Page 11 of Moving Forward

She nods. “So was Ethan.”

“He was?” My stomach turns over. How did I not know that? Peaches are my favorite fruit, so why didn’t he say anything whenever I ate them? All those times I’d asked him to take a bite, he always turned me down by saying he was full or not hungry. What if I’d eventually fed him something with peaches in it and he unknowingly ate it?

It doesn’t matter now, a small voice reminds me.

“Well,” Danny interjects, sitting down on my other side and squeezing my knee, “peaches, apples, or shit, I love pie.”

I laugh and hand it off to Danny. Ethan and Danny had been best friends since they were little. Danny and Ellie’s relationship came long after—evidently, Danny jumped at the opportunity the day Ellie was told she was allowed to have a boyfriend.

Danny and Ethan always got into some sort of trouble and seemed to have no shortage of tales, rarely telling the same one twice. Most of the time Ethan was more to blame for the things they did, but Danny never let Ethan go down alone. If one did something really, really stupid, the other one was part of it too. And if he wasn’t, he pretended he was. After Ethan passed, Danny lost some of his humor and sense of adventure. Like me, I think he places a lot of blame on himself, and that blame is weighing him down.

“That’s my pie,” I warn halfheartedly. “Keep your grubby little hands off it.”

He smirks as he rotates the pie, surveying it with late-night hunger in his eyes.

Ellie nudges my shoulder with her own. “And I’d really like for you to spill where your pie came from.”

“This came from Ruth’s,” Danny says matter-of-factly as he eats a chunk of the pie with his hand. Gross. I don’t want it back now. “This is definitely her super-secret pie crust. Mmm.”

“The pies at Ruth’s are the best. You should have gotten another type for me. And some ice cream,” Ellie pouts. “So how’d you get it then? Wait—doesn’t Matt cook for Ruth? Maybe he gave it to you?”

Danny has mentioned his high school friend before, but we’ve never met. Matt wasn’t one of Ethan’s friends. When we visited Orchard Valley, we usually only hung out with Ethan’s family. He was really into visiting other cities and states. “I’ve lived my whole life here—said hello to the same people, eaten at the same restaurants, heard the same gossip. Let’s go somewhere new,” he’d always say before he whisked us off to another town.

“I don’t know,” I answer Ellie.

“Hmm, well I know where the fam is going to be eating breakfast in the morning!” she sings, standing up.

Danny groans, following behind her. “Ah, geez, Ellie.”

“What?” Ellie squeaks innocently. I duck into my car to avoid seeing them kiss goodbye. I love the two of them together, but when someone has something you don’t . . . it’s excruciating. Ellie pushes at his chest, giggling as he opens the door for her. “Why thank ya, my future hubby.”

Danny leans through the open door and wags his finger at me. “Don’t let her coerce you, Maxie. Stay strong.”

Ellie rolls her eyes. “Excuse me. I do not coerce anyone. But I will warn her she’d better prepare for a summer she’ll never, ever forget.”

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When I wake up in Ellie’s room the next morning, I’m all too aware of the fact that something textured and slobbery is licking my face. I lift my hand and smack at whatever it is, clumps of fur sliding between my fingers.

“Please don’t kill the dog.”

I lift myself up onto my forearms and peek at the Miller family dog, Snookie, who’s probably the sweetest, ugliest dog alive. He lunges at my face for another lick, but I cringe away and sit up. Erin laughs at me from the doorway, hand on her stomach. She’s the oldest of the Miller siblings but can easily pass as Ethan and Ellie’s missing triplet. She’s a tad bit shorter than Ellie—closer to my height—but she has the same pretty, wavy brown hair and thin frame. She’s also got a free spirit that makes it hard not to like her. And she’s only become more adorable since she got pregnant.

“Good morning, sunshine,” she sings.

“Morning,” I smile back, patting the bed to encourage Snookie to jump up beside me.

Erin waddles into the room and sits on the twin bed across from mine. No one was up when we arrived last night. Ellie and I had been able to sneak in, surprising since Ellie was practically yelling. After such a long day, and the pie incident, I was beyond relieved to just fall into bed and sleep.

I rub Snookie behind the ears, gently nudging him away from my face before he can get another lick in. “How’s the baby?”

Erin pats her stomach and leans back on the bed. “Great. Kicking. Always kicking. It’s a girl, though. So hopefully that’ll come in handy when she starts dating.”

“I’m sure that would really please Conner.”

“Oh yes, it would. He’s already so protective. He acts like I’m an invalid, and that exhausts me way more than anything else.” She lets out a sigh. “I just hope baby-soon-to-be-named gets here soon. Hauling around a watermelon in your stomach gets a little old after a while, no matter how much you love said watermelon already.” She starts to stand, doing that thing that pregnant women do when they push their stomach upward before the rest of their body moves. “According to our power-hungry bride, we’re going to Ruth’s for breakfast.”

I roll my eyes. Ellie was serious about that? Oh god, I really wish I could crawl back into bed. Who knows how much Ellie is going to embarrass me while trying to find out who the pie guy is. I should have just pointed her toward his boat in the first place and solved that mystery.

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