Page 224 of Things We Hide from the Light
Naomi chewed on her lower lip. “But you didn’t even read the names. What if someone needs to sit closer to the restroom, or what if they don’t get along with their table mates? We can’t just make big decisions like this on a whim.”
I reached out and squeezed her hand. “Actually, you can.”
“What about the tablescapes?” she asked.
“Naomi, it’s always been the daisies,” I told her.
She bit her lip and stared at the photo for a long moment and then her eyes started to sparkle. “It has, hasn’t it?”
I nodded. “Sometimes you don’t have to weigh every single pro and con. Sometimes the answer is the one that just feels right.”
I wasn’t sure if I was telling her that or myself.
She pursed her lips, then grinned. “We’re going with the daisies.”
Naomi’s mother clapped her hands. “Okay, people. We need wine, snacks, face masks, and one to two romantic comedies.”
“On snack and wine duty,” I volunteered.
“If you’re getting snacks, I’m coming with you,” Waylay insisted.
“If you’re getting wine, I’m coming,” Liza J announced.
“Team Shopping reporting for duty,” I said.
“Perfect,” Naomi’s mom said. “Sloane, you can help me turn the living room into sleepover central. We need all the pillows and blankets that don’t belong to dogs.”
“What should I do?” Naomi asked.
“You should drink a large glass of wine and review your packing list for the honeymoon.” I nudged the pink notebook titled Honeymoon on the coffee table in her direction.
“I don’t thinkGrover’s sells candy penises, Liza J,” I said, grabbing a shopping cart as we entered the freshly painted grocery store. It was late, minutes from closing, and the parking lot was almost empty.
“Ew! I thought we were coming here for snacks,” Waylay complained.
“Gummy penisesaresnacks,” Nash’s grandmother said.
“Hey, at least I didn’t say broccoli florets,” I told the girl.
“Aunt Naomi made me eat beets last night at dinner,” Waylay said with a shudder. “Beets!”
“Well, there won’t be any beets tonight,” I promised, heading for the candy aisle. “Have at it.”
Waylay’s face lit up and she started tossing bags of candy into the cart. “We’ll get snack cakes for Grandma, and Sloane likes Sour Patch Kids.”
“I’ll go ask where they keep the penises,” Liza J said and ambled off.
“Oooh! These are good. You ever have them?” She handed me a bag of individually wrapped brightly colored discs.
“Sunkist Fruit Gems,” I read out loud. I’d never had them, but they looked vaguely familiar.
“Yeah. Gettin’ kidnapped wasn’t all bad. These are the candy things that Hugo guy was obsessed with. He musta ate half a bag before my mom came back with Aunt Naomi. There were wrappers everywhere. He let me have some. The yellow are my favorite.”
It all coalesced in my head in an instant. I knew where I’d seen this candy before and I knew who bought it.
I patted my pockets and dug out my phone.
“What’s wrong? You look all hyper. You’re not gonna call Aunt Naomi and ask her how many bags we can buy, are you?”
