Chapter Thirteen
Riley sprinted around the beach house to the garage. Cami sat behind the wheel of an ancient powder-blue station wagon in the middle of the crushed-shell driveway.
Leaning on the horn, she waved her casted arm out the open window. “Hurry up. I’m starving.”
Riley dragged her feet, trying to come up with a reason for them not to go. The car door creaked as she opened it. “We won’t be able to stop at the food truck, you know.”
Cami frowned. “Why not?”
“Because you’ll have to shut off the car when you park, and you can’t hot-wire it in front of everyone.” Riley didn’t know how to hot-wire a car so she was guessing you had to play with the wires under the hood. But just in case she was wrong, she added, “That’s if you can get it started a second time. The car’s old, and so are the wires. You might even set it on fire.”
Cami waved her off. “I didn’t hot-wire it. I couldn’t remember how. But I found the keys in the kitchen.” She pointed at the key in the ignition.
Riley groaned. That explained why she’d heard Cami walking around downstairs. Riley got into the passenger seat and put Cami’s purse on the floor, her brain racing for some way out of this as she reached for the handle to close the door. “Are you sure you should be driving with a broken arm? I don’t think it’s legal.”
“Don’t be such a worrywart,” Cami said, and without any warning, she reversed out of the driveway at an alarming speed.
Riley yelped. “My door isn’t closed!”
Cami yanked the wheel hard to the left, and the door slammed shut. “It is now.” She laughed, speeding along the dirt road.
“Stop laughing. I could’ve fallen out.” Riley choked on the dust billowing through the open windows. “And slow down. You don’t want to get stopped for speeding.”
“Relax. I’m not speeding.” Cami nodded at the radio. “Put on some music.”
Riley turned on the radio, praying it announced some freak weather event, like a hurricane approaching Sunshine Bay, and that everyone should stay inside. There was a faint sound of tinny music beneath the crackles. Every station was the same. “If you want music, you’ll have to sing,” Riley said, and turned off the radio.
“Good idea. We’ll have a sing-off. I’ll sing my favorite song, and then you’ll sing yours.” She glanced at Riley. “Trust me. It’s fun. My mom, sisters, and I do it on our Sunday drives. You should hear my sister Eva sing. She’s da bomb. She’s in Europe now touring with her band. Just small venues, but you wait, one day she’ll be a star.” She slapped her hand on the wheel. “I bet that’s where my mom and Gia are.” Cami’s shoulders slumped, and her bottom lip quivered. “I can’t believe they left me behind.”
“I’ll go first,” Riley blurted, feeling bad for Cami and hoping to distract her. “I’m not very good, though.”
“Who cares?” Cami waved her hand. “Sing.”
“Okay. Let me see if I can pull up my playlist on my phone,” Riley said, thinking she’d get a signal now that they’d hit a paved road, indicating they were closer to town. She found her playlist and tapped on Billie Eilish’s “When the Party’s Over.” It worked. She turned up the volume, hoping it would drown her out, and began singing.
When the song was over, Cami cried, “I love that!”
Riley smiled. “Me too. It’s one of my favorites. What are you going to sing? I can bring up the music.”
“Hmm.” Cami tapped a forefinger on her lips and then she smiled. “I know. ‘Alone’ by Heart.”
Riley scrolled through her phone. “Got it,” she said, and pressed Play.
It wasn’t a slow, quiet song like the one Riley had chosen, and Cami sang it like a rock star, throwing her head from side to side and tapping her cast on the steering wheel as if it were a drum, which made Riley nervous. But she ended up getting caught up in the song and moving in her seat to the beat.
“That’s a great song, and you have a great voice, Cami,” Riley said when it was over.
“Told you this was fun.” Cami grinned. “Find one we can sing together.”
In the end, it was Cami who decided what they’d sing. They were old songs Riley hadn’t heard before, like “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay,” “Summer Breeze,” and “California Girls,” but by the second song, Riley was singing as loud and as proud as Cami.
She turned to smile at Cami as the last song ended, about to share that this was the most fun she’d had in more than a year, when she noticed where they were, and the words backed up in her throat.
“Look!” Cami cried, and slammed on the brakes, almost sending Riley face-forward into the dashboard.
Her seat belt snapped back, holding her in place. “I know!” Riley cried. “We’re on Main Street. We have to get out of here, Cami.”
“I know where we are,” Cami said, sticking her arm out the window and pointing at a bench on the sidewalk. “I wanted you to look at that.”
“I don’t know what you want me to… Oh.” Megan’s face covered the back of the bench. It was an advertisement for the real estate business where she worked with the words “Top Seller!” above her head.
“Hand me Gail’s bag.” Cami motioned for her purse.
Riley unsnapped her seat belt and grabbed the bag, holding it to her chest. “Why do you want it?”
“Why do you think I want it?”
“I asked you first.”
Cami rolled her eyes, grabbing the bag from Riley’s hands. “I need a marker. Nail polish or lipstick would work too.”
