Page 71 of Meet Me on Lilac Lane

He shrugged before shoveling a handful of fries into his mouth.

She pointed at him. “Don’t think you’re getting away with making that statement and not following up. I’ll wait for you to swallow.” She crossed her arms and sat back. He took a long drink of water, and she raised her eyebrow at him.

“Fine.” He grinned at her and set the cup down. “I never told anyone in my family, and you are totally sworn to secrecy, but I would pick fruity candy over chocolate any day. Maybe it was a byproduct of always having fudge around. Give me Skittles.” He pointed at her with a French fry. “You cannot tell my mom. Or Lily. Or anyone.”

She mimed zipping her lips and then threw the key over her shoulder. “Your secret is safe with me. Hey, remember Gushers?”

“I haven’t thought about those candies for a long time.”

“I used to love those things. Like an explosion in your mouth when you bit down. I don’t think Doug’s sells them anymore.” Huh, when had that happened? It was like a bit of her childhood had disappeared without her noticing.

“Too bad. I bet Finn would love them too.” He crossed his arms and gave her a long look. “Tell me about a time you felt unsafe.”

That was a loaded question. She looked around the plain white walls of the living room as she thought back. “Do you remember our trip to Washington DC in eighth grade?”

“The one we had to sell chocolate bars door to door to raise enough money to go? Of course.” He fake shuddered.

She kept her gaze on her plate. “And we had to pair up with two other kids—our trip buddies?”

“I wish they’d let us choose our partners. You, me, and Troy would have had a blast together. Instead, I had to hang out with Lily and one of her friends.” He rolled his eyes.

“I got stuck with two ninth graders. We got separated and I got lost. I ran around trying to find them, but I finally had to figure it out by myself.” She paused. “Anyway, I took care of myself and found an adult. They had a cell phone, but as they were calling our group leader, I spotted your neon green backpack.”

He popped a fry into his mouth. “I don’t remember this at all.”

“That’s probably because you only had eyes for Lisa Miller.” She took a big bite of her burger.

“I never?—”

She held up a hand. “Don’t deny it. You picked her as your lab partner every time.” The music changed to a rock ballad.

“Only because you and Troy always picked each other.” He pointed a fry at her.

“Only because the teachers would never let us have three in a group.” She countered.

“What happened to the ninth graders?”

“They denied that they had ditched me. Said it was my fault.” She shrugged.

“I’m sorry that happened.”

“It was a long time ago. Anyway, I’m glad you had such a bright backpack.” Huh. She hadn’t remembered that before. Cody had always been there for her even when he hadn’t meant to be. It was just how their relationship had always been.

And she’d taken it for granted. Takenhimfor granted.

Cody stood. “Wanna take a walk? I have a surprise for you.”

“Oh! I love surprises.” He held out a hand and helped her up, his palm warming her fingers.

Cody led her out through a door in the kitchen to the backyard. Outside, Mia threaded her arm through Cody’s. The sun was sinking in the sky, painting the scattered clouds pink and golden.

Mia gasped. Set up in the backyard were two makeshift easels with a posterboard on each. She looked up to see Cody smiling at her.

“I thought we could do some painting,” he said. “I know these aren’t high quality supplies, but they were the best I could do on short notice—they didn’t have much selection at Doug’s Market.”

“This is amazing, Cody. Thank you.” A warmth spread through Mia. “Look at how the sunset is making that birch tree look like it’s lit from inside.”

“Lead the way, Madame Monet. Let’s get that tree on paper.”

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