Page 19 of Wish Me Home

Another pang hit my chest because he still hadn’t responded to my message from earlier. It was so dumb, because he legitimately could be busy. I didn’t know what his life looked like here. Did he have friends he spent time with when he was home?

“I’m not sure if I should bother him again.”

“Nonsense. Send him a message,” she prodded.

Sighing, I pulled the phone from my pocket and rolled my eyes when I saw it marked my previous messages as read. There was still no response, and it had been two hours since I’d sent them.

Emmett:Aunt Sadie is still on Mission: Embarrass Emmett. We’re going to Balboa park. She would like to invite you to join us.

I held my breath after hitting the send button. The message ticked over to read. The little dots bounced on my screen and my shoulders relaxed to realize that he wasn’t brushing me off.

Hot Flight Attendant:That’s really sweet of her to invite me. I have a bit of a situation over here.

A picture came through not a minute later of a small imitation Christmas tree that looked like it had seen better days. Half of the lights weren’t working and there were ornaments spread across the floors. One was shattered near Cody’s bare foot.

Emmett:You’re fighting with a tree?

“Is he coming?” Aunt Sadie asked, drawing my attention from my phone. I looked down to my screen to see that another message had come through.

Hot Flight Attendant:I think it’s winning…

I laughed, shaking my head. “No, I don’t think he’ll be able to make it.”

Aunt Sadie looked crestfallen for a moment. It was an odd response because it’s not like she knew Cody at all. Part of it was because I knew that she wanted to see me happy.

“Let’s just get going,” I said, grabbing a light jacket. I didn’t think I’d need it, but just because San Diego was warmer, it could still cool down a lot when the sun went down.

Isatontheedge of the giant fountain waiting for Aunt Sadie who had wandered off a while ago, getting lost from staring at the old Spanish architecture of the buildings of the park. It never seemed to matter that we’d lived here forever; it always amazed her.

The park really was beautiful at dusk, with the lights hanging from the walkways. Families and couples walked the paths, and I took a deep breath before I fished my phone from my pocket again.

Hot Flight Attendant:I think I finally won this battle!

There was a picture of a completely decorated mini tree. Half the lights were still burnt out, but his efforts were cute. I actually snorted when I laughed.

Holding up my phone I took a picture of myself in front of the fountain. It was one of my favorite places in the entire park. Even if the plaza was typically crowded with people during the summers, there was something soothing about the sound of the water. I sent it over without even thinking about it.

Emmett:You’re missing out on all of this, though.

I watched as the dots danced on my screen before his response came through.

Hot Flight Attendant:Damn. I should have taken that over this dumb tree.

Emmett:But the tree is cute.

Hot Flight Attendant:Not as cute as you.

I felt my face heat at his compliment. Aunt Sadie was walking back over so I shoved my phone into my pocket. This trip to the park was supposed to be about spending time with her and I was busy flirting with Cody on my phone.

“You want to go grab some dinner? We can head downtown? Maybe The Gaslamp or we can check out something over in Hillcrest?” she asked. Chances were, anything down in the Gaslamp was going to be crowded and overpriced. My favorite Mexican place was over in Hillcrest, though.

“I could go for some Colima’s,” I answered.

“Mmm, yes,” she agreed. “One of those surf and turf burritos. We could share?”

I nodded. It was like she could read my mind. Those things were giant and no one could finish in one sitting. Standing, I brushed the dirt from my pants and hooked my arm around my aunt’s.

“Have you heard anything more from your friend?” Her question was innocent enough, but I was curious why she seemed so invested in seeing Cody and me together.

---