Page 34 of Hate You Later
“It’s in my backpack.” Lilly rolls her eyes and pulls a black-and-white marbled, sticker-covered helmet from her bag. “You want to borrow this before you give yourself a head injury?”
Sheepishly, I step off the board and hand it back to her.
“How about we buy some ice cream, and I take you back to my place for dinner? There’s someone I want you to meet.”
“Oliver!” Lilly looks excited. “Is it Oliver? OMG, I can’t wait to meet your cat.”
“He’s not my cat,” I say. “I’m just watching him for a friend till she gets settled.”
“Right, sorry,” Lilly corrects herself. “I can’t wait to meet your temporary houseguest. He’s a shelter pet, right?”
She kneels to put the helmet back in her backpack and pauses for a moment, staring across the square toward the Celestial Pets pet shop. Then she cocks her head at me.
“What do you think about the situation with that pet shelter, Hudson? Don’t you think we ought to do something about it?”
“I dunno, kiddo. I spoke to Walker about it, and he seems to think the situation is already being handled by our friends over there.”
“Yeah,” Lilly says doubtfully. “I heard the owner of the pet store decked Bryce last week. Not that he didn’t have it coming.”
“How did you hear that?” I ask.
“Social media.” Lilly rolls her eyes at me like I’m her grandfather. “Heard of it?” Even as she ribs me, Lilly can’t hold back a smile.
“Anyway,” Lilly says, “I’m not so sure how handled the situation really is. I saw this flyer on the door over there.” She takes out her phone and pulls up a photo of the same flyer I’d pocketed in the shop—the one for the masquerade planning committee. I grab the phone and study the photo while she zips up her bag and slings it over her shoulder.
“If they’ve got it so handled, how come they’re planning a fundraiser all of a sudden?”
“Dunno.” I shrug. “It’s not our problem though, Lill.”
“Fine. Maybe it isn’t our problem,” she says, “but it sure as hell is our opportunity!” Lilly reaches into her pocket and tosses another coin in the fountain, waiting expectantly for a moment. “Damn. No luck.”
“What’d you wish for?” I ask.
“I wished that Great-Grandad would pop out and smack you upside the head for not seeing the most obvious solution in the world to our family’s massive PR problem,” she says.
“Which is?” I look from Lilly, to the fountain, to Celestial Pets, and back again. The store is still open, and I wonder if Georgia’s there. I’d love to know what she thought of the coffee. Had I overdone it? I’m dying to stop back in. But it’s probably too soon. Or maybe it’s already too late. It’s only a matter of time till she figures out who I am. I frown.
“Oh my God, Hudson. Are you really that stupid?”
I shake my head at her, distracted and a little frustrated. “Apparently, I am. Enlighten me, please.”
“We get involved with that fundraiser—”
“Not our thing.” I shake my head, interrupting her. “At best, it’s slapping a Band-Aid on things. At worst, it might backfire. Like we’re trying to whitewash the problem. It won’t look sincere. It’ll look like we’re just trying to buy our way out of a PR mess.”
“No, duh.” Lilly shakes her head at me. Impatiently, she spins the wheels of the skateboard under her arm. “Buying our way out would be a total Bryce move. Which is why I’m not suggesting we do that.” She sighs and reaches out a hand for her phone, which I’m still holding. She then enlarges the image on the screen and points at it, holding it up for me to read what she’s pointing at.
“Look here … it says they need a venue.”
“Yeah, so?” I’m still not getting it.
“Who has an entire, big, empty, refurbished warehouse space beneath the lofts they are trying to sell?” Lilly looks truly exasperated now.
“The co-working space isn’t done yet, Lill. It’s bare bones in there still.”
“That makes it even more perfect for an event like this! You can fix the PR problem AND use the op to show off the lofts.” Lilly presses a button and the screen goes black. She drops her phone back into her pocket. “Not to mention that it’s kind of the right thing to do.” She raises her eyebrows reproachfully.
“I don’t know, Lill. You have no idea how much I already have on my plate just trying to get the place habitable.”