Riley’s eyes went wide. “No. No way.” She shook her head. “You can’t deface her sign. Someone will see you.” And they would. The sidewalks on both sides of Main Street were crowded with people. Sunshine Bay might be a small beach town but it was popular with tourists.
“Got it!” Cami cried triumphantly, holding up a red marker. “Don’t worry. I’m good at this sort of thing. No one will know what I’m up to. Trust me,” she said, and opened her car door, stepping onto the sidewalk.
Riley’s stomach knotted with nerves as Cami got out of the car and strode toward the bench. Riley didn’t do this sort of thing. She was a rule follower. At least she had been. But this wasn’t the same as orchestrating her escape from LA. She’d been desperate then.
Sliding down in the seat, she peeked over the dashboard to see what Cami was up to. She was sitting on the bench, trying to get the cap off the marker with her teeth. A man was watching her with his head cocked. All Riley could think was, She’s going to get caught, and, looking both ways, she opened the car door.
Slamming it shut, she rounded the hood of the car and got between Cami and the guy checking her out. Riley turned her head and mimicked her brother’s raised-eyebrow look. It worked! The guy shrugged and walked away.
“Trade places,” Riley told Cami, nudging her off the bench. She held out her hand for the marker. “I’ve seen you try and write with your left hand. You take forever.”
“I’m not writing anything,” she said, but handed Riley the marker and got up from the bench.
“What are you… I mean, what am I doing, then?”
“Devil horns and a mustache. Add a goatee if you have time.”
“Seriously?”
“If you don’t want to do it, give me back my marker.”
“I’ll do it. Just keep your back to the crowd and keep an eye out for anyone you know. If you see someone, get back in the car and duck down.”
“You’re not the boss of me, you know?”
“What are you, six? Now don’t distract me. We gotta get out of here ASAP.” Riley glanced around and then got to work on the devil horns. She leaned back to look at her handiwork. “I think they’d look better filled in, don’t you?” she asked Cami, but she was no longer standing there. Riley looked around and spotted her a few feet away, staring at a store’s window.
“Cami!” she whisper-shouted.
She walked back to Riley, looking freaked out. “There’s something wrong. I was just here the other day, and I bought a top at Surf to Shore. It’s a hardware store now.” She rubbed her thumb and forefinger up and down the bridge of her nose.
A familiar voice called Riley’s name, and she and Cami looked across the road. Cars started beeping, and several drivers shouted out their open windows, shaking their fingers at Willow, who was weaving her way through traffic on a pink electric scooter. “Sorry! Sorry!” she yelled, waving an apologetic hand.
When Willow reached the sidewalk, she shut off the motor, stepped off the scooter, and parked it in front of the station wagon. “What are you two doing…?” She trailed off, and her eyes went wide. “Riley, what—”
Cami snagged the marker from Riley. “Don’t blame her. It was my idea.”
“Cami, how could you do that to her?”
“It’s okay. I wanted to, Willow. I heard what Megan said to you. When you were talking in Noah’s car.”
Willow frowned. “But you were listening to your audiobook.”
“I’d paused it to listen,” she admitted sheepishly.
Cami laughed. “I knew you were listening.”
“Because I knew you were faking that you were asleep and wanted to find out why.” She shrugged. “Anyway, Cami and I heard how Megan spoke to you, and it wasn’t nice.” She glanced at Cami. “I mean, she was a total bitch.”
Willow blinked at her and then turned on her aunt. “Really? You were looking after her for six hours, and she’s already swearing?”
“Oh, so you’re going to tell us Megan isn’t a b—” Cami began.
“Of course she is, or at least she’s been acting like one for a while now, even if I didn’t always see it. But it doesn’t mean I want you calling her names or defacing her face.”
“So you don’t care that she dropped by the beach house looking for Noah and introducing herself as his real estate agent?” Cami asked.
“She what?”
Cami nodded. “I didn’t think you’d be happy about that. And let me tell you, she was not happy to hear you were staying at the beach house.”
“Sh—crap,” Willow said, looking panicked. “She didn’t recognize you, did she?”
“Why would she? It’s not like she knows me,” Cami said.
Riley caught Willow’s eye and shook her head.
“Okay, good.” Willow leaned over and attempted to rub out the devil horns. When that didn’t work, she snagged the marker from Cami’s hand. “That’s just great. It’s permanent marker.” She glanced around. “We have to get out of here. Come on.”
Cami hung back. “What happened to Surf to Shore? They were right there just the other day,” she said, pointing at the hardware store.
“Uh, they went out of business, I think,” Willow said, and then hustled her aunt and Riley to the station wagon, grabbing her scooter on the way by. “Pop the trunk for me.”
“I think it’s too old to pop,” Riley said as she and Cami got into the car. She leaned across Cami to hand the keys out the window to Willow.
After loading her scooter and closing the trunk, Willow opened the driver-side door. “I’ll drive. You get in the back.”
“You’re no fun,” Cami grumbled, but did as Willow said.
“I think you’ve had enough fun for one day,” Willow said, eyeing her aunt in the rearview mirror.
“We were having fun,” Cami muttered, and then leaned forward, resting her arms on the backs of the seats. “Can we get lobster rolls at the food truck? We’re starved.”
