Page 93 of The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle
He gave her a long look before responding. “Guess we’ll never know, will we?” Then he tipped his head toward the door that led back to the gym. “Come on. We’ll lock up and leave. Before the police get here and arrest us.”
Melody followed behind him, barely able to keep up with his brisk pace. “You’re teasing, right?” She didn’t feel like joking around. Inside, her heart ached. It throbbed like a sore tooth—the kind that kept one awake at night. The bracelet was gone. Her renewed friendship with Liz was strained. And the could-have-been with Christopher would never be because she couldn’t stay in Trove Isle indefinitely. She had to go, and she had to do it now.
To: Bri Johnson
From: Liz Dawson
Subject: Prom night and other natural disasters
Bri,
Don’t ask. It wasn’t as awful as our first prom night, but it wasn’t pretty. The short story is that Melody sold her store and she’s leaving town. We fought, I threw the charm bracelet at her, and we’re probably never going to see each other again. I’m not even exaggerating. It was truly disastrous. I’ll give you the long story next time I see you.
xx,
Liz
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
LIZ
The phone stopped ringing. A moment later, it beeped, signaling that the caller had left a voicemail.
Liz stared at it. She hadn’t checked the last three voicemails from Melody—two on Sunday and one yesterday—and she didn’t plan to check this one either. She was still upset, disappointed, hurt.
Her phone lit up again and started ringing. This time it wasn’t Melody. Instead, it was her mother. Liz quickly picked up her phone and connected the call. “Hello?”
“Lizzie! How are you, mi corazón?”
Mi corazónmeant my heart in Spanish. Her mom had been using that term of endearment for Liz since she was a baby. “I’m good. Are you at the airport?”
“We are. We’ll be home sometime tonight. Tell Rose she can stay in her own room tonight.”
Liz would have thought she’d be jumping for joy at the thought of her little sister returning home. She’d gotten used to having Rose down the hall though, and Liz wasn’t sure she was ready to return to living alone. Her life had twisted and turned upside down this spring. Sometimes returning to normal wasn’t a good thing. “I’ll tell her.”
“I know you’ll be glad to get her out of your hair. Rose can be quite a handful. I really appreciate you allowing her to stay with you while we’ve been away. Thank you, Lizzie.”
“Of course. She’s my sister after all. It’s no big deal.” She swallowed down a thick lump that kept rising in her throat. It’d been there since Saturday night at the prom.
“Maybe you’ll come over this weekend for Sunday dinner,” her mom suggested. “Then you and Rose can tell your dad and me all about everything we missed. And we’ll tell you about our adventures in Ecuador.”
Would that be a good time to also inform her mom that she didn’t want to continue working at The Bitery full-time? “I’d like that.”
“Good. I’ll look forward to it.”
After a quick goodbye, Liz disconnected the call and put her phone back on the counter next to the register. There were a few customers in The Bitery this morning, but it was mostly quiet. Liz was thankful for that.
The bell above the store’s door jingled and Liz looked up at her incoming customer. Her stomach clenched painfully.
“Hey,” Melody said as she drew closer.
“I thought you’d left town by now.”
Melody shook her head. “Without saying goodbye? I wouldn’t do that.”
“You did one time before,” Liz pointed out, avoiding Melody’s gaze. She knew it wasn’t fair to continue throwing the past in Melody’s face. They’d moved past that, or at least, Liz had thought they had. Her hurt feelings had never fully resolved though. They’d just gone into hibernation. “Would you like a coffee or something to eat?” she asked, treating Melody like any other customer.
“Both.” Melody glanced over her shoulder as if checking to make sure there was no one behind her. Then she faced forward.
