Page 65 of The Season
Lily opens her mouth to speak, but Eddie quickly interrupts. “It doesn’t matter what she wants. She can barely walk, since apparently she insisted on starving herself all day. She’s not driving.”
“I… I can drive,” Lily retorts, her cheeks flushing as she frowns at Eddie’s back. “I’m honestly fine…”
But she doesn’t look fine, and when she goes to step toward the car, she stumbles forward. Liam’s there, gripping her arm to keep her upright.
“I don’t mind driving,” I say, holding my hand out for the keys. “Lil, hon, you hop in the back seat. Matty, front seat.” Because that’s the only place he’ll reasonably fit in Lily’s tiny car.
“Isn’t it illegal to have that many people in the back seat?” Antoine dutifully points out, looking between Liam, Eddie, Lily, and himself.
Eddie snorts. “Only if you get caught. One of us just needs to lie down across everyone’s laps.” He holds out his hands, palms facing outward. “Not me, by the way. I might be short but I’m not sitting on you guys’ laps. Just so we’re clear.”
Liam huffs, and as if on cue, Antoine, Eddie, and Liam turn to look at Lily expectantly.
“Fine,” Lily grumbles. “But if we get pulled over, I’m not paying for the ticket.”
The drive back is tense, filled with the deafening silence of people refusing to speak to each other. Beside me, Matty’s shoulders are stiff, his knuckles white where they rest on his knees. Antoine and Liam sit at opposite ends of the back seat, with Eddie squashed in the middle and Lily sprawled out across the three of them, her head on Antoine’s lap.
“I was thinking of stopping by the Christian Center on the way home,” I say, in part to break the silence, but also because I’ve spent the last few minutes thinking.
Over the past two weeks, I’ve been watching what Lily eats—watching her try to make every last scrap of food last, seeing the flash of gratitude and relief every time I cook for her, watching her eye Liam’s gourmet meals with envy. Liam’s comment about her not eating enough for lunch has strengthened my suspicions—Lily can’t afford food.
Honestly, it’s not surprising. Most of us are one or two paychecks away from hunger as well, and Lily is new. She’s probably living off savings, holding out for her first paycheck, which will be weeks away.
“The… what?” Lily asks, her voice strained.
I grin, flicking my gaze to the rearview mirror, and catch Liam’s eye. He gives me an approving nod, and I continue.
“The Christian Center is like a food bank for seasonal workers,” I explain. It’s also one of the town’s best-kept secrets—a resource that isn’t really advertised, but everyone who has done a season here knows about it. “A bunch of the locals get together, donate food and furniture and stuff to keep the rest of us going.”
“A food bank.” Lily sounds skeptical. I don’t blame her.
She’s probably never had to rely on charity before. By the sounds of things, she’s had an upbringing similar to Antoine and Liam, with private school and expensive family holidays… and all the weight of parental expectations.
“Kind of,” I say, hoping to play that aspect of things down as much as possible. “Except it’s aimed at instructors, lifties, all the people who work at the mountain.” Because the locals know we can’t afford to pay resort prices on minimum wage. “It’s got a community center thing too, and they do dinners once a week, prize draws. That’s how we got our couch and dining table, actually.”
Eddie clears his throat, brown eyes sparkling and dimples showing as he flashes me a knowing grin from the back seat. “That’s a good idea, mate. I’m keen for some extra food. It’s a bit skint at the moment until payday.”
“Oh.” Lily is silent for a long moment, but hunger must win out, because she eventually says: “Yah, okay. Let’s check it out.”
* * *
I smilein satisfaction at the paper bags on the kitchen counter, filled to the brim with groceries.
Groceries that will be used to make dinner for all of us for the next couple weeks—a dinner where we sit and eat together, like a family. Lunches for Lily too, if she’ll let me make them.
“You… uh, want help with making dinner?” Lily asks, eyeing the bags of food with trepidation.
Her hair is wet from her shower, leaving damp spots on a worn T-shirt that exposes her midriff. Bare feet toe the linoleum floor as she thrusts her hands into the pockets of worn gray sweatpants.
“You like cooking?” I ask in reply, bending to unpack the bags in an effort to hide the triumphant grin threatening to crack my lips.
Lily has been avoiding us for the past couple days—wearing her earbuds in the kitchen, hiding out in her room as much as possible, staring at her phone every chance she gets. At first, I let it go. Figured she was probably embarrassed about kissing Eddie, and then Matty had made his early morning declaration of… well, not quite love, but feelings that weren’t far off from that.
But she hasn’t just been avoiding Eddie and Matty, it’s been the rest of us too.
Having Lily out here, speaking to me, offering to help with dinner—it feels like a win. Itisa win.
“It’s okay,” Lily replies. “I mean, I can cook. It’s not my favorite thing in the world, but it’s okay. I… I wouldn’t mind hanging out with you though.”
