Page 48 of One Small Spark
Fran: Maybe you should message him and find out
Fran: So we don’t have duplicates
Wren: I’ll be okay if people bring the same kind of treat
Fran: You could always go in together on a dessert. We wouldn’t mind
Fran: Maybe something with chocolate kisses,hmm?
Not half an hour later, my phone’s shimmying in my pocket again.
Ada: My son’s house is on a gravel road
Ada: Will your car be able to handle that okay?
Ada: You can always carpool with someone who has a sturdier vehicle if you need to
Wren: My car won’t fall apart on a gravel road
Ada: We don’t have to make that common knowledge
Ada: I can ask around for a ride for you
Wren: I promise you, I can drive it just fine
“These ladies are a menace.” I hitSendand stuff my phone back in my pocket.
“Did you find people who match your energy?” Tess walks into the front of the bakery with a tray of pies to refill the refrigerated case. She’s gradually shifting her hours to mid-days to accommodate her custom cake orders, but she still works out here with the pie peons part-time.
“Har har. I’m not this bad.”
She shoots me an incredulous look. Well-deserved, too, but I don’t have to acknowledge it. Or that I have a shirt withCertified Menacewritten in glitter tucked away in my closet.
“It’s sweet that they keep in touch between meetings.”
“Oh, Tess, you innocent flower. ‘Sweet’ is not the word for it. They’re casually leaving spoilers in the chat every other day, and I haven’t even found a copy of the book yet. Now, they’re planning a movie night for this weekend and practically beggingme to bring more pies. Next, they’ll want to have a spa day together.”
I wouldn’t hate that plan, actually. A spa day sounds kind of nice.
“A movie night, huh?” The tiniest smile curls along Tess’s mouth. “Is everyone included in that invitation?”
I help her slide pies into the case. “Don’t give me that look. Yes, everyone’s invited. Yes, we’re all going. It’s no big deal.”
We’re just going to watch a romantic movie that may or may not include a hand flex. There’s nothing to get worked up about. As I keep telling my frantic little heart every time it flutters around in my chest.
After we restock the case for the afternoon, Tess leans a hip against the counter, watching me like a detective looking for clues. “Are you going to keep pretending that what Charlie told us the other night doesn’t mean anything?”
“I never said that.” Sure, I left at the same time Charlie did to avoid this very conversation, but I didn’tsayit didn’t mean something. I’ve been careful not to say anything to Tess about it at all.
I haven’t confided what I’ve done with Callahan to my sister. Not on any level. She doesn’t know about that brain-melting kiss in the alley, or my misguided revenge date, or the way I sought him out at his cabin. I didn’t tell her about his dinner invitation or that I stayed and manhandled his arms as I committed his tattoos to memory.
I didn’t tell her how he’s honored the people he loves in beautiful scenes up and down his arms, or how that glimpse into his heart made mine go as soft as a marshmallow over high heat. I for sure didn’t tell her about the little bird he’s got tucked away among the trees. I’m trying to block that one from my mind. It won’t budge, though. It’s right there in my head every time I close my eyes.
It can’t be what it looked like. There was probably a special on fat little birds at the tattoo studio that day. It doesn’t mean anything. He just happened to get a random bird on the second-most painful spot on his arm. Nothing to see here.
“Shepherd was protecting you, Wren.” She drops her voice as if this is a Very Important Observation. “He didn’t betray you.”
“I connected those dots, too.” And promptly had a nervous breakdown about it, thank you.
