chapter 34
Remi
PALISADES PARK IS GORGEOUS. IT’S a long, narrow park, with big grassy areas, towering palm trees, meandering sidewalks, and the Pacific Ocean in the distance, sparkling under the early-evening sun.
Seb guides me through the crowd of people, wearing a ballcap pulled low over his face, his sweatshirt hood pulled up over it.
I guess when people expect LGC to be around, he has to be more careful about being recognized.
“Are you supposed to be out here?” I ask him as we weave through a group of people taking selfies in the soft evening light.
He glances back at me, his lips lifting into a smile that shows off his dimples. “Technically, no. But I want to introduce you to Jordan before I go meet the guys backstage. And pet some dogs.”
“You could just give me her number,” I suggest, glancing around, expecting at any moment that people are going to realize who he is and swarm us. “I could find her on my own.”
Seb shakes his head. “Nah. I’ll take you. Plus”—his lips lift in a sideways smile—“I wanna see the dogs.”
His words make my chest go a little warm.
I’m used to being alone, to being independent.
It’s a huge part of who I am. But I find that I actually kind of like that Seb wants to take care of me, even if I don’t need it.
So, I let him lead me through the crowds and food trucks and all the vendor booths, until he finds a big tent with Wag Dog Rescue displayed on the bright teal fabric.
The space bustles with people, and inside and around the tent are huge playpens with rescue dogs, where people can meet them, sit a while, and get to know them.
The tent is set up quite a distance from the main stage, where LGC will perform—probably to ensure the music isn’t too loud for all the dogs.
Another band is onstage right now, an opener, and the music is low enough at this distance to be comfortable.
Seb and I pause at a playpen holding a litter of black-and-white puppies, and we pet them and let them nibble our fingers.
“Why don’t you have a dog?” I ask Seb.
He’s holding one of the puppies now, letting it lick his nose as he laughs.
“I’m not home enough,” he says. “I wouldn’t want to leave a dog alone all the time. They’d be family, you know?”
He sets the puppy back in the playpen, then pets the two others who jump and nip at his hand. I can picture him on the beach, a dog running at his side, both grinning under the sun. The image makes me smile.
Seb straightens from the playpen, then takes my hand again, guiding me toward the tent.
“Jo!” he says when we step inside.
A woman with braided blond hair glances up from a table where she was writing on a clipboard. She sees Seb, and then her gaze slides slowly to me. And the smile that crosses her face is as warm as the Cali sun.
Immediately, she comes out from behind the table and pulls Seb into a hug, then turns to me. “Hey. You must be Remi. I’m Jordan.” She holds her hand out, and I take it, giving it a small shake.
“I’m surprised you know who I am,” I say, somewhat playfully.
Jordan’s gaze flicks up to Seb. “Yeah, well, this one has been glued to his phone since the Sin City Sound Festival, and every time I ask him who he’s talking to, it’s you.” She bumps Seb lightly with her elbow. “Kind of hard not to notice.”
Seb’s cheeks go a slight pink hue, and he quickly bends down and presses a kiss to the top of my head. “Hey, I gotta go. I’m late enough already.” He turns to Jordan. “Can Remi hang out with you?”
“You can put me to work,” I volunteer. “I love dogs.”
Jordan grins. “That would be awesome. A couple of my volunteers couldn’t make it, so I’m a bit short-staffed. You would be a big help.”
I turn to look up at Seb. “Go on. I’m fine.” I wave him away, but he pauses for an extra moment in the tent’s open doorway, looking back at me from beneath his ballcap. He meets my eyes and gives me a small smile, then ducks away, and the crowd swallows him up immediately.
For a moment, I stare after him, looking at the spot where he disappeared. Then I turn to face Jordan.
And she’s looking at me, head tilted, strands of blond hair clinging to her cheeks. “He likes you a lot, you know,” she says softly. Something in her tone sounds . . . unsure, like maybe she’s testing me, wanting to determine for herself if I’m serious or just leading Seb on.
I hold her gaze as I say, “I like him a lot too.”
At this, she nods, as if that’s good enough for now.
Then she gestures to the table, where there’s a mess of clipboards, pens, and photos of Wag’s adoptable dogs.
“Could you help me organize these? They’re adoption interest forms, and there’re so many, I don’t want them to get misplaced.
I would hate to be the reason that one of these pups doesn’t get a home. ”
Jordan’s brow furrows as she stares down at the disorganized chaos, and I decide I like her already. I’m pretty sure she’s Michael’s wife, based on what Seb has told me, and I recognize her from that photo he sent me of everyone sitting on the patio one night.
I definitely never thought I’d be meeting her—or any of them—in person. It’s weird how life unfolds.
“Sure,” I say. “How do you want them organized?”
“Alphabetically by last name, please. Then we can put them here.” She slips behind the folding table and taps a box with file organization tabs up top.
“Easy enough,” I say.
But once I get started, it’s actually not that easy, because people are filling out interest forms almost as quickly as I can organize them.
I tie my hair up on top of my head, needing to get it off my neck; it’s getting warm in here as the setting sun shines down on the tent, making my skin sticky.
At one point, a woman wearing a Wag T-shirt steps into the tent to talk to Jordan, and from the corner of my eye, I see them both turn to look at me. I glance up, and something about the woman looks familiar. She has long light brown hair, brown eyes, and a scattering of freckles.
Jordan leads her over to me, and I straighten up from hunching over the clipboard table. “Remi, this is Nora, Dex’s fiancée. Nora, this is Remi, Sebastian’s . . .” She pauses, casting a questioning glance at me.
With a smile and a shrug, I offer Nora my hand. “I don’t really know what we are. But it’s nice to meet you.”
Nora slips her hand into mine and gives me a shy smile.
“You too. Seb was really excited about you coming to visit.” Outside, a few dogs start barking, getting rowdy, and a child laughs.
Seeming a bit overwhelmed, Nora takes a breath and says, “And thanks for helping. We were really short-handed today. Our friend, Alisha, was going to help out, but . . . something came up.”
She glances away, and Jordan’s smile flickers briefly.
Now that I’ve been reminded of who Nora is, I remember her from the gossip headlines last year, and she was in that group photo with Jordan as well. She’s softer and smaller in person than I expected.
“Happy to.” I roll out my neck, which feels kinked from staring down at all the interest forms. “Do you know when the band goes on? I’ve never seen them live.”
Both women light up at that.
“Oh, you’re going to love it,” Jordan says. Then she twists her mouth to one side and adds, “If you like LGC’s music, that is.”
“I never used to listen to them,” Nora admits, glancing away as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, her engagement ring catching the light. “But it grows on you.”
“I like their stuff,” I say, then add, “especially the drummer.”
They exchange smiles, and Jordan says, “They go on at eight.” She lifts her hand and checks her Apple watch. “Which means we have an hour and a half until we need to wrap it up here.”
“I’m going to grab something to eat,” Nora says. “Do either of you want anything?”
“Something to drink would be great,” Jordan says. “The fruitier, the better.”
“Got it. How about you, Remi?”
“I’ll take whatever.” I shrug. “I’m not picky.”
“Okay.” Nora gives me another one of those small smiles, then starts to back out of the tent. “And thank you again.”
“Of course.”
She vanishes back out into the early-evening sun, and I return to the stack of clipboards and interest forms waiting to be sorted.
An hour and a half. Then I’ll get to see Seb play onstage for the first time. And I find that I’m a lot more excited for it than I thought I was going to be.