10. Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
Charlie Gibson
S he’s late. We were going to meet at three, but fifteen minutes have passed. If she would’ve allowed me to pick her up, I wouldn’t have the unsettling feeling that something happened to her. She’s usually a stickler for being on time.
Grabbing my phone out to call her, I hear the ding of the bell over the door, looking up, I see Remi breeze in the door with her damp hair clipped up, wearing a muted yellow t-shirt dress, a brightly colored pink fringe purse hanging across her body. Her smile is barely a lift to her lips. Something’s happened. Again. This time I hope she’ll actually confide in me. “We didn’t need to do this if there’s something going on.” I give her a quick kiss to her temple.
I suggested we meet up, because I want to give her the opportunity to tell me about Art school and not bombard her with my questions about it.
She shakes her head. “Wilder had a seizure. Not that he’ll go to the doctor or anything.”
Convenient. Was that after he found out she was meeting me at Talley’s? I’m trying. I’m really trying to think better of him, but then another situation pops up making me doubt him again. “Ah.” She winces at my response. I add, “Did you tell him he should get checked out?”
“A lot of good it did. I’m sorry I’m late.”
We order our creative combos that are fast becoming a tradition when we come here, mine root beer and pink lemonade, hers coffee and cotton candy. As we make our way to a booth in the corner, I lightly touch her lower back, an impulse to hug her is thwarted by her distracted mood. “Maybe we all need to ban together and convince him to see a doctor. It’s not normal. His incidents.” I stop myself from adding that they may have no answers, because they’re all a farce.
She closes her eyes, making a pleasured sigh with a spoonful of her ice cream in her mouth. Licking her lip, she pulls her purse to her lap. “I got you something. It’s dumb, but…”
There isn’t a thing she could give me that I would discount that way.
She sets a rubber duck sitting on an innertube wearing a sunhat on the table between us. “I found it at Hidden Treasures, it made me think of you. It reminds me of the story I heard about Katie and her rubber ducks on opening day at the funpark.” This time her smile is full wattage as she winks at me. “I wrote a note on the bottom.”
I stare at the duck and back at her.
Words pile up as I sit here stunned at her thoughtfulness. She thinks about my sister. With tears in my eyes, I pick the duck up to look at the bottom. ‘ She lives on beyond your memory inside your heart.’ How does she do that? Even more proof that Remington James is irreplaceable.
“Rem, this is.” I clear my throat. “This is the most heartfelt thing I’ve ever been given. Thank you.” My grandmother used to always say that you should never give someone a gift early in a relationship, because they’d fall in love with your hand and not your heart. It was ingrained in me. But I’ve always done it. There wasn’t much of a worry with the frogs that she would be like that. I’d give her anything, and even if the duck is simple, the meaning is on par-our hearts are linked.
I’m reaching for her hand, when she goes back into her purse to pull out something else. This time it’s a rubber frog with sunglasses connected to a keychain with a key on it. “This isn’t the way I planned to tell you. I had imagined all of us together. I want to start by saying that the way I feel about you hasn’t changed, and this isn’t a forever goodbye.”
Here it comes. I dangle the key up in front of me. “About art school?” No reason to be coy about it. She must know that Natalie can’t help herself.
Her eyes widen as she nods. “You heard already? From who?” Not from her, which made me wonder if she was nervous to tell me.
“Nat let it slip. What’s with the key?”
Biting her lip while playing with her spoon, she says softly, “The keys for my new student apartment. They arrived yesterday. I was hoping you’d come see me? I’ll be back over breaks, but I don’t want to wait that long.” She swallows before continuing, her voice laden with emotion, “Charlie, I can’t lose what we have. If my leaving for art school is a deal breaker, if y-”
“Stop.” I shake my head and grab her hand. “Just stop. You’re not losing me. In a couple weeks I head to Wyoming for my dad, then I’ll figure it out from there. Florida is nice in the fall, right… or is that hurricane season? I don’t care.” I chuckle as her smile spreads wider. “I’ll be around so much you’ll get sick of me. Promise.”
I want to ask about Cal, Wilder, and Grady, but it’s enough right now, knowing that she wants me in her future.