Page 57 of A Wrench in the Plan
I burst into tears after I apologized.
“Stop it,” he told me, hugging me tighter. “No need for all that. But I did miss the fuck out of you.”
“I missed you too,” I blubbered.
“I’ve been worried about you,” he whispered in my ear before placing a kiss on my hairline.
“I know. I’m sor—”
“Don’t say it again,” he warned playfully.
I sucked in a deep breath and wiped at my eyes.
“Oh gosh! Come in,” I said, seeing Fate still lingering in the doorway. I waved her in with as much excitement as I could muster. “What are y’all doing here?”
“Cheering you up. Duh,” Row said, already digging into one of the pizza boxes. “I mean, I was told we should keep it tame.” She rolled her eyes, but I knew it was all for show. “Elizabeth suggested watching a movie.”
“What would you rather do?” Elizabeth shot back.
“Anything with violence is out,” Evan said to Sparrow, a hint of teasing in his tone.
“Ugh,” Row scoffed. “Fine, movie it is. But if we’re painting nails, I veto any color that will blind me. I’ll never live it down if I walk out of here with yellow or pink nails.” She turned to me. “Your dad may be able to pull it off, but I’m not even going to try.”
I burst into laughter.
“I totally forgot about that,” I said, remembering how we used to have tea parties and Dad would let us paint his nails and do his makeup.
He really was the best dad ever.
“Wait, what?” Ev said, sitting up. “I need to hear this story.”
We filled Evan and Fate in on what it was like growing up around here. I was laughing for the first time in days, and it felt good. We ate. We watched a movie. Sparrow painted her nails blood red— a color that Elizabeth had, not me. Evan snatched up my foot and attempted to paint my toes. He’d picked sky blue. It wasn’t yellow, but it was a beautiful, bright color. I think he knew that I couldn’t go there yet. I wasn’t ready to be the happy, sunshiny me.
“Let me do yours,” I said looking through the bin of polish.
“Something dark and sparkly,” he said, placing his hand on my knee, fingers spread out and waiting.
I’d never seen him with polish, and I suspected he was just doing this to cheer me up. I appreciated it more than I could say. I’d take it off for him before he left if he wanted.
I grabbed the dark green that shimmered purple in the light. I loved this one but had never worn it. I just never felt like it was me. But I had a feeling if anyone could pull it off, it would have been Evan.
“What’s next?” Sparrow asked as the movie ended.
“Another?” Fate asked, looking at me for approval.
“Sure.” I gave a little shrug with my answer. I was feeling tired, but there was a part of me that didn’t want to be alone just yet. Maybe my sister was right. I had to start trying before I fell so far I wouldn’t be able to make it back out.
I must have fallen asleep during the movie. I woke when I felt the bed shift, and saw Evan trying to smoothly get up. The rest of the room was empty and I wondered when everyone had left.
“Stay,” I said, reaching for his hand.
“You sure?” he asked, settling back down beside me.
“Yeah. Please.”
He nervously glanced at the open doorway. With a nod, he put out his arm, a silent invitation for me to curl up on his side, which I gladly took.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I told him.
