Chapter 17 #2
“But I don’t have any,” Aiden informed him with clear satisfaction. “Mr. Williams didn’t give us any this week, because the Spring Fling is coming up.” He looked up at me. “Right?”
Webb lifted a judgy eyebrow, like I really should have foreseen this eventuality.
“But you could still practice for the spelling bee Friday,” I said mildly. “Go do that, and I’ll come quiz you in half an hour, okay? Promise.”
“And read me a chapter of my book?” the pint-sized negotiator challenged.
My heart flipped. It was nice to be wanted. “Agreed.”
“Okay, then,” Aiden sighed. He put his plate in the sink and clomped up the stairs.
When he was gone, Webb spread his hands flat on the table. “Look, I know it’s gotten all blown out of proportion, but it’s not really a funny story,” he began. “Luke and I had a couple of drinks, and we thought it would be fun—”
“No, no, no. If you’re going to tell it, start it in the right place.” I pushed my empty pie plate away. “See, for the longest while, Webb hated me—”
My mom’s expression fell, and she looked back and forth between Webb and me suspiciously. “Hated you?”
“What?” Webb scowled. “I did not!”
“Okay, you disliked me, then,” I amended agreeably. “The point is, we were not friends at that time—”
“I didn’t hate you, Luke,” Webb insisted hotly. “If anything, I didn’t let myself—”
I paused and waited for him to finish, but he pressed his lips together and folded his hands on the table. “Never mind.”
“Right, okay,” I resumed. “So, as I was saying, I was at the Bugle—our local bar—having a couple drinks, because I’d had a day. The ceiling in my living room—” I broke off and darted a look at my mom. “Uh. I found a minor repair was needed. Nothing to worry about. Just an inconvenience.”
“Wait, that was the day your ceiling—uh, had that minor inconvenience?” Webb’s forehead furrowed. “I didn’t know that.”
“Well, no, how would you?” I shrugged. “We weren’t friends, as I said.”
He frowned harder, and I had to force myself to look away.
“Anyway, I was sitting there drinking, and Webb—who didn’t hate me but also didn’t like me—came over and called me an apple thief.
” I chuckled, because it all seemed so long ago.
Like a whole different Luke, living a whole different life.
A Luke who had no clue just how much Webb Sunday would come to mean to him. “Remember that?”
Webb nodded. “Luke’s attorney said part of my land—my orchard—might actually be Luke’s because of issues with property laws from two hundred years ago—”
“Don’t forget the apple tithes,” Em interjected. “And the friendship agreement.”
“Or the spongy moths,” Hawk supplied. “And the fruitful harvests.”
“Yes, thank you,” Webb agreed. “Suffice it to say, I was annoyed that something from that long ago could possibly impact my life today—”
Knox grinned. “That’s what we call irony.”
“—and I blamed Luke.”
I snorted. “Webb’s the most protective person ever when it comes to someone or something he loves,” I told my mom.
“Whether it’s Aiden, or his family, or his land, he’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure the things he cares about are safe.
” I couldn’t help smiling a little. “It’s one of his best features. ”
“Yeah, I don’t know about that. I yelled at Luke,” Webb admitted softly, his eyes on me.
“Which I was ashamed of almost as soon as it happened. So I sat down with him to buy him a drink, and after maybe two minutes…” His mouth tipped up on one side.
“I realized that he was impossible not to like. He’s a good person. The best. Loyal and fun.”
“Aw.” I forced a smile. He made me sound like a golden retriever.
“That’s sweet. Anyway, it turned out Van the bartender had told Webb the story of the town’s lucky charm—the Unity Bugle that hangs in the bar—which involved a pretty girl and…
” It was my turn to frown. “You know, you never actually told me the whole story.”
“Because I don’t remember the whole thing,” he admitted. “Something about star-crossed lovers and the spirit of friendship and unity. And the bugle, obviously.”
I raised one eyebrow. “You didn’t mention the star-crossed lovers at the time.”
“Didn’t I?”
“That I would have remembered,” I said with a lightness I did not feel. I finished up my tale quickly. “So, we took the bugle off the wall, went outside, and blew it, thinking it was for unity. I can’t even imagine how ridiculous we must’ve looked! And then the next day, the mayor—”
“Hey!” Webb complained. “Now who’s telling the story wrong?
Let me tell it. So, it was my idea to get the bugle down,” he informed my mom.
“But Luke was the one who convinced Van to let us take it, using his obey-me teacher voice. It was the funniest, sweetest thing. His cheeks were all pink, and he had these cute freckles—”
“Stop.” I clapped a hand to my nose, embarrassed. “My freckles are not pertinent to this story.”
“I beg to differ. And then we ran outside. It was dark and cold and clear, and there must’ve been a billion stars in the sky—”
“It was February,” I told my mom with a shrug. “It was nothing special.”
“And then we held hands right there on the common—”
“More like, we each held up a hand to recite this silly pledge Van told us to say. It wasn’t like we actually intended to hold hands,” I explained a little desperately. “Because we didn’t.”
“Didn’t we?” Webb stared at me and stroked a finger over his bottom lip pensively. “I dunno. I sort of remember that I did it on purpose. Your hand was cold, and I—”
“You were being a good friend,” I said with something like rising panic, because he was making the whole thing sound so romantic, and what the heckity was that about when he’d said we were nothing? “So we said the stupid pledge—”
“Come on! It wasn’t stupid,” he argued. “Dude. It was… special. It was meaningful.”
“We were drunk,” I scoffed.
“It was beautiful.”
“I guarantee you can’t even remember the words!” I nearly yelled. “Webb, for pity’s sake, stop making it sound like… like…”
“The specific words don’t matter, Luke! What matters is what’s in your heart, and I…” He swallowed hard and glanced around the table, then back down at his hands. “I felt united with you.”
“United in friendship,” I gritted out. I swallowed and turned toward my mom. “That’s what’s so annoying about this Hand-Fast Watch thing. People are getting confused.”
I was getting confused.
I cleared my throat and stood up. “And that’s the story. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with an impatient first grader who needs to practice some spelling.”
“You don’t have to.” Webb pushed to his feet. “I can take care of him while you—”
But I was already halfway to the hall. “Stay there. Be back in a bit.”