Page 77 of Lucy Loves Him Not
Twenty-Eight
Adam
Missing my Lovely Lucy already. Festival feels like it’s really lacking something when you’re not around.
tbh everything is lacking when you’re not around
I’ve been watching the weather report, please drive safely.
kind of regretting telling you to run off
Stepping into the cabin was always like stepping into the past. The cabin had been in the Rhodes’ family since Grandma had been a little girl and the latest remodel had been done in the ’80s. The couch was powder blue and worn-in, the ground a bright, pink, fuzzy carpet, and the kitchen had a fridge and microwave that looked older than my mom. It had a gas stove we had to light ourselves. Everything was rustic and wooden with framed photos of our family throughout the generations.
I let myself fall onto the couch with a loaded sigh. It smelled vaguely of Grandma’s powdery, floral scent from all the years she sat in this very spot. For a moment, I was wrapped up in her arms again, inhaling the White Shoulders perfume she always wore.
Olivia was sitting on the other end of the couch and Gracie was on the loveseat caddy corner to me, her bandaged foot resting in Mom’s lap.
“You made it,” Mom said happily, all three of her girls in the same room.
“How was the drive? Seems like you came in with the storm,” Olivia said as the rain thrummed against the windows.
I pulled a nearby plush blanket over my lap. “It wasn’t too bad. It really started to pour as I got closer to the cabin.”
“I made some barbecue chicken earlier if you want a plate,” Mom offered. “I also boiled some sweet corn.”
“There’s also so much watermelon in the fridge,” Gracie said.
I made a plate with sticky sweet drumsticks and buttery corn on the cob. I ate in the living room while Gracie gave me the update on her recovery and her plans for the rest of the summer—which was really that she had no plans for the rest of the summer.
“But, guys, I’ve been so MIA since the end of May I need to hear what I’ve missed,” she pleaded with her hands to her chest. “Give me the details, please.”
Olivia and I exchanged loaded glances.
“Just the festival over here.” I shrugged, carrying my plate back to the kitchen.
“Just renovations here,” Olivia said from her spot on the couch.
“Lies,” Gracie shouted as I walked back into the living room. “Mom gossips enough for me to know you’re both leaving outvery important details.” She wiggled her shoulders. “Sizzling details.”
“There has been no sizzling here,” Olivia said, her face blank.
I leaned on the doorway. “Well, fine, there has been some sizzling for me.” I bit my lip before confessing. “Especially at your apartment.”
“I knew it!” Gracie just about leaped off the couch, her cast the only thing holding her down.
“Your pool at night was surprisingly romantic…” I said, my cheeks pinker than the carpet.
“This is what my bored, stuck at home self has needed.” Gracie was almost more excited than I was. “Tell me every juicy detail, stat.”
I walked back into the living room, their eyes on me. “You guys know how messy it was when we first met.” I sat down next to Olivia again. “My guard was up. Way up. Then I got to know him. It’s as if Adam has the password and my guard collapsed for him.”
“Oh honey.” My mom clutched her hands to her chest.
I covered my face with my hands. “We’ve kissed and admitted our feelings, but I’m still feeling completely freaked out.”
“Why the freak out?” Olivia asked, pulling my hands from my face.
A loud clap of thunder. The lights flickered. “It’s been forever since we let anyone else into,” I twirled my finger around the room, “this.”
