Page 14 of Our Hearts Knew Better

But she stayed with us everywhere we went. She was in the pictures and the paintings she loved that we still had to hang. And we did, saving the best for last. A tradition in each new house.

Dad played her favorite country songs, smiling so big, he aged several years, his crow’s feet dented deep into his skin.

He loved Mom more than he loved me. I knew that before he’d later confirm it. Her spirit put the truest light on his face. This wistful happiness for a time before I was born.

We danced, and sang along, like we always did, our own worlds orbiting each other.

I’d still miss these moments once his eyes would be permanently glazed with disappointment.

Some Magical Portal

As the forecast had promised, the rain kept me inside my walls the next two nights.

In that time, I didn’t hear from the boys again. I didn’t get another text from Adam, or even a first text from Levi.

And each night, it felt like I sank a bit deeper into my sheets, my body more restless, the raindrops on the roof as fretful as my heart.

When I did finally hear something, it wassomebodyclimbing my trellis.

My heart jolted against my ribcage as I rushed to the window at the knock, my brain thinking it safer to stop the noise before it could disturb my dad instead of keeping away from a potential burglar.

Crime free,I reminded myself as I pushed up the glass, inch by inch, then looked out.

I held my breath to see a mess of blond hair as I finger-tamed my own, then let it out when I saw a mess of dark hair.

“Hey,” Adam whispered with a smile, practically face to face with me. At least he was keeping his voice low, but my heart was still jolted.

“Get down,” I whispered back with the next two jolts, sounding more like I hissed at him. I felt the urge to apologize, but my head swiveled instead toward my dad’s window—still dark—then back at Adam, who followed my checking.

He freed a hand and held it up, mouthingsorry, then climbed down in a slide, his unbuttoned shirt, over what looked like atank top, catching the breeze he created as he dropped down with not much grace.

But not much noise.

Still dark.

“Let’s go,” he whispered up at me, only sounding louder from the ground.

I shushed him and held up a finger, ducking back inside to put on my sneakers. I didn’t know where we were going, but I’d been waitingdaysfor this, and he knew as well as I did that I would go anywhere that wasn’t in here.

I met Adam at the bottom, barely missing a puddle. I tugged down the hem of my pajama shorts as he walked backward for me to follow him and get away from these windows.

“What about Levi?” I heard myself asking, glancing around for his waiting shadow while dodging more dampened soil.Where’d all that mud come from?wasn’t going to be a question I’d risk hearing from my dad.

Adam spun around with a shrug as we evened our pace. “Out of commission,” he said. I took that to mean Levi was sleeping, and the bounce in my step lost some of its bounce.

I thought about not getting any texts from Levi, and I almost asked Adam if he even gave my number like I’d asked. But I didn’t, because he said he would.

I lost the rest of my bounce from the thought that Levi just didn’t want to reach out to me.

“ButIcould use some company,” Adam added, with another smile angled at me. “Yours.”

My mouth curved up at him. “Iamyour distraction,” I stated as another tease at the word.

He gave me a puckered, playful eye roll. “We’re sneak out buddies.”Yeah, right.He didn’t have to sneak. “Let’s go,” he repeated, breaking out into a jog as we met the street, and Ijogged to keep up, my feet much more comfortable and quieter in my sneakers.

“This isyours?” My voice echoed in the silent street as we approached the car pulled off against the curb, one house down from mine.

“Yeah,” Adam confirmed, so, as he rounded for the driver side, I went for the passenger side. “It was a bribe—I mean, birthday gift last year,” he added, his slip of the word purposeful enough to make me chuckle as we got in.

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