Page 82 of The Moment They Can't Forget

“It’s a shame Lil had to go home. I liked her,” Ally said.

“She was my best friend in Chicago,” Zoe said.

The last text her friend had sent her had said, “I want the asshole’s name and to know if you sleep with hot city guy again. FYI, I think you should.”

“Well, she liked it here, so I’m sure she’ll come back,” Robyn Duke said, waving over her head as she left.

“Okay, Ally, let’s do this,” Zoe said.

“Cool! I love JD.” Her niece leaped to her feet, and between them they carried the box outside to her uncle Asher’s car, which she drove when she was here, as he had his cruiser.

“Why do you love him?”

“He’s funny and always gives me sweets. Plus, he doesn’t ask me loads of questions and constantly remind me of my manners.”

“So basically he’s a kid like you, then?”

“He’s just a good guy,” Ally said.

I know.

She drove to Sawyer and Birdie’s—a container house that her eldest brother had built when he’d come home from LA. Ally called it the hashtag house.

Parking, she got out, and the dogs ran at them. Ted was a blue heeler, and Sylvie a red one.

“Hi,” Birdie said, coming out the front door.

“We’re going to drop some supplies to JD and thought the dogs might like a run.”

“They’d love that. Sawyer’s down there with Mom and Dad.” Birdie pointed to the huge vegetable garden her brother had developed a passion for after he and Birdie became a couple.

Hamish and Meadow McAllister wore bright yellow caftans, and Sawyer wore gray shorts and a T-shirt. She raised her hand, and they all waved back.

“I’ll bring them back soon and stay for coffee, but we’ll do our delivery first. Ready, Ally?”

“Yup.”

They drove with the music on and the dogs wagging their tails in the back seat. Turning into JD’s driveway, Zoe battled the nerves. This was just a delivery. No need to make anything more out of it. Ally was with her.

“You okay, Aunt Zoe?”

“Peachy. You?”

“I was mean to Luka Slatter.”

“Why?” Zoe said as they bumped their way down the gravel road with the dogs hanging out the windows.

She was seeing the scenery in her hometown through Lil’s eyes lately, and she realized it really was a special place to live and something she had always taken for granted. Open spaces and green fields. Wildflowers and trees that were years old and carried a wonderful familiar scent.Home, she thought.

“He pulls my hair in class because he sits behind me, and he looked over my shoulder and tried to cheat on a test.”

“What did you do to him?”

“I told him if he didn’t leave me alone, he was going to be sorry, and he didn’t stop, so I put some earwigs into his lunch box.”

Zoe snorted. “How did that go down?”

“He screamed in front of everyone. I had to get the earwigs out and take them outside, because he was terrified. I felt bad then.” Ally sighed.

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