Chapter Twenty-Nine
You’re thick sometimes
“He really likes you.” Piper set the shopping bags on my bed then plopped down beside them with a big yawn.
If I were one to scrapbook, today would most definitely be a scrapbooking day.
Rylan took us to Dinan, where we shopped in the Saturday market, ate the most delicious food, and laughed more than I had in ages.
Edith and Piper were obsessed with finding little doll costumes to fit the noodle. Imogene told her stories about her short modeling career in her thirties. Claiming she only quit because she found a hankering, her words not mine, for cherry cheese pastries.
Remy grabbed a few items for herself and stayed relatively quiet but when I asked if she was okay, she just said she was having a blast. Listening and being part of the group was plenty of interaction she needed.
Not that she didn’t have Piper talking her ear off a lot. Baby P wanted to know everything about Remy.
Where she came from? California.
Did she have any siblings? Three.
What degrees did she have? Something about Earth Science, Engineering, Robotics, and Zoology.
When I asked about that last one, she inspected a yellow shirt on the rack and shrugged. “I went through a sea lions phase.”
And that was it. No other explanation as she left to try on the shirt.
Piper oo’d and ah’d over my roommate which turned toward her questioning herself. In a matter of seconds between gearing my legs to leap over a bin of shoes, and my sweet child’s sad expression, Remy opened up about the struggles of being autistic and how there are things she’s not great at.
Piper’s smile didn’t return right away, but she offered Remy a hug, and my roommate accepted it.
It was a day I’d never forget. I learned so much about my friends and myself.
I liked walking around Dinan. It was beautiful, and I loved the little shops near the river. Travelling was pretty fun when you did it with people you like. Even the tension in Rylan’s shoulders from the fire incident seemed to melt away as the hours passed.
“He does like me,” I said, finally answering her question from a moment before. I didn’t lie because what would be the point. The fact that he flew her here to spend time with me was very telling.
“So….”
“So, what?” Normally, we’d be having this same conversation but in reverse.
Piper rolled her eyes.
“Why don’t you date him? Make it official,” she asked, and I set the new clothes into my laundry basket to be taken down after she left.
I opened my mouth to answer her honestly, but Edith’s squeal came first. “Everybody, look at how this hat looks on me!” Edith lifted her head on the dresser and twisted from side to side in front of a hand mirror.
She wore a little black and purple witches’ hat on her head.
The market had been full of accessories for her, most likely designed for dolls but could totally be used for snakes, and it made my soul happy.
“You are the cutest, E,” Piper complimented, beaming at her little sister snake.
To be honest, I’d been worried that Edith might not talk to her.
The rules with the talking creatures were uncertain as far as I was concerned.
But, like the mouse back home, it appeared that since Piper was an extension of me, she’d be able to hear Edith too.
And she could. In fact, like any annoying little sister, Edith happily chirped Piper’s ear off.
“Sooo,” Piper said, leveling me with a stern look, waiting for my answer.
Of course she wouldn’t let this go. Not even my noodle could distract her.
“I don’t need a boyfriend.”
“No, you don’t. But you deserve someone who will finally take care of you. Rylan seems like he wants to.”
He did, and I felt uneasy about it. What could I possible give him that he couldn’t get somewhere else?
Excuse? Maybe… but it’s where my head was after today. Rylan wouldn’t let us pay for anything. He spoiled the whole group without asking for anything in return.
“Mom, ever since I was born, I’ve been your life.” She would be, too, until the day I died.
“And except that time where you abandoned Jelly Belly, you were a good mom.” She smiled, teasing me about the one time I forgot her pink stuffy at the laundry mat. We went back to get it later that day, though. Spoiler alert, both parties survived the traumatic experience.
She sat up and looked me dead in the eyes.
“But I’m growing up, and I want you to focus on you.
Which you are, and I love that. Your friends are the coolest.” They really were.
“I know if I ever met a person like Rylan,” she continued, “who adored the ground I walked on, spoiled me rotten, took the time to know what sort of food I liked, and what made me smile, you’d tell me to go for it.
Because I deserve someone who treats me like the princess I am.
He pays attention to the little things and doesn’t do it for attention.
He just wants you to be happy. Like the star thing. ”
I tilted my head, my face pinching in confusion. Piper’s hands ran down her face.
“Seriously, Mom?” She rolled off the bed and grabbed handfuls of clothes from the laundry basket. “He calls you Star because you obviously have a thing for them. Look at all the clothes you got today. Star sweater, star dress, star socks. Stars, stars, stars.”
My head shook as I explained. “I glowed when we first met. It’s been a magic thing I can’t control yet.”
“You’re thick sometimes.” She yawned and checked her phone. “I’ve gotta get back down there. I love you, and I just want you happy.”
“Love you too, P.” I wanted to be happy and can honestly say I was.
As we walked down to the waiting helicopter, Piper talked about school, and how she loved her classes. She also met a new boy, but they were keeping things casual for now.
We hugged and Rylan helped her up before running over to me.
“I have to stay in the states after I drop her off, so I may be gone a few days,” he said against my ear with the wind whipping my hair into his face.
“Okay, be safe.” I had more questions but didn’t ask. Why? Because I was a chicken and didn’t want to sound needy.
“I’ll call you.” His lips pressed against my cheek, and either his magic or mine crackled around us like someone lit firecrackers.
I jumped and his cheeks reddened. It was him.
My smile beamed, finally magic was on my side, but I kept it cool.
“Bye, Star.” He grinned and left me questioning everything while I stood in the grass and watched them depart.
Easily the most nagging question that plagued my thoughts into the evening was the nickname. Did he call me Star because of my glowing? Or did he somehow know I’d grow to like stars?
When he came back in a few days, I’d pull up my comfy cotton big girl panties and ask him.