Page 74 of Lilly

William? What does William have to do with this?

"I called him as soon as I got up this morning. He said he can't do anything about it. In order to do so, he'd have to change the rules, but that would take months. He'd need the approval of the entire council."

"Hey." I hear Garret behind me, then feel his hand on my shoulder. "Why are you standing here?"

"Oh, um, I was just on my way to the kitchen."

"But you had to stop and rest in the hall?" He chuckles.

"Yeah. I'm tired," I say as we continue down the hall. "Your kids wore me out yesterday. And I was up late."

"Talking to Reed?" he asks.

"Yeah. I didn't have a chance to talk to him all day."

Rachel whips around when she hears us coming into the kitchen. "You two are up early."

"I couldn't sleep," Garret says, "so I just decided to get up."

My dad kisses Rachel's cheek. "I'll be in my office."

"Why couldn't you sleep?" I ask Garret.

"I hurt my back playing basketball the other day. It hurts worse when I lie down. It kept waking me up."

"You didn't tell me you hurt your back," I say, not believing his story. I think he knows about whatever it is my mom did and that's what kept him awake.

"I just didn't think to tell you." He takes the carton of orange juice that's on the counter and fills a glass for himself and one for me. "Here." He hands me the glass.

"You kids want pancakes for breakfast?" Rachel asks.

Garret smiles. "You still gonna be calling me a kid when I'm in my forties?"

"Of course," she says, opening the fridge. "I'm your mom. To me, you'll always be a kid. So what do you think? Pancakes? Waffles? Eggs?"

"You don't have to make anything," Garret says. "We can just have cereal."

She sets the milk on the counter. "I'll make pancakes. I know Abi and Hannah will eat them."

"I'll have some," I say. "I'll get the flour out."

"Hey," Garret says to me. "Before you do that, let's go outside."

"Outside? Why?"

He shrugs. "It's a nice morning. And I never get to talk to you without the kids running around."

Maybe he's going to tell me about my mom and what she did that's making everyone act so strange.

Wanting answers, I take my orange juice and follow him outside. It's early but the sun is bright so it already feels warm out. We sit on the lounge chairs by the pool. Garret leans back on his, putting his feet up. I sit on the side of mine, facing him.

"So what's going on?" I ask.

"What do you mean?"

"Why'd you make me come out here?"

He smiles. "Are you saying you don't want to talk to me?"

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