27. BACK THEN – May #2
Rose is already heading to the door. “I’ll be right back.”
The room tenses now that it’s just Garrison, Connor, and me. I scan the floor, wondering if I can Indiana Jones my way to Garrison without stepping on glass. Probably… not .
“One of you start explaining,” Connor says casually, shoulder propped next to the doorframe and arms crossed.
Garrison mutters, “I hid in the trunk.”
“He gave me his phone,” I add quickly. “This entire time. He hasn’t had it.
” I rummage through the pocket of my overalls—thank goodness they’re deep.
I hold up his cell. “See?” He can’t contact anyone and leak the location of the lake house.
I go further and explain how I snuck him into my room, while they thought I was talking to my mom.
Rose returns with the first-aid kit, her nearly one-year-old daughter in her arms, and a pair of shoes are on her feet. “I want to talk to Daisy and Lily,” Rose says to her husband. Her piercing yellow-green eyes flit to me.
I’ve wrecked everything. “I’m so sorry, Rose—”
“I understand what it means to be loyal. But you shouldn’t have kept this from us. If you wanted to bring your boyfriend along, we could’ve worked something out.”
Boyfriend . Color drains from my face.
“Friend,” I clarify. Don’t look at Garrison.
“Would it make it better if we were dating?” Garrison asks.
My heart does a weird thump thump in my chest. Is he…no…I don’t know. My face is numb.
Connor says, “It would make it exponentially worse.”
Garrison’s lips shut and his head falls again. I just want to hug him. And it’s a weird feeling because I’ve never really yearned to touch anyone.
He’s not alone in this. It was both of our choice to sneak him here.
Guilt swims through me all the same. I waver uneasily by the doorframe.
“Can I explain…I want to apologize to Daisy too…?” Don’t cry, Willow .
I push back tears and emotion. But I feel horrible for causing her distress.
For her thinking there was an intruder in the house, something that I know ramps up her panic.
This was supposed to be a safe place.
Thankfully, Rose nods. “Follow me.”
We leave and find Lily and Daisy in Maximoff’s room. Lily bends over the crib with a rattle, softly talking to the giggling baby. Daisy lies on the ground, her white husky curled up against her. She strokes her fur in long waves.
Rose shuts the door behind me, and Lily asks, “Is everyone okay?”
“Mostly,” Rose says, then plants her gaze on me.
“I’m so sorry,” I begin, water pooling in my eyes. Daisy lifts her head off Coconut’s fur, confusion pleating her brows. And I just burst forth like a geyser. The truth flooding the bedroom floor.
I can’t stop.
Not until I’ve outlined, in detail, how I smuggled Garrison to the lake house. Why he needed a place to stay in the first place, which means divulging the truth about him flunking out of Faust. By the time I finish the story, my eyes have glued to the ground, unable to stare them in the eyes.
“And I don’t deserve your forgiveness,” I add quickly. “Especially you, Daisy. So if you’d like Garrison and me to leave the lake house, I understand—”
“What, no,” Daisy cuts me off abruptly. “I don’t want that.”
My heart thrashes, and I risk a glance. Daisy’s on her feet, light touching her green eyes. She…she doesn’t seem mad?
“You’re not mad?”
She shakes her head. “You snuck a boy into a trunk of a car.”
“Classic Gryffindor,” Lily says under her breath.
Daisy continues, “You blindfolded him and took his phone just so that we ”—she twirls her finger between her sisters—“could stay safe. Why would we be mad about that?”
I wipe at the corners of my eyes. “Because I should have told all of you.”
“You’re not the first person here to keep secrets,” Lily says, rocking on the balls of her feet. “You fit right in.”
Rose sends Lily a look. “Yes, but let’s not make secrets a regular occurrence.”
“Agreed,” Lily nods.
Pressure lifts off my chest. “So Garrison can stay?” I ask.
Daisy plops on the edge of the bed. “He just spent twelve hours in a duffel bag.” Her eyes ping to Rose. “You can’t kick him out now.”
Rose scoffs. “Why are you directing that to me? I agree wholeheartedly. He’s earned his spot here.”
Lily frowns like she’s lost in thought. “How did he survive in that duffel bag anyway?” Before I can answer, she swings her head to me. “He must really like you.”
Daisy crosses her legs and puts her chin to her fist. “Yes, let’s talk about the one-and-only Garrison Abbey.”
Oh no. “We’re just friends,” I reiterate. I feel like I’m probably going to be doing this for a while.
Lily squints. “You’re going to prom with Declan, right?”
“Who’s Declan?” Rose wonders accusingly, like she’s a little perturbed she hasn’t been told all the details. I like that she wants to hear about my life.
“He’s a boy,” I answer. “He’s a regular customer at Superheroes & Scones.”
Lily smiles, knowing about him since he frequents the shop so much.
“And he asked me to prom,” I explain. “I said yes. ” Declan is nice. I met him at the comic book store. He was looking for classic Star Trek comics. We carry more Star Wars , so I had to go in the back to hunt for the issues.
He talks more than me. I just kind of listen.
“You don’t seem excited about it,” Rose notices.
“I am,” I nod. “It’s just…I’m nervous because we only really hang out at Superheroes & Scones. I don’t have any classes with him at Dalton.”
I’ve never actually been around Declan at school.
I guess he could try to find me in the halls, but he never has before.
I don’t know what that means. “It’s also the first time any boy has ever asked me out,” I tell them.
“I’ve never even been on a coffee date, so there are more nerves than excitement. That’s all.”
“It’ll be spectacular,” Daisy tells me assuredly. “And we’ll help you get ready.”
“Of course,” Rose says like that’s a known quantity in my prom prep.
Lily is still frowning. “Does Garrison know about Declan?”
“Yep,” I say. “I told him. He said that Declan sounded like a starship trooper nerd.”
Star Trek , I corrected him.
Aren’t those the same thing? He feigned confusion. He’s been working at Superheroes & Scones too long to get them mixed up.
All the Calloway sisters exchange a look that I can’t decipher. Maybe they’re thinking Garrison is jealous or that he’s flirting. I’ve questioned it before, but I know the truth—we’re just friends.