Page 92 of Mr. Swoony

I shake my head at her concern.

A minute later, I hear the toilet flush, and the stall door opens. Then she screams, and I push through the door. Eloise is jumping from one leg to the other.

“Rat!” she shouts, jumping into my arms. I catch her but drop the flashlight on the floor. “Kill it!”

“Okay, first of all, calm down. I’m sure it’s just a mouse or something.”

“I don’t care what it is.” She buries her head in my neck. “I told you. I’m not meant for this.”

I smooth my hand over her back. “Relax, I got you.”

I bend down to get the flashlight, and she clings harder, her fingers digging into my back. We walk out of the bathroom, and I carry her down the hill, the flashlight guiding the way.

“Sorry,” she says. “It scared the crap out of me.”

“I know.” I can’t deny it, I would have flipped out too.

Once we’re a safe distance away, she has me set her down. We round the two SUVs and see that everyone has gone to bed, except Tweetie. He picks his head up from where he’s looking at his phone.

“Oh, hey, guys.” He pockets his phone quickly, and there’s a look on his face I’m not sure I’ve ever seen.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, always.” He smiles, but it’s forced.

I walk Eloise to our tent, unzip it, and wait for her to get in. I scan the flashlight around to make sure there’re no critters or anything inside.

“Do you mind?” I nod back toward the fire.

She shakes her head. “Just zip me in.” She crawls over to me and presses her lips to mine. “He’s your friend. Go make sure he’s okay.”

“Thanks. I won’t be long.”

I zip her up and walk back over to the bonfire. Tweetie has his phone out again, as if he’s reading something.

“Who is the text from?” I ask.

He shuts the screen off and places it in the cupholder. “No one.”

I sit in the chair next to him. If he doesn’t want to tell me, I can at least sit here for a while because something is bothering him. We’re both silent for a minute, and he surprises me when he speaks.

“I’m sure you’ve heard the stories back in Florida,” he says, his voice low and quiet. “Tedi Douglas?”

I lean back in the chair and get comfortable, knowing the time has finally come. Tweetie is about to let me in. I have no idea why he’s chosen now, but I’m not going to question the why. I’ll be here for my friend and listen.

Thirty-Seven

Conor

“Tedi Douglas?”

The name sounds familiar, but I’m guessing probably only because of the guys mentioning her and Tweetie before.

“I’ve heard some rumors.” I go the honest rather than clueless route. He deserves that. Since Tweetie deflects feelings with humor, I need him to know that he can trust me with his feelings. That I won’t judge him for missing someone who meant a lot to him at one point in this life.

“When I was in Florida, I met her through our center Aiden Drake’s now wife. She worked with her. They handled social media and stuff.”

I walk over to the cooler and grab a water.

---