CHAPTER 12
Two whole days had passed without talking to Jamie.
I wasn’t sure that’d ever happened before.
We’d always text about something—I’d send him a TikTok that reminded me of him or he’d send me a line from one of the books he was reading that he enjoyed.
Something. But now, there was only radio silence.
You’ll believe anything he tells you, but you don’t listen to me when I tell you that you’re the most talented artist I’ve ever met.
Only Jamie could tick me off and compliment me at the same time.
“Daisy,” Nellie called. “You ready?”
I blinked, focusing where she stood on the other side of the pickleball court.
Her dark hair was tied back into a high ponytail, her blue headband matching the athletic set she had on.
She looked substantially cuter than me in my little biker shorts and cropped Death Note tee, but she also had her boyfriend sitting at the picnic table behind her.
I could see him from here, his blond head bent over Theo’s.
“Sorry.” I shook my head, my tied-up hair catching in the sweat at the back of my neck. “Ready.”
Nellie tossed the pickleball up into the air before hitting it with her racket, volleying it over the net. I shuffled my feet to the side, catching the ball with my racket, sending it back toward her.
We didn’t get the chance to play pickleball often, for several reasons.
The courts at Alderton-Du Ponte were normally booked up weeks in advance, and last-minute cancellations didn’t work for me since I’d have to figure out what to do with the kids.
Today, though, when Nellie reached out, it seemed like everything fell into place.
Ivy was off on a playdate with a friend, and Penn had volunteered to babysit.
I’d figured letting her trial run it with just Junie was a better idea than giving her both of the kids, so I’d brought Theo, since it wasn’t too much to buy him a day pass.
Beck had finished his workout in Alderton-Du Ponte’s weight room and had been able to come sit with Theo, who currently showed Beck his tile-matching game on my phone.
Nellie hit the ball again, but it swung in the opposite direction I’d been expecting. I couldn’t cross the court quickly enough to reach it, and it led to her letting out a little shriek of victory.
“I let you have that one,” I told her with a grin as I went to grab the ball.
She stuck her tongue out at me. “Sure. Let’s go with that.”
I bounced the ball against the court, rolling my shoulders.
I wanted to ask her what Jamie was up to, but it was a war in my head, a pickleball match of its own.
One part of me thought it was weird to ask Nellie about Jamie, and then the other part thought it was normal.
Nellie most likely wouldn’t think twice if I asked her about her brother, since we were all friends.
But it still felt weird, like I was using her as a spy and asking for insider information after our argument.
Which I was. But. Ugh.
I tossed the ball up, and with all my pent-up frustration, I hit it hard.
We went back and forth a few times before I managed to lob it too far to her left, and Nellie couldn’t get to it in time. “You’ve got a fire in you today,” she called to me, running her fingers through her ponytail as she went to grab the ball. “Are you showing off for Theo?”
At the sound of his name, Theo raised his head. “I’m not watching, Daisy.”
“I’m watching,” Beck said happily, lifting his water bottle from the picnic table in a cheers. “Doing great, Daisy!”
Nellie put a hand on her hip. “You’re supposed to be cheering me on, not my opponent.”
“Sorry, Nell-Bell, but I will not get on the bestie’s bad side by booing her.” Beck lowered his sunglasses to make it clear I was the one he smiled at. “Keep up the good work!”
Nellie whirled around, her ponytail flying out, as she put her back to him. “Traitor,” she muttered, but with a small smile.
I rocked onto one foot, then the other. “On the bright side, I’m sure he’ll give you a consolation kiss when you lose.”
Nellie’s scandalized gasp was swallowed by the booming laugh Beck let out. Theo giggled too, probably more out of instinct, because his attention had once more gotten swept up in his game. Nellie hit the ball to me hard, and we went back and forth a few times, in the zone.
I lunged for the next shot, my sneakers scraping against the court as the paddle met the ball with a sharp pop, sending it skimming just over the net.
Nellie darted sideways to return it, determination written all over her face.
The steady rhythm of hits echoed between us, and I was able to pour my focus into the match, distracting me from silly boys and silly problems.
Mostly.
“Beck, can you check my phone?” Nellie asked him, bouncing the ball a few times. “See if Jamie is on his way yet?”
Speaking of silly boys and not-so-silly problems. “He’s coming to Alderton-Du Ponte?”
“I figured we could all get lunch after.”
