Chapter 25 #2
Briar shook her head slowly, but Alice could tell she was just playing the part. ‘I’m too old for those sorts of unlawful activities. I’m reformed now. No one can pull me into the world of crime again.’
‘Not even me?’ Alice asked, tracing Briar’s collarbone with a finger.
‘Well…’ Briar breathed.
‘Come on,’ Alice said, pulling her out of bed.
They pulled on semi-presentable clothes and made their way to the mess hall without a flashlight, not wanting to be caught. It felt like they were kids again, the adrenaline pumping through Alice’s veins, making her feel giddy.
‘You know we have a key, right?’ Briar asked as she boosted Alice through the mess hall window.
‘But it’s more fun to break in.’
There was only one problem: when they got into the kitchen, Robin and Sam were already there, making s’mores over the stove.
‘What’s this?’ Alice said reproachfully. ‘You already had s’mores! While you were pestering me with questions!’
Robin shrugged, unconcerned by being caught. ‘We wanted another.’
‘Why are you here, anyway?’ Sam asked, his eyes narrowing on Alice and Briar.
‘We got a tip-off,’ Briar said, very convincingly, ‘that there had been a kitchen break-in.’
‘These sorts of trespasses have to be dealt with by the highest authority,’ Alice said.
Briar glanced sideways at her, and Alice could tell that she was almost on the verge of breaking the act and cracking a smile. ‘That’s us. The authority.’
It took everything in Alice not to laugh, picturing Robin and Sam watching them squeeze through the window – a feat that had been much more easily accomplished when they were smaller.
‘Then why did you break in?’ Robin asked suspiciously.
‘We were testing out the potential entry points,’ Alice said.
‘We just came in through there,’ Sam said, pointing at the ajar door to the mess hall.
Alice made eye contact with Briar, knowing exactly what was going through her head. That Cook had completely gone soft if he was leaving doors unlocked now.
‘We’ll let this go, as long as you go back to bed now without any fuss,’ Alice said.
The boys shrugged. ‘Okay.’
‘But we’ll be confiscating that,’ Alice said, taking the s’more out of Robin’s hand as he walked out the door.
‘You’re not going to make sure we go to our bunk?’ Sam asked, turning back.
‘We have to secure the entry points,’ Briar said.
‘And we’ll know,’ Alice said, pulling her face into a frown, ‘if you don’t go back to your bunk. We have eyes everywhere.’
Sam nodded gravely, and the two of them disappeared out the door of the mess hall. Alice and Briar dissolved into laughter as soon as they were out of earshot, falling to the floor with heaving breaths.
‘Stop—’ Alice got out. ‘Stop making me—’
‘I’m not…’ Briar wheezed.
‘I just want to eat my s’more.’ Alice pouted, and Briar managed to collect herself, her eyes on the ceiling.
Alice ate in silence, relishing every bite. ‘I’m just so happy he made a friend,’ she said, trying to explain the feeling of lightness, of absolute freedom, that she was experiencing for the first time in years. ‘And he makes a perfect s’more. There’s nothing left for me to teach him.’
Briar grabbed Alice’s sticky hand, squeezing it. ‘I know,’ she said, and Alice was sure she understood every unsaid word.
‘I wish we could stay here forever,’ Alice said. ‘Live in this exact moment and never wake up in the morning.’
‘We can’t,’ Briar said, turning to face her, their noses touching. ‘But we can watch the sunrise, if you want.’
So they did.
With the campers no longer there to distract her, Briar finally caught Alice, Cook and Noah sneaking off.
‘Where are you going?’ she asked, narrowing her eyes at them and then at the car they had been about to get into. ‘Alice, aren’t you meant to be clearing some trails? For the fourth time this week?’
‘I got Lee to cover for me,’ Alice said smoothly, naming a British counselor who was, in fact, covering for her. ‘An emergency came up.’
‘What emergency?’ Briar asked, hands on her hips.
‘Those eejit raccoons got into me oven,’ Cook supplied quickly.
‘It’s unusable now,’ Noah said, employing his best wide-eyed innocent expression.
‘There’s a store a couple of hours away,’ Alice said.
‘There’s a Home Depot in Frederick,’ Briar said, her eyes on Alice. ‘You should go there, you’ll be back sooner.’
It took everything in her to continue the farce. She knew that Briar needed the party, the house fixed and off her mind, much more than a few more hours of Alice’s company. She was doing the right thing, it just felt wrong when Briar was looking at her like that. Like she was depending on her.
Alice swallowed, her whole body constricted by the expectations that Briar had seemed to develop for her.
When Alice hadn’t been paying attention, they had slipped into a relationship she would miss terribly in the coming months.
She just had to hope Briar didn’t feel the same way, that at least one of them would come away from this unscathed.
‘Cook wants a specific one, and they only have it in Alexandria,’ Alice finally managed, her voice coming out uneven. ‘We’ll be back as soon as we can.’ Briar nodded reluctantly.
When they pulled onto the highway, Alice cleared her throat. ‘I hope she’s not onto us.’
‘I don’t think she is,’ Noah said, glancing at Alice in the rearview mirror.
Alice closed her eyes for a second. She wouldn’t have minded Noah knowing about her and Briar, but now that they were this far in, it felt impossible to come clean.
If Briar wanted her dalliance with Alice to be kept a secret, Alice could only follow that directive and try not to think about why Briar was so insistent on it.
‘She must be stressed about the end of the summer,’ Alice said finally.
Noah’s eyes flashed to hers in the rearview mirror again. ‘About you leaving, you mean?’
‘No,’ Alice said, hoping she was right. ‘When the summer ends, real life starts.’
‘She’s not scared of real life – she’s done this a million times before, finished camp and gone back to school or jobs. She’s scared of real life without you.’
‘She’s scared of real life without Susan,’ Alice corrected.
‘That’s part of it,’ Noah agreed. ‘But as the person who saw her through you leaving the last time, I think you should trust my judgement when I tell you she’s going to miss you.’
Alice swallowed. ‘I don’t know why you’re telling me this. My life is in London.’
‘Aye, and he’s saying ye have a life here too,’ Cook said quietly.
Noah frowned. ‘Just don’t pull a disappearing act again, okay?’
‘I’m figuring it out,’ Alice said, focusing on folding her hands tightly in her lap. ‘I don’t want to hurt her again, believe me.’
‘I believe you,’ Noah said, cracking a smile, his easy demeanor returning. ‘I had to bring out the tough guy act. She is my best friend, after all.’
‘I’m glad she has you,’ Alice said, staring through the window.
When they pulled into the driveway, Cook whistled. ‘This place is looking ship-shape,’ he said admiringly. ‘Alice Hughes, you’re a miracle worker.’
‘It’s all Noah,’ Alice muttered sheepishly.
‘How much is she selling for?’ Cook asked, as they got out of the car.
‘I don’t know,’ Alice said, walking up the porch steps. She was proud to note that it did look significantly nicer with a structurally sound railing. ‘Briar seems too focused on fixing it up to think of anything beyond that.’
‘You know,’ Cook said, ‘I have a bit of retirement saved up. And a small fiefdom in northern Scotland bequeathed to me by a duke…’
He kept talking, but Alice barely followed the dizzying details of Cook’s almost certainly fictional story, which seemed to involve a duke disguised as a pirate, lovers separated by circumstance, and a badly behaved lion.