Page 91 of Over the Edge

Quinn scrunches her nose. “You’re not seriously considering getting that.”

“If I can get it tailored, then it wouldn’t be so bad. I saw a matching dress over there. The perfect date night attire, don’t you think so, sweetie? Or maybe I'll wear it to Dad's tenth wedding.”

“The only thing that can fix that suit is a vat of black clothing dye.”

In my periphery Lana hitches her tote with her purchases over her shoulder and then saunters out of the gift shop. So far, her and Garrett haven’t been left alone together and on Garrett’s part that seems intentional.

“Hey, I’m going to be right back. If you find any berry paraphernalia you think I can’t live without, don’t hesitate to grab it for me.” I’m already moving. There’s a significant chance that Lana will be wandering off somewhere else or that Garrett actually wants to talk to her. Either way, I’m going to show up for him. If he doesn’t want me there, then I’ll leave. I’d rather him know I care than leave him stranded.

My eyes take a moment to adjust as I step out of the gift shop. The sun has crested in the sky and the world is glaringly bright. I head to where Garrett pulled the car around to help the workers load up the cases of wine and beer.

“We could go up to Niagara. I have my passport on me, make a whole trip of it,” Lana says, brightly.

“You came here to invite me to Niagara?” he asks, indignation coating his words.

“God, you’ve grown up so handsome. I can’t even remember what he looks like but I think you got the better parts of him.” Lana reaches out to pat Garrett’s cheek. I half expect him to flinch away, but it looks like she’s touching a statue. Her attention snaps to the side as a man walks by and she starts to pull away. “I’m pretty sure I met that guy at Burning Man once. I’ll be right back. If I’m right, he has these pictures I’ve been dying to get my hands on.”

Garrett stands there like even if a truck were coming at him full force he wouldn’t notice.

“Hey,” I say softly. He blinks then turns toward me, but it still feels like he isn’t completely here. “How do you feel about a blueberry themed home?”

“What does that entail?” he asks with an attempt at levity.

“Everything you currently have but covered in a pattern that slowly works away at your sanity.” I shrug. “Crock pots, dog bowls, towel covers.”

“When you put it like that, no.”

“I did want to check, how are you doing? Full transparency, I called Wes to help me understand the situation,” I say. I don’t want him to feel like I’ve gone behind his back.

“You hate him.”

“Sure, I hate him, but I like you more.” It’s the truth. We might never talk about last night and given the circumstances, I’d understand that. But that doesn’t change how I feel about him as a person. “Are you, I mean…not okay, but how do you feel?”

“If I knew, I’d tell you. She feels like a stranger, and I’ve never been good with strangers. Then there’s the part where she absolutely shouldn’t be a stranger and I should already know all the answers to the most basic fucking questions, but I don’t.”

“Do you want to sit in the car?” I ask, because it’s the most private place I can think of.

“Sure.”

We slip into the back seat of the car.

Evelyn

Can you find Lana? I lost her

Quinn

AirTags were invented for people like her

Quinn

Would it be so bad if she ran off with the rodeo.

Evelyn

Please

Quinn

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