Page 76 of Again, In Autumn

He teased me about loving trashy tv shows, and I pretended to fall asleep when he mentioned a World War Two documentary he just watched. We never judged each other for the big things –our thoughts and feelings. Things I’d never shared with anyone else, before or since.

Copper runs up the stairs. I catch a pet before he runs into the house.

“We brought some food for dinner!” Maggie says, holding up a dish. A canvas bag swings off the crook of her elbow.

“Oh, thank you,” I say grabbing the dish. “Mashed potatoes. Yum!”

She winks, and Diego follows behind her with a crock pot balancing two dozen individual yogurt cups on the lid.

“You didn’t have to bring anything,” I say, leading them into the kitchen. “Dave’s got it covered.”

Maggie places her bag on the table. “Well, we wanted to have a little fun of our own. It’s a surprise.”

“Fun?” I lean over to inspect the crockpot contents, but she covers it quickly.

She repeats, “Nope. It’s a surprise. For later.”

“Okay,” I say, uneasy.

Caroline peeks her head in the door. “Alice’s game is ready!”

“Oh good.” I place a hand on both of Diego and Maggie’s shoulders to steady our guests. “Welcome to game day. I’m sorry for what’s to come.”

Chapter Twenty-One

“Okay. This. Is. Game Day, bitches!” Francesca stands in the grass ahead of us and blows her whistle. Copper jumps up at her. Grayson and David erupt in cheer. Alice giggles. Caroline halfheartedly claps.

She continues, shielding her eyes from the midday sun. “There is no swear jar, but Grayson will let us know if the trash talking gets too out of hand.”

He gives a strong thumb’s up. “Got it.”

“Cool. Okay.” She rubs her hands together. “The order of the day is sweet Alice’s hide and seek, then Grayson’s Queen of Hearts game, also known as homemade croquet. Vienna’s creepy mirror movement game, and my favorite.” She pauses dramatically. “The one and only Snatch You Up. After that, it’s the thing that David makes us do –”

“I call it Findy Findy,” he says.

“– we’ll have dinner, and then end with Care’s talent show because Katie’s too cool for school this year.”

A voice slinks into my ear, asking, “Are we getting abducted?”

I flinch, finding Adam beside me. His eyes bulge in horror, listening to Francesca dole out the rules, shoulders scrunched up. He smells cold and warm at the same time, like cedar and peppermint, and I desperately want to touch his worn, broken-down sweatshirt and smooth down the crinkles in his terrified forehead.

All things I should not be thinking.

When we cleared the air this morning, I was under the impression he wouldn’t alter his behavior much from the last few days. Coming to talk to me in confidence is unexpected.

I clear my throat. “Each year Fran changes the rules a bit,” I explain. “There may be some probing. We never know.”

“With that?” He points to a tree branch with an elephant towel tied to its end. Grayson’s waving it around with violence.

I bark a laugh. It feels forbidden. I say, “That’s his ‘off with your head’ mallet. For his game. So…maybe.”

Adam shrugs with amusement.

Francesca blows her whistle repeatedly. “You there!” She points to us. “Have you been listening to the rules? Must we repeat them?”

“Calm down, Captain,” I snap.

Alice runs up and shakes Francesca’s leg.

---