Page 70 of Tell Me It’s Right

Or maybe I am. Maybe I have been starting to think that maybe, just maybe, after the migraine and Miles and spending the night holding his hand…

But whatever moments were there I must have imagined.

I don’t respond, and Casey’s eyes go round and wide.

“Was that a mean thing to say? I’m sorry!”

“Oh, no, Casey, it’s okay. Are you done with these?” I grab the empty bowls before he can respond and turn for the trashcan beside the street.

But I can’t shake this feeling of…humiliation clinging to me. I can’t help but wonder if that’s how Liam’s always seen me too. Leo’s pathetic little sister looking at him with puppy dog eyes while his type is the kind of pretty that can make a living from just existing because of how much people like to look at her. He must think I’m such a joke.

The door to Liam’s shop opens, and Casey’s mom steps out. She smiles and struts toward us.

“Thank you,” she says as she reaches a hand for Casey.

“I don’t want to go yet,” whines Casey.

“Up. Now.”

He groans but does what she says. “Goodbye, Gracie!” he calls over his shoulder.

“Bye, Casey,” I say softly and wave.

Chapter Twenty-Six

LIAM

I hurry through the shop with my arms full of supplies to set up for my next client. That meeting with Christine took longer than I expected, and I don’t know how much of it to believe.

She says she feels bad about how dinner went, that she had no idea Hailey was involved, that she wanted to help to try to make things right.

But I learned a long time ago not to take anything my family says at face value. At the same time, Christine’s never had that calculating air about her.

The bells above the door ring as Gracie returns, and I let out a sigh of relief. I don’t know how I’d get through this day without her. She’s standing frozen less than five steps inside, looking like she’s seen a ghost.

I stop in my tracks. “Gracie?”

She blinks and focuses on me, but she’s still white as a sheet.

“You okay?”

She blinks again, finally seeming to snap herself out of it, and heads for the front desk. “Yeah.”

Ah, shit. “Did Christine say something to you?”

“No.”

She sounds nothing like she did before she left with Casey. What the hell happened out there? I pile everything on the tray and head over to her.

“What’s wrong?” I touch her arm, and she jerks away hard enough that I stumble back a step. “Hey?—”

“Nothing. Come on. You only have ten minutes until Mina gets here.”

Her voice sounds all wrong, and her hands shake as she organizes the already pristine desk. “Come on, Gracie. Just talk to me.”

“Everything’s fine,” she snaps, then pushes to her feet and hurries toward the back of the shop.

“What’s wrong?”

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