Page 89 of Ruined
CHAPTER 24
Lucas
The center of the island was quiet. The wind whispered through the trees, and the cool air made it so that I insisted that Nora wear my sweater until we bought one for her in the boutiques. She begrudgingly agreed. After getting her a few new outfits, we found an ice cream shack.
Haley had finished her business with Aldrich, and from the exhaustion in her voice on the phone, I knew that she had succeeded, though we didn’t discuss what that success meant. Shortly after, the pilot notified me that they would be departing soon. Now, we were waiting for my driver to pick her up from the airport and bring her here.
A boy with shaggy dark hair covered by a football-shaped paper hat, about Nora’s age, scooped up my bowl, two scoops of mint chip, and then hers, a waffle cone with two chocolate and another strawberry scoop. The second scoop of chocolate had beenhisdoing, not Nora’s request, though the boy had a hard time sending the clue that he was trying to flirt. Nora stared at him with doey-brown eyes. They were a different color than her sister’s, but the pure expression in them was the same.
Nora looked at the waffle cone, then up at me. “I didn’t order three scoops.”
“He gave it to you on purpose,” I said. The boy’s cheeks turned red.
“On accident,” he tried.
Or not. “Can you take a break?” I asked. Nora pulled the sleeve of my jacket. I knew this might be embarrassing for her, but after the awkwardness passed and the two of them settled into adolescent flirting, she would be happy. “Nora might need help eating that extra scoop.”
Nora bowed her head, bracing herself for the rejection.
“Sure,” the boy said. “I can go on my fifteen.” He put theBe back in a few!sign in front of the cash register and took off his hat. “There’s a bench over there.”
The boy came out of the shack and Nora skipped to him. They sat at a bench and table a few feet away, and I leaned against the outside of one of the shops. Right as I took my first bite, Haley emerged from between the shops. Bags circled her eyes, and she was back in sweatpants, her hair in a curly bun on the top of her head. Green eyes misty and faded. Alarm flashed in her eyes when she saw me alone, but I pointed to Nora.
“She’s over there,” I said. Haley’s eyes found Nora, then she visibly relaxed, her shoulders sinking down. She tilted her head.
“You’re letting her hang out with a boy?” she asked.
“It’s ice cream,” I said.
She shrugged, then eyed the cup I was holding. “What’d you get?”
“Mint chip.” She wrinkled her nose. “I take it you don’t like the flavor.”
“Tastes like toothpaste.” She looked back at Nora, then shrank again. Haley’s stomach gurgled, loud enough that Nora turned to see what the noise was. She waved at Haley, and Haley waved back. “Actually, can I have a bite? I don’t know when I last ate.”
“Do you want another flavor?” I asked. I nodded at the boy. “We can put him back to work.”
“Nah,” she said.
I handed her the bowl. “Finish it off.” She shoveled a large spoonful into her mouth. “We can get lunch. There’s a sandwich shop around the corner.”
Haley shook her head. “Let’s let them talk.”
The two kids were joking now, even pretending to hit each other in the arms, playfully arguing about something we couldn’t hear. Haley sighed deeply. A long, tired sound, a sign that she was finally able to find relief.
But what happened now? What would happen to us?
There were other matters to discuss first. “You want to talk about it?” I asked. She found a nearby recycling and compost bin and tossed the cup and spoon in the appropriate places.
“Aldrich is gone,” she said.
My chin dropped. “You—” I paused. What was the right word to use in public? “You took care of him?”
“Mel did,” she said. “I tried and failed. I’m lucky that she was there.” She paused for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face. Then she added, “It was kind of weird with Mel. She was really mad at me.”
After an act like that, emotions would be extremely chaotic.
“She had just killed someone,” I said. “In defense, but still. A death.”
