Page 8 of The Lake House

“Hell-o! Anybody home?”

My eyes fly open at the sound of Olivia’s voice. Realizing I had fallen asleep at some point, I take in a deep breath and check the time on my watch. It’s after three in the afternoon.

“Shit,” I say, and spin around in the recliner. “Hey, Liv.”

She makes her way out onto the porch and goes to lean against the banister. “Girl, I’ve been calling you for hours. Thought something happened to you.” She raises an eyebrow.

I pull out my cell phone from my front pocket, and sure enough, there were two missed calls and five texts from Liv.

“Sorry, I guess I passed out. It was just so peaceful…”

She shakes her head. “I see you went down to Abner’s…” she points to my empty coffee cup on the ground.

My eyes follow her finger. I hadn’t even realized the logo on the cup had the Abner’s name on it. I guess when I went to the store earlier, I’d been too distracted and coffee deprived.

“I needed coffee. I was desperate.”

“You could have called me, you know? I do have coffee…” Liv crosses her arms across her chest.

I chuckle. “I know. I wanted to take a walk, though. It was such a beautiful day… still is.”

She nods. “It is, and that’s perfect because tonight, you and I are going out.”

I furrow my brows. “Huh?”

“Yeah, we’re going out on the town.”

Oh, no. I know exactly what she has in mind. She didn’t forget… I was hoping she had. “Where are we going?” I ask, pretending not to know.

She smirks. “Don’t play stupid with me, Giules. You know.”

“I don’t,” I lie with a small smile.

“You know! You’d better know!”

I shake my head, trying not to laugh. She gives me a death stare.

“The fair is in town. We’re going,” she voices through gritted teeth.

“Oh, the fair. Right… I’m guessing there’s no way for me to get out of it, is there?”

She pushes herself away from the banister and stops just a few steps in front of me. “Not a chance, homie.”

ChapterFour

GIULIANA

After Liv heads home to get ready, I decide to get off the porch and get myself ready as well. It’s a fair, so that means we’re going to be doing a ton of walking. I want to be comfortable, but I don’t want to look like a bum either.

I rummage through my closet and pull out my favorite pair of designer jeans with the rhinestone design going down the side. They’re tight and fitted, making me feel sexy. I pick out a simple black shirt and decide to top the look off with my comfortable sandals. Again, there’s going to be a ton of walking. I don’t want to end up not enjoying myself because my feet hurt. Plus, I have no one to impress.

Around eight thirty, Liv, Dave, and Josie arrive at my door.

“Oh my God, Josie! Look at how big you’ve gotten!” I exclaim.

“Go on, give Auntie Giules a hug and say hello,” Liv nudges her daughter.

Josie comes running toward me, full speed ahead, and then crashes into me. I bend down and wrap my arms around her. She’s fairly small for her age.

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