Chapter 17
Note to self:
Everything is fine.
Probably.
True to his word, things went right back to normal between us. Kind of. If I ignored the slightly stilted conversation while we sat on opposite beds after we’d put the room to rights and ate granola bars for breakfast. Or when I’d brushed against him as we packed our stuff to leave, and he’d made a strange noise and practically leapt on top of the table to get away from me.
Message received.
Zip met us at the office at eight. He’d kindly put shorts on with his Hawaiian shirt, out of deference to us “textiles.” That’s what they call us clothing-dependent people: textiles.
George finished replacing the water pump by eleven and we were back on the road by eleven thirty, now one open invitation to “come on back to the Longhorn Resort and Spa anytime” richer.
Yeah, no. Although I briefly toyed with the idea of getting Cal and Melanie a gift certificate as a wedding gift. Just for funsies.
As soon as we picked up a cell signal, my notifications went off in a series of frantic dings. Twenty-seven missed calls. Eight voicemails. And too many texts to count.
“Oh, thank God,” Mom said when she answered. “I’ve been worried sick.”
“You talked to me last night. We’re fine. No one even tried to murder us.”
“Yes, but then I worried you’d been abducted, and someone was making you say that so I wouldn’t be suspicious.”
Next to me, Theo snickered.
“Or what if you’d been attacked by a wild animal?”
“I think we’re pretty safe from that.”
“I watched a news report about a python that came up through someone’s toilet. What if that had happened?”
“I don’t even know how to reply to that.”
She tsked. “You have to think about these things so you can be prepared.”
“How do you prepare for a snake coming up through the toilet? Never mind. You’re making my brain hurt.”
“A headache?” I could hear her worried expression through the phone. “Did you get enough sleep last night?”
“I called to let you know we’re back on the road. The car is fixed, and we’ll be at Mack’s in an hour.”
She huffed. “How are you feeling? You know stress can trigger seizures.”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
Okay, enough was enough. I pulled the phone a good foot away and half yelled. “Sorry, the service is getting spotty again. You’re breaking up.”
Her voice came through the phone, clearly yelling my name.
“I’m going to hang up now. I’ll call back when I can. Bye. Love you.” I groaned. “My mother is a menace.”
“Like mother, like daughter,” Theo murmured, his eyes on the road.
With a gasp, I slugged him in the arm. “Excuse me? I’m not like my mother. You take it back.”
His mouth curled into a grin. “You have your own brand of menace.”
“I do not,” I said, purely on stubbornness.
He held up two fingers. “Two words: toothpaste Oreos.”
I tried to hold back a laugh and failed. “You all asked for it. All I wanted was to hang out with you and the boys.”
My brothers and Theo, all teenagers at that point, had been locked in the TV room watching some stupid horror movie. I didn’t even want to watch it; I just wanted to be with them. They were older, cooler, and dead set against me joining them. Worse, my mother took their side.
After several failed attempts, I knew I wasn’t going to win. Or at least, I wasn’t getting into that room with them. It’s possible I waited until Mom was in the shower, unscrewed and de-creamed about twenty Oreos and refilled them with white toothpaste.
Along with four glasses of milk, I arranged them on a tray and set it in front of the closed door to the TV room and knocked.
“Go away, Ali,” several annoyed voices shouted.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry and I brought you some cookies and I’m going to bed.” I’d scurried to the end of the hallway and peeked around the corner until someone opened the door and the tray disappeared. Then I scurried into bed. My eyes had just slid shut when I heard the shouts and feet racing down the hallway to the kitchen. I’d fallen asleep smiling that night.
Next to me in the car, Theo shuddered. “I haven’t touched an Oreo in over fifteen years. I can’t even look at them.”
I laughed in an I-am-an-evil-scientist way.
“So yes, you were a menace.” He tossed a pointed look in my direction. “You’re still a menace.”
“Whatever.” He wasn’t exactly wrong. “Your life would be boring without me.”
His dimple appeared. “Very boring.”
I scrolled through my messages, both voicemail and texts—did I even know this many people? Of course, there were messages from my mother to tell me she was worried, my father to tell me my mother was worried; Melanie texted to make sure we were safe, and Frankie texted to say Mom had asked him to contact the police department in Amarillo.
And then there were the others—my childhood pediatrician, Miss Mary, who’d been my Sunday school teacher a million years ago and now worked at the grocery store in town; the middle school counselor, and my mail carrier—who just wanted to make sure I was okay. I hated to cause all this worry but having that first seizure seemed to set in motion a kind of protectiveness from the entire town. There was always a possibility I could have another, and everyone felt it was their duty to worry over me. If they did forget, my mother was sure to remind them.
It was exhausting.
I loved Two Harts but every now and then I had a fantasy about moving away, changing my name, and keeping my medical history to myself.
I pulled up my group text with Mae and Ellie:
Me: The car broke down yesterday.
Mae: I heard. I had to talk your mom out of calling up the Texas Rangers and thatwas after she added your missing status to the church prayer chain.
Me: We were not missing.
Mae: So, has Theo made his move?
Me: Stop it.
Mae: No then. Bummer. He likes to take his time, doesn’t he? Really playing the long game.
Ellie: I’m trying to work here. What did I miss?
Mae: Nothing. Unfortunately.
Ellie: Damn. I was hoping for something juicy.
Me: I’m not talking to either of you ever again.
Mae: You love us.
I glared at the phone like they could see me.
Mae: Did you see the surprise I put in the front pocket of your backpack?
Me: Still not talking to you.
Mae: Text later?
Me: Fine.
After rummaging through my backpack, I found the “surprise” Mae was talking about. I flattened out the folded piece of paper and frowned at it.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing.” I moved to stuff the paper in my backpack, but Theo gently tugged it out of my hand. “Hey, give that back. You’re driving.”
“Declaration of Candidate for Mayoral Election: Town of Two Harts, Texas,” he managed to read.
When he didn’t say anything, embarrassment rolled through me. I swallowed and picked at the raw edge of my denim cutoff shorts.
“It’s a dumb joke. Mae put it in my backpack. She’s not serious.”
“I don’t think it’s dumb,” he said quietly and handed me back the paper.
“Oh, sure. Could you see it? Alicia Ramos for Mayor.”
“Huh.” Nothing else. Just a little sound from the back of his throat.
I turned and pressed my forehead against the passenger side window and tried to sort through this knot of humiliation in my chest. Me as mayor was a dumb idea. I had zero experience. Zero political aspirations. Zero knowledge of how to be a mayor, let alone do it successfully.
Yet—and I was going to beat Mae with a wet noodle for this—a teeny, itty-bitty part of me was thinking about it. And everyone knew, when I got to thinking about something, things happened.