Page 33 of The Summer Dare
Her voice fills with genuine concern. “You won’t mind?”
“We’ve got all summer. Go—get some sleep.”
Sloane stands and gives each of us a hug. “Sorry, I was up last night cramming for my final this morning. I’ll see you in the morning. Love you.”
When it’s just Raven and me, I take the time to check in with her. “Are you sure you want to work at the ropes course tomorrow?”
“Yeah. The money’s great and I want to help out.” Then she looks me up and down with care. “Have you been okay being here alone?”
“Yeah, I really have,” I assure her. “I think the most difficult time was when I first arrived. But being here—even without Nana, always brings mepeace, ya know?”
“I swear, the house still smells like her,” Raven muses.
“Well, that’s because she still had a shitload of air fresheners,” I pointedly remind her. “She bought so many; I swear we’ll still be using it when we have kids of our own.”
Raven’s quiet for a long moment as she stares into the purple, orange, and yellow sunset. It’s nearly dark and there’s just a sliver of light left. Between the constant whir of the wind and the beautiful horizon, we sit in silence until the sky turns a dark navy blue against the horizon.
It’s Raven who breaks the silence with a whisper, “I miss her.”
“So do I, Raven. So do I.”
*****
I’m cleaning up the kitchen the next morning when there’s a knock at the door. Sloane’s upstairs sleeping and Raven just left for work. Hoping our unexpected visitor won’t ring the doorbell, I rush to the door.
To my surprise, Ryan’s on the other side with a cup of coffee in one hand and a bouquet of wildflowers in the other. “Hey, I wasn’t expecting you for another hour or so.”
“Hope you don’t mind. I was in the area and couldn’t wait that long to see you.”
Oh, my heart. Could he be any sweeter?
When I hesitate, he misunderstands and quickly says, “Would you rather I come back later?”
“No… not at all. Come in.” Stepping to the side, I make room for him to enter.
“Here, these are for you,” he says, handing me both theflowers and cup in his hand. “It’s an Oregon Chai. That’s what you said you liked yesterday, right?”
My chest tightens as butterflies swarm in my belly at the gesture. “Yeah. You got it right. But you didn’t have to get me one.”
“Well, I know you stayed up late last night visiting with your sisters and I wanted to do something nice for you.”
Looking around the house he asks, “Where are they?”
“Raven’s at work and Sloane’s sleeping,” I reply as I find a vase for the flowers. “I’m fairly certain she’ll sleep until noon. We were up pretty late last night.”
“Why were you up so early then?” he asks, standing at the counter beside me. “You’ve got me trained to be up before eight,” I tease. We have been texting for the past hour, so he shouldn’t be surprised I’m awake.
“Har… Har…” Changing the subject, he asks, “Have you eaten?”
“I’ve had some grapes; does that count?”
Ryan’s dopey grin makes me laugh. “It’s about time I get to treat you to a meal. Grab your things and let’s get going before tourists fill up the town.”
Seeing as it’s nearly nine, I highly doubt that.
“First, let me grab my books I want signed by the authors today.”
Rushing upstairs, I quickly brush my teeth and comb through my hair. Then I grab my tote bag and purse and join Ryan in the kitchen who greets me with a panty-melting smile.
