could, but part of me knew that probably wouldn’t happen. I climbed out of the truck and shut the door, waving to Miguel as he drove away and out of my life once again.
Taking a deep breath, I started up the driveway toward the house. As I got closer to my car, I sensed something was wrong. I froze in place, staring at the trunk door. It was open, just slightly. The trunk didn’t close right unless you knew just how to shut it, so it was easy to see if someone else had been messing with it. And it was obvious that the trunk wasn’t closed the way it should have been.
My heart pounded in my chest as I stepped forward, pushing open the trunk door.
The blanket I kept inside the trunk lay in a pile in one corner. My hands shook and I leaned against the car to steady myself. The blanket should have been spread out across the trunk. That was the way I always left it: spread out over the DJ equipment that I kept in the trunk.
But the only thing in my trunk was the wadded up blanket and an old McDonald’s paper bag. The soundboard, the speakers, even the cords—all my equipment was gone.
I raced across the grassy lawn, bursting through the front door of the house. Everyone looked up at me in surprise when I appeared in the doorway to the den, but my eyes were locked on Paisley, who sat on the floor painting her nails.
“Where is it?” I roared.
Paisley blinked at me, the nail polish brush frozen over her pinky. “Where’s what?”
Fury raced through me and my heartbeat throbbed in my ears. I squeezed my hands into fists at my sides as I spoke through clenched teeth. “My DJ equipment. It’s gone, and the only person I can think of to blame is you.”
“Kathryn!” Mimi exclaimed, standing up from the couch where she’d been sitting with a magazine in her lap. “What on earth are you talking about?”
I pointed at Paisley, my hand shaking as I did. “She’s taken my car already without my permission. I’m sure she did it again and lost my equipment.”
“Kate, that’s a serious accusation,” Pop started, scowling up at me.
“I didn’t take your car!” Paisley protested. Her blue eyes turned glassy with tears.
Andrea stood, holding her hands up. “Kate, settle down—”
“Of course you’d come to her defense,” I snapped at the woman who was supposed to be my mom. “All you care about is Paisley. Have you ever even once talked to me the way you do her?”
Tears streaked down Paisley’s cheeks. “I should have known not to come here,” she said, wiping at her nose with the back of her hand. “You’re just like everyone else, thinking I’m nothing but a screw up. I thought maybe I could get another chance here, that maybe you’d understand me a little, but I guess not.”
She pushed herself to her feet and stomped past me, not even meeting my gaze as she passed. A moment later, the door to the guest room slammed shut, leaving the rest of us in silence.
Andrea turned back to me, sighing heavily. “Kate—”
“Save it,” I snapped. “I have to get to work. Now I have to pay back the rental company for the missing equipment.”
Without waiting for a response, I turned and headed back out the door to the outside world.
Chapter 22
My day at Mountain Dairy went agonizingly slow. I felt like I scooped about ten thousand ice cream cones and sundaes. It was like the customers just wouldn’t stop coming, despite the fact that my head was about to explode at any moment. My coworkers, Syke and Carlos, both tried to get me to talk to them. Even Luca danced a funny jig in the back room, but I couldn’t crack a smile. Before anyone could make me stay a second after my shift ended, I’d already swiped my badge across the time clock and was out the door to my car.
Everything felt like it was falling apart, when it should have been coming together. And that needed to change.
Starting with Rory. I couldn’t just call or text him. This was something that I had to do face-to-face. It was time for the truth and some answers. If there was something going on between him and Paisley, I wanted to know right now, from him directly.
I didn’t know where I was going until I ended up in front of Homegrown Treasures. The little shop sat in between the other buildings just like it always did, quiet and unassuming, but as soon as I saw it my mind flashed back to the day Rory had kissed me there. Could that really have been nothing? It hadn’t felt like nothing, but I didn’t trust my own judgment anymore.
There was Rory’s car, parked along the street in front of the store. I parked my own car behind his and then got out, forcing myself to take each step toward the door.
I barely managed to nod hello to the old man at the counter as I walked inside. I cut through the racks of old clothes and shelves of vintage Pyrex and homemade pottery. I knew exactly where to find Rory.
And there he was, sitting on the same faded blue bench we’d sat on before. He had a banjo in his lap, plucking at the strings a little as I approached. When I drew closer, he looked up, his green eyes, one of them a pale shade of purple, widening when he saw me.
“Kate,” he said. “Hey.”
I crossed my arms to hide the fact that my hands were shaking. “I want the truth. No more lies, no more avoiding the answers. Okay?”
Rory didn’t say anything, but he nodded, his eyes still locked on me.
I swallowed hard and then forced the words out before I lost my courage to say them. “What is going on between you and Paisley?” He opened his mouth, but I added, “And don’t say nothing. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other and the way you talk to her. She knows things about you that she shouldn’t know. That’s not nothing. And I saw you two kissing last night.”
Rory slipped the banjo strap off his body. He stared down at my shoes as he said in a low voice, “I’ve known Paisley for years. We grew up together in Atlanta.�
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My hands kept shaking. “So, what? You came here this summer just to follow her? If so, what is all of this you’ve been doing with me?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t come here just for Paisley. I told you the truth—my mom wanted me to spend the summer with my brother. They’re trying to get me to decide what to do with my life. I saw it as a chance to try and get my dad to change his life around. He’s a screw up, always getting into trouble and messing with drugs and—” He ran a hand over his spiky hair. “Sorry, that’s not what you came here to know.”
He set the banjo aside. “I primarily came here for my dad, but when I found out Paisley was coming, I thought it would be good to keep an eye on her.” He paused, one knee bouncing up and down nervously. “Paisley’s been dating my best friend back home, Jeremy. And she’s … she’s pregnant, Kate.”
It was like Rory had suddenly shoved that banjo right into my gut. All of the air left me and an icy chill wrapped around my body.
“She’s … what?” I croaked out, my own voice sounding funny to my ears.
Now Rory met my gaze. “Pregnant,” he repeated. “She’s almost three months along, I think. I don’t know for sure. I only know because Jeremy told me. She dumped Jeremy when she told him, and she wouldn’t talk to him for weeks. Not until really late last night, when he came up here to Asheville.”
“Wait,” I said, trying to make sense of everything he was saying. “Late last night? At two in the morning? As in … the car in our driveway? That was him?”
Rory nodded. “He took the bus, so I let him borrow my car to drive over there.”
“So then,” I said slowly as pieces started to click into place in my head, “you weren’t the one kissing Paisley last night.”
“No,” Rory said. “I told you, Paisley and I are just friends. I swear. It’s never been anything more than that. But I couldn’t act like I knew her without revealing the secret she didn’t want anyone to know yet. I just didn’t know how to explain it. So I-I lied.”
I wanted to laugh, to cry, to cheer—anything to show my happiness that there really was nothing going on between Rory and Paisley. But I couldn’t do that when the reality of the situation was setting in like a weight in my belly.