Page 69 of Lucy Loves Him Not
Mom and Olivia both called, and the three of us had a group call situation going on for a while as I worked in the kitchen. We decided that Adam and I would stay here until tomorrow and Olivia would come for a few days since her schedule was “wideopen”, as she put it. Mom would arrive by the end of the week, cutting her trip a little early. She sounded quite relieved to get out of backpacking.
“So, Adam drove you there, huh?” Olivia said near the end of the call. I clicked the volume lower on my phone.
"Mhmmm,” I hummed, busying myself with a bowl of apples on the counter with my phone wedged against my cheek.
“Gracie texted me a picture of the bear he picked out for her,” Olivia said. “She said she’s named himAdam Jr.”
“He got her a bear?” my mom asked as if this was the sweetest thing she’d ever heard. “I didn’t get a picture. I hate being out in the wilderness. I’m getting zero reception.”
“Adam is pleased about Adam Jr.’s name,” I said. Adam glanced over at me with a coy grin from his place on the futon.
“Annoying Adam is not so annoying, now, is he?” Olivia sang.
“Ihaven’t been able to sleep all summer…and now, I feel like my whole body can finally relax,” Gracie said from her cushy bed while I switched her ice pack.
“It just took immobility, huh?” I joked.
“It just took my big sister,” she said sleepily. I wished I could wrap my little sister up in a warm blanket and protect her from the world—from herself.
“Dinner is ready!” Adam shouted from the kitchen.
“He made dinner?” Gracie asked, scooting up in her bed.
“He made chicken soup. He googled a recipe while you were asleep and ran out to get all the ingredients,” I said in a hushed voice.
Gracie put her hand to her heart. “He’s a smitten kitten, isn’t he?”
I kept my voice low. “He’s just like this. He’s very?—”
“Adorable. He’s Adorable Adam,” Gracie said matter-of-factly. “Annoying Adam no more. He’sAdorable Adam–buyer of teddy bears and maker of soup from here on out.”
As if on cue, in walked Adam, the same cheese board from earlier now holding a bowl of homemade chicken soup and a slice of buttered sourdough bread.
“You know, I thought chicken soup was for colds.” Gracie giggled as he set her dinner on her lap.
“Now it’s for sprained ankles, too,” I said, trying not to melt straight into the carpet as Adam set dinner up for my injured sister. He dropped a straw into her glass of water.
“I also read that chamomile tea could help with her nerves and I know you’re stressed,” Adam offered. “After dinner, I could brew you a cup?”
Gracie shot me a swoony look before answering Adam. “Tea after dinner soundsperfect.”
Gracie fell fast asleep after her mug of tea. Adam and I cleaned the kitchen, discussingLittle Womenthe book versus the latest film adaption.
After the kitchen was clean, Adam and I stood facing each other in the living room.What now?Hanging between us like the moon in the night sky.
“I saw a pool outside,” I said, not even realizing I had noticed it until I said it.
“I didn’t bring any swim trunks. I guess neither of us brought anything,” Adam said, then he grabbed my hand, rubbing my knuckles gently. “We could go dangle our feet? Talk?”
Talk.My heart leaped in my chest. “That sounds really nice.”
I left a note written in Sharpie on Gracie’s nightstand.
Out by the pool. Be back soon. Text if you need me.
Twenty-Five
The sky was indigo on the late June night, the pool was warm from the summer sun, and we could hear people around the complex and crickets chirping in the grass.
