Page 58 of Suits and Spark Plugs

Connor caught up with our trio as we reached the door, and he held it open for us. I avoided looking right at him but whispered a thanks as I walked through. His body was still warm from the exercise, and a hint of sweat masked by a minty soap smell reached me. It wasn’t unpleasant.

Kelly and I waved to Jake as we chose our own booth and slid in—Kelly next to Scott and me next to Connor. I slid as far in as I could and got out a menu. It was nothing more than habit, as I knew everything there was to order here.

When fellow waitress Jenn came over, she gave us a big grin, her blue eyes sparkling in amusement at seeing us there. “I’m not sure I’d choose to eat here on my day off.”

“It’s worse than that,” I replied. “It’s not my day off. I’ll be having dinner here too.”

We all gave Jenn our orders. I shifted to hand her my menu afterwards and bumped my shoulder against Connor’s. We were sitting close. Closer than I’d expected, and I tried to casually lean sideways against the wall without making it obvious. From here I could pick out all the laugh lines around his eyes and see how his eyelashes were actually a darker shade of brown, not the auburn color they appeared to be.

Conversation flowed into light topics as we waited for our food, but I was having a hard time relaxing into this new strange quartet. The rest of the group seemed to find no awkwardness in it, and I wondered if this wasn’t the first time they’d all hung out. I knew Kelly had become good friends with Connor, so it made sense that Scott would have formed some sort of pal bond with him too. Scott showed no signs of jealousy as Connor and Kelly swapped inside jokes.

Another unexpected memory surfaced of Kelly and me sitting in the lunch room watching Connor at another table with his girlfriend. He’d leaned across the table and taken some of her hair in his hand, winding it around his fingers as they’d talked. The girl had beamed back at him the entire time. Kelly had said something about how smooth he was, and how it would be so easy to believe he meant it.

Our food arrived just as my phone rang. I reached into my purse to see who it was while Jenn set a plate in front of me. I mouthed my thanks to her as I sawMomflash across the screen. Mom rarely called me, so I was quick to answer while the others resumed talking.

“Hey, Mom.”

“I’m so glad you answered, honey.” Mom sounded awful. Her voice was a croaking mess.

“Uh-oh. You sound sick.” My heart dropped.

“Yes. Sadie too. I don’t know what we have, but it’s not good. Are you working?”

“Not until later today.”

I could almost feel her relief through the phone. “Could you please stop by the store and get some things? I’ll text you a list.”

I nodded even though she couldn’t see, and silently bid farewell to my plans to study that day. “You bet.”

“Thank you, Liv. I’m sorry to be a bother.”

“I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

We said our goodbyes, and I tucked my phone back into my pocket. The call had been like dropping a bucket of cold water over the morning. I took a couple of deep breaths and returned to the others.

“I’m so sorry. My mom and sister are really sick and they need me.” I plastered a smile on, but even to me it felt fake.

“Are they actually sick?” Kelly asked. Her tone spoke more than her words did.

“Yeah. Mom sounded really awful on the phone.”

“Okay, but don’t let them run you ragged.”

I wanted so much to give Kelly a hug. I loved that she was so protective of me and that she knew the little things about my life. Funny, how I hadn’t wanted that same level of openness with Blaine. But thoughts of Blaine weren’t welcome, so I shoved them down.

“I won’t. I’ll take my plate to the back and get it in a to-go box.” I looked to Connor, who was already scooting out of the booth to let me and my plate by. “Thanks,” I said to him. “Thanks for a fun morning, Kell. Nice game, guys. I’ll see you all soon.” I smiled at them as a whole and left as quickly as I could.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Mom and Sadie had not been faking. For the next seventy-two hours I was the on-call bucket brigade and Gatorade runner for my family. They managed to survive when I was at work, but school and cleaning the mechanic shop were pushed clear off my schedule. I washed my hands mercilessly, doing my best to avoid getting sick myself. I slept lightly, and some nights not at all as I held back hair, wiped down flushed faces, stripped sheets, and drew baths. Work became my retreat, and it was there that Kelly found me sitting in a booth with my head down on my arms during my lunch break.

“Still pretty rough at your place?” she asked. Light fingers settled on my back and patted gently while I nodded. “Any sign of improvement?”

“No one threw up this morning,” I said into my arms.

“That’s a good sign.”

“Yeah. They seem to be coming out of the forest.”

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