Page 26 of Be With Me

His brown eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open in an almost childlike manner when he saw me. He didn’t wave back. Instead, he reached behind him without taking his eyes from me and tapped Willow on the arm. When she turned toward him, he leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Red flooded his cheeks as she turned to see who he was talking about.

Feeling as embarrassed as he looked, I tried to think of a way to retreat gracefully. With another little wave, I dropped my gaze and turned on my heel to make my escape.

“Ailee?”

I stopped at the sound of her voice. It was as breezy as her hair. When I turned back around, they were both coming toward me.

She said something to him as they neared, something I couldn’t hear, right before she stuck out her long, narrow hand. “Hi! You’re Ailee. The photographer, right? Tyler has told me so much about you.”

I took her hand and returned her smile. I couldn’t help it. Much as I wanted to hate her, the woman exuded warmth and friendliness, almost like we were old friends. “Yes. And you’re Willow?”

She nodded and gave my hand a squeeze before she dropped it. “I’m Tyler’s sister.”

I looked up at Tyler. “Hey.”

“Hi, Ailee,” he said. He still looked nervous, but not in a “I just blew you off for a week” kind of way. It was more of a kid who has a crush on his teacher kind of nervousness. “How ya doin?”

His voice sounded weird, a little higher than normal and with a bit of an urban feel to it. Was he high or something? “Um, I’m good. Thanks. Stef and I actually saw you about an hour or two ago, crossing the intersection. We said hi, but maybe you didn’t hear us?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I could’ve kicked myself. He was acting strange enough, and it was obviously because he was trying to blow me off. Putting him on the spot about it didn’t do anything except make this whole thing more awkward.

He touched the tip of his nose. Not cocky-like. A nervous tick. “Oh, uh. Yeah. Sorry about that. I didn’t see you.”

My eyes went to his hair, sticking from his head in all directions. It hadn’t struck me earlier, maybe because it was so windy, but now I realized it was intentionally styled that way. Willow took over the conversation then, pulling my eyes away from his new do. “So, what are you doing in the city? Tyler told me you live out toward Snoqualmie?”

“I do,” I told her. “I just came into town to have lunch with a friend, and thought I’d pick up a few things before I headed back to the studio.”

“I’ve seen your photos of Ty! And they’re amazing. I wish I were that creative. How did you get into the business?”

She spoke so fast her words kinda all ran together and it took me a moment to catch up. “Um, well…” I kept one eye on Tyler as we got into a discussion of my budding hobby when I was married, and how I’d turned it into a successful business after my divorce.

“That’s amazing. No wonder Tyler thinks the world of you. Brains and beauty.”

It occurred to me that she kept talking about Tyler as if he wasn’t standing right next to her. As for him, he kept giving me little shy smiles, looking away and touching his nose, his other hand in the pocket of his hoodie. He didn’t say much at all during the entire conversation.

I didn’t get it. It was Tyler, and yet it was…not. There were little things that were throwing me off. Things other people might not notice, but I did.

This whole situation was just entirely too weird. “Well, um. I really need to go, or I’ll miss my bus and have to wait for the next one.”

“It was great to meet you,” Willow said. “Hopefully, next time we’ll get to hang out a little more.”

“Sure, that would be great.” I turned to the stranger at her side. “See ya, Tyler.”

“Bye, Ailee.”

Willow elbowed him. The movement was small, but I noticed it.

“I’ll call you soon,” he told me. “I’m sorry I’ve been kind of MIA. I’ll explain when I see you again.”

“It’s okay. I’ve been busy, too. Nice to meet you, Willow.” I gave them both a small smile and headed toward the exit. Abandoning my basket with its lone avocado at the door, I rushed to the bus stop, making it just as a bus pulled up. I didn’t know if it was my bus or not. I didn’t care. I just had to get out of there.

Once the door closed and we were speeding east down 19, I pulled out my phone and texted Stef to fill her in.

Also, I’d forgotten to tell her Willow’s name.

I was rewarded with laughing emojis and gifs the rest of the way home, though I made sure to admonish her, telling her she was actually really nice.

For reasons I wasn’t sure of myself, I didn’t tell her about how strange Tyler had been acting.

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