“Um, which food truck are you talking about?”
“You know. The one at the turnoff to Grady’s pond.”
Willow made a face at the windshield, and Riley guessed that there was no longer a food truck at the turnoff to the pond.
Riley glanced at Cami, remembering how panicked she’d looked when the store she’d shopped at was no longer there. She felt bad for her and vowed to be more patient when Cami pulled crazy stuff. She was probably just acting out because she was scared. Although she didn’t look scared now. But she was a really good actress so maybe she was faking it.
“Right. I think they’re closed today,” Willow said. “But I was planning on making something special for dinner anyway.”
“Last night you said you couldn’t cook,” Cami reminded Willow.
“I can cook. I’m just not great at it but I don’t have to be. I eat at… Anyway, I thought it would be fun for all of us to cook together. What do you say?”
Riley nodded. “I’d like to.”
Cami shrugged. “I guess if Riley wants to, I do too.”
Riley smiled. She liked that Cami seemed to think of her as a friend now. Even if she was old enough to be Riley’s mother.
“Great. I’ll just have to stop at the market and pick up a couple things. We’re going to film my 5 o’clock weather report at the beach house so I don’t have to rush off but I thought we’d make something simple. Any ideas?”
“I’m good with whatever.” Riley was more excited about watching Willow film her weather report than cooking, if she was being honest.
“Well, I’m not,” Cami said. “I vote for bucatini carbonara. Eva and I make it all the time, and it’s easy.”
“Perfect.” Willow leaned over and grabbed Cami’s bag off the floor, tossing it to her in the back seat. “See if you can find some paper and a pen, and you can make me a list of what I need,” she said as she eased the car into traffic.
“It’s like four ingredients,” Cami huffed.
Riley figured Willow was trying to distract her aunt from seeing all the changes on Main Street. “Yeah, but maybe we can pick up some snacks too,” she said, listing some ideas. “Write those down.”
Cami sighed as she dug around in the bag. “Fine.”
By the time Willow turned into the market’s parking lot, Cami had finished the list. She looked up and didn’t even blink so Riley assumed the market was the same as Cami remembered.
“This thing is the size of a boat,” Willow said. “I was hoping to find a spot at the back of the lot but I’ll have to park here.” She pulled in beside the sidewalk and unbuckled her seat belt. “Riley, it’ll be quicker if you come in and help me.” She glanced at her aunt as she opened the driver-side door. “Cami, scrunch down so no one can see you, and whatever you do, don’t talk to anyone or get out of the car. We’ll be ten minutes at most.”
Riley looked at Willow, thinking she didn’t know her aunt very well if she was going to leave her alone and expect her to do what she said. “Here.” Riley handed her iPad to Cami. “You can listen to my playlist.”
“Okay.” She took the iPad, and her brow furrowed. “How do I do that?”
It took Riley five minutes to teach Cami how to use her iPad. When they left to go into the grocery store, she was listening to the Rolling Stones and dancing in the back seat.
Willow smiled at Riley. “Thank you for being so awesome. You’re wonderful with my aunt and I really appreciate it.”
Riley’s cheeks got warm, and she ducked her head. “It’s not a big deal. Cami’s nice and fun to be around.”
“I’m not sure Noah will approve of my aunt’s idea of fun, but I’m glad you two had a good time.” Willow pointed at the dairy section. “If you can grab a pound of butter, a dozen eggs, and some cream, I’ll get the rest.” She picked up a basket and handed it to Riley. “Get yourself some ice cream or popsicles. Yogurt too.”
“Thanks,” Riley said, and hurried down the aisle. It took her about three minutes to get everything Willow had asked for, plus a carton of ice cream and some yogurt. It took her longer to find Willow. She caught a glimpse of her in the snack food aisle, surrounded by people. She seemed to know everyone in the store, and they all wanted to talk to her.
Riley didn’t want to be rude, but she was worried about Cami and interrupted Willow’s conversation with an older man named Amos, who was arguing with Willow about that morning’s weather report. “Sorry to interrupt. But if it’s okay, I’ll go wait with… my friend in the car.” She handed Willow the basket.
Willow glanced at her phone. “Sh—crap. Sorry, guys. I’ve gotta go,” Willow said, and dashed to the cash register. “You go, Riley. I’ll be right there.”
Riley didn’t want to draw attention by sprinting for the door so she fast-walked instead, telling herself as she did that she was overreacting. As soon as she exited the store, she discovered she wasn’t. Cami wasn’t in the car, and she’d left in a hurry. The back passenger-side door was open. Riley walked around the parking lot but there was no sign of her. She wondered if Cami had gotten tired of waiting and gone looking for them in the store. It was something Riley would do.
As she ran back to the store, Willow walked out the door with two bags of groceries in her arms. She took one look at Riley and her gaze shot to the car.
“Maybe she’s in the…” Riley trailed off when across the road she spotted a familiar yellow sun hat weaving among the crowd on the sidewalk and heard a familiar voice yelling, “Flynn! Wait up. It’s me. It’s Cami.”