“I—I don’t know. I’ve got Theo. And I should get back to Penn. She’s home watching Junie alone, and—”
“Daisy, Penn is old enough to watch Junie for a little bit.” Nellie’s voice was gentle, but firm.
“She’s only fourteen—”
“We’ll check in with her. We’ll see how she’s doing, and if she needs you home, then you go home. But if she says she’s fine, we’re getting you lunch.” Nellie stepped up closer to the net, lowering her voice. “You deserve an afternoon off. Well, for the most part.”
My gaze flicked behind her to my little brother. “It’s only been a weekend since they’ve been out of school. I don’t need an afternoon off yet.”
“I’m just worried about you,” Nellie confessed, once more taking her spot on her side of the court. She bounced the ball once, then twice. “You’re… balancing a lot.”
“I have thought about running away to join the circus,” I returned blithely. “Oh, wait—I’m already running one.”
Nellie gave a little snort laugh, but my attempt to distract her didn’t last long. “You’ve got a lot going on, Daisy.”
I wondered if she knew about my argument with Jamie. I couldn’t quite imagine him saying anything to her, but she might’ve sensed something was off with her Wonder Twin Powers. I wondered if Jamie had told her about Dalton showing up at the playground. If he’d told her that I was drawing him.
“Nellie,” I began, lowering my voice. “About Jamie. We kind of—”
“I was hoping it was someone I knew on the court today.” Dalton appeared out of nowhere, coming up to the chain-link fence that separated our pickleball court from the walkway, hooking his fingers through the rungs.
In his other hand, he held a pickleball racket case, and lightly smacked it against his gym-short-clad thigh. “Hey, guys.”
How? I thought dumbly. How does this keep happening?
Nellie’s voice was cold. “What are you doing here?”
“I didn’t realize the courts were booked so easily. I remember when there was a time you could walk up and play.” He swung his racket case against his palm. “We could do doubles.”
I blinked at the rude way he’d butted in. “You don’t have a partner.”
“That guy over there could be my partner.” Dalton gestured at the picnic table.
“Did you just call me that guy?” Beck, from where he sat at the picnic table, frowned. “I drove you to the beach last week, but you don’t even remember my name?”
“Man, sorry. Was it… Peck?”
Beck folded his arms across his chest as he sat back in his seat, pouting. “Pass.”
To his credit, Dalton did look sheepish as he turned back to Nellie and me. “What about Jamie? Is he here?”
“Jamie doesn’t play pickleball,” Nellie said.
“No? Not even for Daisy?” Dalton reached for his pocket. “I could call him and ask—”
“Beck will play,” I said, because the idea of Dalton calling Jamie had filled me with nothing but panic.
He’d said no to Dalton, but for me, Beck rose from his chair. “If I’m playing at all, I call dibs on Nell.”
Nellie tried to shoot him a meaningful stare as he came into the pickleball area. “You can be Dalton’s partner—”
“Pass.” And then Beck seemed to understand the unspoken meaning behind Nellie’s tight tone. His scowl smoothed a little as his gaze flicked to mine. “Oh. Right. I guess I can be… Dalton’s partner.”
“No, that’s okay.” Dalton, too, entered the fence, and after passing Beck one of his extra rackets, he rounded the net toward me. “Daisy and I got this.”
Nellie smacked Beck’s shoulder, her lips moving like a scolding, and I saw Beck mouth sorry, sorry. The sight, as funny as it was, didn’t make up for the fact that Dalton now stood beside me. Theo had lifted his head from my phone, eyes on me. “You okay?” I called to him.
Theo gave me a tiny thumbs-up. “Yep.”
I caught Dalton looking at Theo, my mood souring further. You have four little roots holding you in place, he’d said. Was he looking at Theo like a root now? Thinking oh, see, now she even has to bring him places?
And then Dalton nudged my shoulder. “You still hug the left side too much,” he murmured, like we were back to last summer when we’d played before. “I was watching you two play. You keep too far to the left.”
“I do not.”
“Do too.”
Beck served before I could argue further, the ball slicing low over the net.
Dalton darted in front of me to return it, his shoulder nearly brushing mine as he stepped back into place.
We fell into a rhythm, though, as the match went on—him covering the deep shots, me guarding the kitchen line.
When I missed one by inches, Dalton leaned closer again, grinning. “Good hustle, DD.”
I stiffened at his soft voice in my ear, and I caught Nellie watching us from across the net. Though her expression was pretty neutral, Beck’s lips were the ones that were twisted downward. “He ever learn about personal space?” I heard him ask Nellie.