Page 86 of Keepsake
“Hi there,” I said, straightening up, trying to be polite. “You’re home for the weekend?” I hadn’t seen her since Labor Day.
She didn’t answer the question. She just looked between Lark and me, and then back again. I took a half step backward and waited for Daphne to say something. Instead, her eyes got wet. Then she spun around and ran away.
“Shit,” Lark whispered beside me.
I just stood there staring after the younger Shipley daughter, addled by both confusion and a fever. “What the hell did I say?”
“It’s not that.” Lark put a hand to my back. “Have a seat in the dining room, okay? Can you eat?”
“Not really hungry.”
“You? That’s it. I’m calling the paramedics. Did I mention there’s bacon?”
“Oh. Well, I suppose I could eat.” No flu was terrible enough to put me off a few strips of bacon.
She laughed. “Go sit. Coffee?”
“Always.”
I sank into a dining chair, feeling miserable. Lark brought me a plate a minute later. She’d saved me a slice of quiche and several strips of bacon. There was coffee and a big glass of ice water, and two Advil tablets.
I picked up my fork and did my best. “What do you think that was all about in there?” I asked Lark, thinking of Daphne’s quick exit.
She gave me a sad smile. “Wow. Thank you for demonstrating that even you can be clueless.”
“Even me? Especially me.”
She shook her head. “You are anything but clueless, except when it comes to teenage girls who are in love with you. She’s got it bad.”
I set down my fork, feeling ill all of a sudden. “No. That’s just Griff’s joke.”
“Not so much.”
“But Daphne’s just a kid.”
“She isn’t. Not anymore. And even kids can fall hard. I thought I’d die when my tenth-grade biology teacher got engaged.”
My head swam as I tried to make sense of what she was telling me. “I don’t know what to say.”Or think. Daphne was a great girl. But she was Griff’s little sister. I never looked at either of the Shipley girls that way. That would just be weird.
Lark pushed the medicine closer to me. “Take this before you give up on breakfast. And don’t feel bad. You’re pretty irresistible. Ask anyone.”
I rolled my eyes at her, because that was just ridiculous. But I took the medicine like she told me to.
24
Lark
After breakfast, Zach went out to find Griffin and offer his services. But the moment the back door closed, I texted Griffin.Don’t let Z do anything strenuous. He has a fever.
His reply:Got it Wild Child. Don’t worry.
I probably would, though.
The Shipleys had known Zach longer than I had, and they obviously cared about him. But I saw the way he always jumped out of his chair the minute there was any work that needed doing. He always put everyone else’s needs before his own. And while I had no doubt that it was mostly due to his lovely character, there was something more at stake.
I worried that he wascompelledto give so much because he was still afraid. Of abandonment. And that was no way to live.
May entered the kitchen just as I was washing lettuce for a lunchtime salad. I’d offered to do some prep work for Ruth. “How are sales?” I asked my friend.
