Page 34 of Choosing Forever
Bryce pales, blue eyes wide. “Fu—screw off.”
“It’s okay. I know ‘fuck’ is a bad word,” Abbie says, placating Bryce with a hand on her arm.
I choke back a laugh. “Abbie. Don’t say that.”
“Say what? Fuck?” she asks, head cocked.
“Yes! Don’t say fuck, or your mother will be taking your new vocabulary up with me.”
“Eh, you can just blame me,” Bryce says.
I meet her stare. “That might be worse.”
“I won’t tell Mom,” Abbie offers.
With a long exhale, I say, “How about we just abandon the conversation and move on. Where do we go now, Bryce? Is there some sort of check-in?”
“My dad’s making a speech in a few minutes, and I already know what your assignment is.”
“You organized everyone?”
She rolls her eyes. “Your surprise is hurtful.”
Bryce and social events don’t always add up, let alone ones like this. She knows better than I do that my surprise is warranted.
“What do we get to do, Auntie?” Abbie asks.
Bryce peels her attention from me, making sure to do it slowly so I know I’m not off the hook yet. “You’re going to make some posters to promote the drive-in with the other students from the school.”
“Really? Cool! Is Dad helping?” She turns her head to look up at me. “Are you going to help me?”
“Your dad is going to be working on a different team, kiddo,” Bryce answers.
“I am?”
She narrows her eyes, almost as if she can’t believe I’d ask her that. “Yes.”
“Great,” I say.
“Can I go help now?” Abbie asks, bouncing in place as she looks over the field for the other kids.
“We can bring you there. Then, I’ll get your dad over with his group.”
“Sweet.”
A car door closes from somewhere in the open lot, and my stomach jumps. I haven’t spotted Delaney yet. She’s not beside the lingering pile of wood in the field or by the bright orange tent set up on the left of it. While Cherry Peak is small, I’d be able to pick her out in a crowd a hundred times this size. Not only that, but I’d have felt her presence the moment I stepped onto the gravel road. Like a tickle in the back of my mind or between my ribs, I’d have felt it.
That’s why I know that it was her closing that door.
Instead of turning around to confirm it with sight rather than feeling, I meet Bryce’s waiting stare and freeze. She’s far more confident than I am. Not only about this whole rebuild idea, but about Delaney and me too. Maybe it’s the whole best friend thing we’ve had going on forever, but she’s always been vocal about her disappointment in the decisions I made all those years ago with Delaney.
Between her and Poppy, I’ve lost track of the number of chastising speeches I’ve been forced to endure. I’ve deserved each one.
“It’s Ms. Delaney!” Abbie cheers.
I can’t look back yet. Bryce sighs.
“Can I say hi, Dad?”
