Page 30 of The Art of Falling in Love with Your Enemy
Is this Etta being flirty with me? I need to start calling this Etta our Camp Counselor Etta. She’s fiery, and flirty, and a lot of fun.
I cock my head to one side, mimicking her pose. “And what if I am?”
I take a step closer and catch a whiff of flowers. Lavender. My lavender girl.
She giggles as she clears her throat and licks her lips before dragging her eyes to meet mine. “Well.” She holds up her arms, showing me how full they are. “It’s not like I can fight you off, now, is it?”
This game we’re playing is delicious. I’m about to go all in, when someone calls out, “Anyone back here? Hello, Etta?”
Etta all but flings herself out of the pantry. “Oh, hey, Brett. What are you doing here?”
Realizing it’s Lieutenant Brett from Lake Lorelei fire company, I quickly straighten my shirt and make sure it’s tucked in and I’m not looking like I’m a giant mess as I roll out of the pantry…that I was just crammed in with Brett’s boss’s little sister. Man, things can get complicated in a small town.
Seeing some boxes of food on the floor of the pantry, I grab a few things to make it look like I’m supposed to be there.
When I step out of the pantry, Brett’s eyes slam into mine and he cocks his head to one side. Grinning, I hold up a bag of sugar and a tub of…prunes.
“It’s not a party until the prunes come out,” I manage.
“Yeah, that’s just weird, Wright.” Brett looks at me like I’ve got snakes for hair, then his expression changes. He snaps his fingers together. “Oh, that’s right. You guys are here for your team bonding, aren’t you? Sorry to interrupt.”
“It’s fine,” Etta says, leaning against a counter. “What’s up?”
“Well, I’m not sure if you know, but I’ve moved into the small farm on the other side of the Lorelei Woods, so our properties border each other. My alpacas are being delivered in an hour, but we just found a giant hole in the fence.”
“Oh, man,” Etta sympathizes. “That stinks.”
“It does, but luckily when I called Amelia and asked if you guys have any space, she said I could use the fenced area behind Dylan’s cabin.” He looks pleadingly at Etta. “She mentioned the latch was funny but said you’d show me how it works.”
“Totally.” Etta doesn’t need to be asked twice; she’s already one foot out the door. “Follow me.”
“Oh, wow.” Brett’s pinched face softens. “Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would have done with Chewpaca and Tupaca if I didn’t find a place to put them today.”
“Chewpaca…and Tupaca?” Pure joy shines as her smile swings free. “You’re going to need to tell me the story behind those names, Brett.”
Watching Etta and Brett trot away, laughing, I realize I love seeing her smile. I love being the person who makes her smile, and I want to see it more and all the time. It’s like her laugh. It’s a laugh that when I hear it, I’m in on the joke with her. And I don’t feel corny when I think it’s music to my ears, because it really is.
She’s an earthworm, burrowing inside my heart. My little lavender earthworm.
I’m going to need to work on that nickname.
THIRTEEN
Etta
I’ve spent the last couple of hours keeping my eyes on Lucy. I know, I shouldn’t even be feeling like I need to watch her, but I do. I watch her while she watches Zac. It’s becoming a thing.
This morning, we’d handed out blue flags and red flags for them to tie to their clothing so we could separate them into teams. I’d watched Lucy as she sidled up to Zac, holding out her flag and asking him to tie it on her wrist.
Did I roll my eyes so hard it hurt? I did. I wanted to grab her by her ponytail then whisper in her ear, “I’m the one who almost kissed him, not you,Lucy.”
The one good thing to come out of the morning is that my aunt’s next door neighbor called me. Another perk of living in a small town: when you need a lawyer you can find one easily. My brother had recommended I call this person and, luckily for me, John was able to take my case.
Had I glared at Zac the whole time I spoke to John? You bet I did—in between the moments I wasn’t feeling his breath still on my cheek or his lips on the palm of my hand, that is.
Glancing out the giant window that overlooks the lawn all the way to the lakeside, I can see the teams starting to split up. They’ve been outside doing some kind of three-legged-race-relay-tug-of-rope thing, but now I watch as everyone breaks and heads down to the lakeshore taking their brown bag lunches with them, minus Zac. Spotting me at the window, he holds up a finger asking me to wait a sec and sprints my way.
“Here,” he says as he runs inside and grabs a cardboard box by the front door with reams of colored stock paper inside. “I know it’s a literal rainbow in there, but I wanted this to be colorful.”
