Page 23 of Never Kiss and Tell

I smile at an old memory. “Do you remember when he found those marigold seeds at a thrift shop? He brought them home and didn’t think they would grow.”

“And they grew to be two feet tall? God, they came up to my thighs.”

We fall silent and a sense of loneliness I can’t shake falls over me. It’s not often I miss Dad this much, but remembering him, the funny things he used to do . . . sometimes it just hits me in a wave of anguish.

“How are things there?” I ask, clutching my locket and hoping to change the subject. “You know, besides Mom’s meltdown.”

“Okay, I guess. Nowhere near as exciting as what you’re doing.”

Yeah, shopping for flowers and listening to my hot neighbor screw some unsuspecting girl all night are at the top of my lists for fun.

“Marcus should be coming back tonight.” I can practically hear the malice in Savannah’s voice. She’s never liked Marcus,even though she was so young when he and Mom married. She refused to be in the wedding until I bribed her with chocolate I stole from the hotel lobby.

“All done,” Andi beams, joining me on the sidewalk.

“I’ve got to go Sav,” I say into my phone. “If you need me, call me. I’ll try to always have my phone on.”

Savannah chuckles, humorlessly. “Go. Have fun with your friends and your hot asshole neighbor. I’ll be fine. Besides, it’s only five weeks.”

“A lot can happen in five weeks.”

“Shut up. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I hang up the phone and drop it back in my bag. “Sorry,” I tell Andi. “Savannah never calls me. I thought someone had died.”

Andi laughs and wraps her arm through mine.

“Of course, I don’t care. Good call on the lilies. I think Tamara was ready to fight me.”

We walk down the busy streets of New Orleans, making our way back to Bourbon Street.

“I’m starving.” My stomach growls right as I say that.

“Let’s go see Dad,” Andi beckons, pulling me across the street. We quickly avoid a passing car and merge with the flow of people walking on the other side.

“I don’t want to see your brother,” I groan, remembering last night. I just know he’s going to say something that will have me blushing. Then, he’ll know that I’d eavesdropped. Not that I really had a choice, but still.

“What did he do?” Andi snaps, stopping at the back gate to the Voodoo Barbeque. “Was he mean to you?”

Always. I shake my head. “No, I just heard him, you know, with a girl last night and I’m embarrassed.”

Her eyes narrow. “Was she loud?”

“Yes,” I blush, brushing my hair behind my ear.

“Practically a banshee?”

“Yes.”

“Fucking hell,” Andi groans. She tugs me through the back gate and into a small courtyard behind the restaurant. A tall, bald man is smoking a cigarette and he eyes me up and down as we approach him.

“What up, Lionel?” Andi raises her hand up for a high-five and the man reciprocates, his eyes on me. The shimmery blue of his eyeshadow pops against his dark skin. He’s applied false lashes better than I ever have and the fingers holding his cigarette are tipped in purple.

“And just who is this lil mama?”

“Oh my God,” I scoff as he steps to the side to check out my rear.

“This is Bailey. She’s my best friend from California. She came to help me plan the wedding,” she reaches back and tugs me forward. “Bailey, this is Lionel. And don’t worry. He cares more about my brother’s ass than he ever will yours.”

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