Chapter 29
The next day,Kaylee didn’t have school because of staff development. I’d taken the day off to catch up on errands and prepare for my meeting with Calvin later.
“I want to know everything.” I sat at the kitchen table, staring at Kaylee as she swallowed a bite ofthe pepperoni pizza.
“What do you want to know?”
“Did you know I was chatting with Arrow on Heartstrings?”
She shook her head. “No. Not until recently, when he found out you were my guardian.”
I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously. She was giving me a half-truth. I could tell by the way her eyes darted back to the pizza.
“Kaylee, you know how I feel about dishonesty.”
She twisted her lips. “I swear I didn’t know the app would connect the two of you or that he even knew you. I asked a bunch of people to volunteer for my app.” She picked up the pizza. “I like Arrow. He’s smart, and he teaches us lots of things even though he doesn’t have to. He spends a lot of time at the center, hanging with us.”
That was something I didn’t know. I assumed he just funded the organization like most wealthy people who used that as a photo op to write off their taxes and so forth.
“And.”
“One day, he said he was interested in this dentist. And I thought of you. But I knew you weren’t interested in anyone after that jerk Connor cheated on you.” Her eyebrows bunched. “You should’ve kicked his ass. Actually, you punched him.”
“Language.”
She clamped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry. It’s true though.” She shrugged and took another bite of her pizza. “I don’t know why, but I like the idea of you and Arrow together. He’s cute, and you’re gorgeous. I know we’re here to look for Aimee, but that doesn’t mean you can’t like a guy. Nothing has changed for me. I’m still going to school, doing my thing, and praying that we find her soon. I miss her.”
I loved that Kaylee and Aimee got along. They had bonded over their affection for Sanrio characters. What was Aimee doing right now? Was she eating pizza? Or was she locked up in some room, crying for someone to save her? I understood the terror she was experiencing. I’d been a desperate girl, hoping someone would save me on that day when Ghost tortured me. That trauma was ingrained in me.
“We’ll find her.” I leaned back in the chair and crossed my arms. “So you didn’t set us up?”
“Nope. The app did that. Guess it works! It used your profile data and randomly chose some tugs for you.” She finished her pizza and gulped down her lemonade. “Do you like him?”
“Something like that.”
“Yes!” She punched her hand into the air. “My Heartstrings app is the best!”
I didn’t want to tell Kaylee that Arrow had pursued me before I met him on the app. But I also liked Bullseye. I supposed I got the best of both worlds.
“Are you mad at me?” Kaylee asked.
“No. I’m sorry I haven’t stopped by Whiz Kidz as often as I’d like. If I had, I would’ve known you knew Arrow.”
As we cleared the table, my phone buzzed with a reminder that it was time to meet Calvin. I prayed he had good news for me about Aimee.