Page 77 of Tulips and Lost Time

“I’m heading to Jonah’s store,” Kari announces a couple of days after moving back home. She wanders through the little apartment she shares with the girls, ignoring my existence completely, and heads toward the door. It’s not even like she can demand I leave. Jess and Laine are allowed to have guests. And until Kari announces to the world why she wants me gone, she’s stuck.

Make a scene, or tolerate the things that irritate you? Those are her options.

“I’m gonna grab some things for dinner, too.” She slips into a pair of sneakers, bending at the doorway in a pair of cutoffs I’ve come to appreciate this past week. “Any requests?”

“Steak.” Britt flops onto the long, secondhand couch we procured from someone’s online post, draping her legs in every direction simply to get respite from the summer heat. “I wanna grill outside tonight. No way we’re turning the oven on and heating this place up any more than it already is.”

“We should go to X’s place,” Jess announces. “He has air conditioning and an incessant need to spend time with us. It’s win-win.”

“You guys call him and ask.” Kari pushes up straight and slips her phone into her tight back pocket. “I’ll get supplies. Someone text me if he asks for anything specific.”

“I’ll call him,” Britt drones. Too hot. Too uncomfortable. But she half-rolls on the couch and snags the device crushed between cushion and chair frame. “He’s been texting me non-stop anyway.”

“God forbid your big brother miss you, Brat.” I grunt and peel my back from the couch cushion. But of course, the fact that I even speak to Britt has Kari’s emerald eyes flashing with rage. “I’m heading back to my place. I’ve got some shit to do before we head to X’s.”

“You don’t have to come.” Kari, oh so sweetly, smiles from the front door. “I bet he’d just like to see the girls, since we’ve been away.”

“Yeah, but I miss him.” I dig a hand into my pocket and fish out the key for my bike. Dangling the set off my finger, I pass my sisters and drop a kiss on the top of their blonde heads as they go. “I’ll head over to X’s in a few hours.”

“Yep.” Laine pores over application forms. She has a teaching degree now, and a plan to get a job. “See ya. Don’t melt into the road. It’s stifling out there.”

“I’m leaving.” Kari grabs a wide-brimmed hat from a stack of boxes not yet unpacked or put away, and plops it on her head. “We should also pool our money and consider air conditioning for this place. Otherwise, I’m considering sleeping in the lake.”

“We should call someone.” Listlessly, Britt sighs. “Like… one of the someones we know. Bet one of them has an air conditioner they’d loan us.”

As triple clones, Britt, Jess, and Laine all turn their heads and look at me in expectation.

“I don’t have an air conditioner to give you.” I lift my hands in surrender and back up. “But I’ll ask around and find something. Promise.”

“Maybe ask Marc,” Jess suggests lazily. “He has that whole barn filled with stuff. Maybe he’ll have a spare. And he’s obsessed with Kari. He would be devastated to learn she’s in any way uncomfortable.”

Kari rolls her eyes and heads outside. “Stop using my brother to get what you want. He worked hard for the things he has. He didn’t do it to buy us things, too.”

“Yes, he did!” Laine calls out. “He did it purely to make us happy. Make the call, Macchio!”

“I’m melting…” Jess runs her hands over her face. “Melting!”

“You’re being really fucking dramatic.” But my heart just walked out the door, so I spin on my heels and follow. All nonchalant and shit. Kari is fast—she knows I’m on her trail, so somehow, she’s already down the steps and across the shitty yard made up of dirt and weeds. She doesn’t have a car yet, and though Marc is doing okay for himself, he doesn’t have a spare to give her, so she’s already on the road, heading toward town using the shoes express.

I’ll give her a minute. Enough time to work through her anger and feel a little of the summer breeze on her skin. And in the meantime, I wander down the steps in front of the girls’ place and move toward my bike.

I’m still a little lazy on the helmet situation. Since our town is so small, speed limits are insanely monitored, and X is the new chief. So I grab my bike by the handles and drape my leg over the seat. Kicking the stand up and slipping the key into the ignition, I cast a glance along the road to a too-pale Kari wandering into the heat. Her long hair, smooshed under a wide hat. Her Irish skin, reddening under the sun, whereas mine and the twins’ tends toward brown after a long summer.

I start the bike, the loud engine roaring into the street so Kari’s shoulders come up in defense—she knows I’m coming. She knows!—but she doesn’t turn. Doesn’t dare peek over her shoulder and meet my eyes. Using my feet, I walk the bike across the girls’ lawn and onto the road, then I set my boots on the pegs and slowly potter along behind the girl who wants nothing more than to be left the hell alone.

I keep pace with her for a minute or two. Walking my feet along the road more often than not or risk tipping over. Then I creep a little closer. Closer as we leave her street and enter another.

“Leave me alone, Luca.”

Grinning, I speed up a little more until I come up on her right, sandwiching her body between my bike and the curb. Then I simply… roll. “I’d rather offer you a ride, Bear.” I twist and tap the leather seat behind me. “You asked for this once upon a time. You told me you wanted me to take you for a ride.”

“I was eighteen and immature back then.” She folds her arms, despite the oppressive heat, and lifts her stubborn chin. “I’ve changed my mind.”

“When does Blake move to town?”

Snarling, she wrinkles her nose and looks across to meet my stare. “On the third day of Mind Your Business. Why are you following me?”

“Because I’m in love with you.” Fuck it. I waited six years for her. I’m done wasting time. “Because I’d like to spend time with you.”

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