Page 54 of Over the Moon

“She owns the flower shop where Archie gets her flowers,” Rafe said, quirking a brow.

“Well, just don’t tell her any secrets.” Bridger slammed the rest of his beer, just as Ellie told everyone it was time to eat.

We all carried platters into the dining room, and I spent the next hour laughing harder than I had in a long time.

They talked about Rafe and Lulu’s new toilet, which had the entire table roaring in laughter.

Then the conversation switched to the fact that Bridger had struggled to read the menu at the diner because the words were blurry, and his mother urged him to go to the eye doctor, for what was apparently not the first time.

“Fine, I’ll go. But you know I have a weird thing about my eyeballs.”

“What’s wrong with your balls, Unc-ee?” Melody asked.

More laughter.

“He can’t touch his balls. It gives him the creeps,” Easton said.

“He said my toilet gave him the creeps, too, so he’s clearly being dramatic,” Rafe added over a mouthful of pasta, and Ellie shook her head and chuckled.

“Hey, I don’t want to take a shower when I’m taking a poop. Sorry, Melody.” Bridger reached for his water.

“Why did you apologize to Melody? It’s my toilet.” Rafe arched a brow.

“Because I said poop.”

“Is poop a bad word now, too?” Axel asked.

“No. Everybody poops. Right, Daddy?” Melody said, as her little head fell back in a fit of giggles.

“Yep. They sure do.” Archer smiled down at his daughter. “And you do know you can get glasses if you can’t handle putting contacts in your eyes.”

“You probably just need readers. It’s not that big of a deal,” Keaton insisted.

“Fine. I’ll go this week,” Bridger said, not hiding his irritation.

“Good. It’s best to just get checked.” Ellie pushed to stand. “I’ll get dessert ready. And I’m going to pack up a to-go box for Clark. Who wants to drop it off at his house?”

“Oh, I’ll take it to him. It’s on my way home,” I said, looking up to see Bridger studying me. No one else thought twice about it. It wasn’t on the way home; it was in the other direction. But this town was small, and I didn’t mind a longer walk home. “That way I can see if he’s going to be up for practice tomorrow or not.”

Because the truth was, I missed him.

thirteen

. . .

Clark

I vomitedfor almost twenty-four hours, and I’d finally fallen asleep for a bit this afternoon. I made my way to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of Gatorade and took a few sips, waiting to see if it would stay down. I still had the chills and a fever, and I was pretty miserable.

It was dark outside, so it was clearly well past dinner time. I glanced around for my phone, knowing my mother had probably called several times since we spoke this morning, and I told her I wouldn’t make it tonight.

There was a knock on my door that I barely would have heard if it wasn’t completely silent in the house. I padded down the dark hallway, flipping on a light as I reached for the door handle.

Eloise Gable stood on the other side, looking gorgeous, as usual.

I was too tired to be annoyed by how pretty she was.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I asked. “What time is it?”

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