Page 83 of If the Summer Lasted Forever
The “we” in that sentence is her and Jarrett. They are honestly, officially,finallytogether. And with summer drawing to a close, Tanner’s gone—and good riddance. Thomas’s family left yesterday too. I’m not sure if Gia ever won him back or not.
I can’t say that I really care.
“I don’t think so,” I tell her.
She narrows her eyes. “I know you’re still all heartbroken, but you can’t keep moping around all the time.”
Technically, I can.
“Come on. Trenton’s coming too.”
“So?”
She gives me an exasperated look. “Trenton’s fun. You like him.”
“Are you really trying to set me up with your brother?”
Paige makes a horrified face. “Ew—no.I just want you to leave the campground.”
“I’m going to have to pass.”
She points at me as she walks toward the door. “You have one more week to walk around like a zombie, and then I’m staging an intervention.”
“Goodbye, Paige,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“Oh.” She pops her head back in the door. “Dad wants to know if your mom would be willing to take us school shopping again this year?”
Just the thought of my mother makes me clench my teeth.
“Something up with you and your mom?” Paige asks, noticing my expression.
“No, we’re fine,” I lie. “I’ll ask her later.”
“Okay…”
I look up. “I’m fine. We’re fine. Everything’s fine.”
She raises an eyebrow.
I sigh. “Honestly.”
Without further argument, she slips out the door, informing me she’ll call later. I return to the reservation sheet in front of me and answer the phone when it rings.
“Hi, hon,” an elderly female voice greets me. “This is Gretchen at Site Twenty-seven. We’ve noticed that Twenty-nine has been empty for several weeks now, and we were hoping we could switch spots. There’s a lot more afternoon shade over there.”
“Twenty-nine’s not available,” I say rather sharply, and then I soften my tone. “Sorry.”
I know it’s ridiculous, but I can’t bear to see someone else in it. Not yet. Soon Mom or Mark will figure out I’ve been keeping it vacant, and then they’ll make me an appointment with a therapist. But until then, it’s not going to anyone else.
“I’m thinkingabout hiring someone to help in the office when you go back to school,” Mom says as she flips through a stack of mail.
I glance at her and take another bite of cold cereal. She knows how I feel about hiring someone.
“Mark stays too busy, and I’m hoping that I’ll sell more after the art show.”
Things are going well for her. Mr. Albert commissioned five more pieces yesterday.
“Okay,” I finally say.
