Page 44 of Saltwater Memories
Rupert had texted her almost two hours ago, and when she hadn’t answered, he texted again.
The first text said, “Hey beautiful, what’re you up to this fine Saturday night?”
Then, “I see how it is, too busy for old Rupe.”
She smiled and rolled her eyes. It was unlike him to double text – he was always rather aloof, even when they were dating.
“Nonsense,” she wrote back. “I just didn’t see your message.”
He responded immediately. “And now, you’re making me miss you.”
A faint smile spread across her face. That was unexpected.
She couldn’t think about it, though. Her brain felt fried. Once Amanda got home, she pulled all of the ridiculous pins out of her hair, took a shower, and went to sleep.
The next morning, Morgan and Jade were making breakfast when she wandered into the kitchen.
“There she is!” said Morgan. “I thought you were going to stay the night in Seattle at your friend’s place?”
Amanda shook her head. “No. I left a little after eight.”
“What happened?” asked Jade.
“I don’t know. Everything. Nothing.” She sighed. “Lenny was there; he walked right up to us.”
Morgan’s jaw dropped. “Did you tase him again?”
“No.” She smiled to herself. Maybe she should have brought the taser – she would’ve needed a bigger purse. “I didn’t do anything. I just ran off. I sent Will a text, got back to my car, and caught the ferry. Just…left.”
“Oh, it’s okay,” Morgan said, taking a seat. “I’d freak out too if I saw Lenny.”
“What did you tell Will?” Jade asked.
Amanda groaned. “Nothing. I told him that I was sorry and that I had to go. I can’t do this. Now I understand why Connor left the country after dealing with Lenny, like, two times.”
Morgan laughed. “Oh come on, it isn’t that bad.”
Amanda said nothing. She didn’t know how to explain it.
“Did you get to see his place?” Morgan continued. “Was it fancy?”
“No, it wasn’t fancy.” She shook her head. “Not at all. He rents a room from an old lady. He helps her fix things up. Drives her to her doctor appointments.”
“Weird.” Morgan frowned. “Was he a bad date?”
Amanda buried her face in her hands. “No. He was agreatdate. He told me that I was beautiful and that he couldn’t take his eyes off of me. And then I just ran away, like a coward.”
Jade placed a hand on Amanda’s shoulder. “So…you’re saying that maybe he’s not as bad as we thought?”
Amanda kept her face buried, her voice muffled. “Yes, it turns out that it’smewho’s been the crappy person all along! Big shocker.”
“You’re not crappy,” Morgan said with a shrug. “You’re just on a mission. You’re a concerned citizen.”
Amanda scoffed and picked up her head. “Yeah right. I’m a jerk who led him on and pretended to be his friend, all so I could run away when I actually saw Lenny.”
“It doesn’t seem like you werepretendingto be his friend to me,” Jade said with a slight smile.
Amanda rolled her eyes. Sometimes Jade sounded just like her mom. “I’ve been so focused on Rupert that I didn’t really think of Willthatway. But clearly he thinks ofmethat way! And it’s not fair to him, he doesn’t deserve it.”
