“Landon?” I hear her ask gently.
I focus on her, on how her saying my name that way feels like the touch from her kitchen all over again. It takes everything I have in me not to shiver the way I did then.
“Yeah?” I ask back.
Her eyes are so pretty. So warm. “Are you okay?”
Oops, I’ve been caught drifting away from talk of costumes. She probably thinks my mind is back at Quiet Springs.
Ha, no. I’ve blocked that out for now.
“I’m great,” I tell her. “Sorry, what’d I miss? I’m so sorry. Got caught up in a thought.” I’ll let her think it was about Lolly even though it wasn’t. Much safer than the truth right now.
Indeed, she tips me a comforting smile. “It’s fine. We were just wondering….” She glances at Rae, who’s looking at me shyly.
I drop my hands onto my knees so I can be a little shorter. “What’s up, cutie? I’m all ears. Hit me with it.”
With her hands knotted together, she kind of pivots side to side, shoulders lifting.
“Um,” she says, “will you—will you go trick-or-treating with us on Halloween?”
Not needing to think about it, I nod. “Yes, I will.”
She grins and squeaks, “Really?”
I grin, too, as I stand up again. “Absolutely! Sounds like a cookie-bakin’ good time.”
Rae whoops, but Liv snorts in amusement. “Awhatgood time?”
“Well,” I turn my grin on her, “I decided I should come up with some kid-friendly…you know….” I give her a thumbs-up. “‘Sounds like a cookie-bakin’ good time!’ and,‘Holy cartoons, this food is good!’and whatever, you know?”
Her laughter is music to my ears.
“I love it!” she exclaims.
“I hoped you would! You going to help me come up with some good ones?”
“For sure.” She sighs into a smile as pretty as those eyes. “All right, doyouneed a costume, then?”
“Only if you plan to wear one, too, Annie.”
Killersmile.
And this marks the first time since the night she saved me from choking that I seriously want to kiss her.
There’s nothing fleeting or,‘Oh, of course I want to kiss her, she’s beautiful,’about it. I don’t want to do it out of relief to be alive, and Idon’twant to do it in the innocent ways I thought about last night in our hallway.
She says, “Maybe. I’ll see how much Rae’s ends up costing.”
I blink away those thoughts I don’t need to have in my head right now, clear my throat, and nod.
We spend the next twenty minutes helping Rae through her ultimate two choices: the purple fairy from before and the purple Ninja Turtle. She ends up with the fairy because she really likes the wings, and Liv and I agree that she’s going to be the loveliest fairy ever. Then, after I talk Liv into letting me buy some simple costumes for ourselves, we head to the aisle for kits and masks.
Soon, we’re leaving with Rae’s fairy outfit, a glitzy princess accessory kit for her aunt, and a Batman mask and cape for me (costumes that Rae had a big hand in choosing). Then it’s time to head to Wal-Mart so we can get the stuff Liv needs to cook us dinner later.
Even with the upsetting Lolly visit and the rain that’s been pouring down since then, we’re having a hell of a good day.
“Holy Disney movies,” Liv says after we’ve run through the cascade and into our apartment building. The three of us are soaked, and there are leaves sticking to us in a few places thanks to the wind. I grin at her choice of words.