She sighed and glanced at my dad, who narrowed his eyes at me in warning. His glare said “Don’t upset your mother or else.” I knew better than to ignore it, so I turned my eyes back to the clear ocean water and brooded in silence.
“We talked about this, Hudson. Your mother and I bought this house because we wanted to enjoy it as a family.”
I didn’t have a clue why my mom and dad wanted a vacation house in the south of France. But Grace had been all dreamy over the idea, and I would have been more than happy to come here if she’d come along.
“It’s not like Grace is there,” he said with a knowing smile. “Jonah and his family are in Greece for his sister’s wedding.”
As if I hadn’t known that. Gracie had asked me to come, but my parents had already booked our family vacation when Mallory announced the date of her wedding.
And since my mom wanted a “family” vacation, there was no talking my dad into allowing me to skip it. We’d been at the beach house for four days, and I’d hated every second of it. Except for the few times Gracie and I had been able to catch each other on the phone.
“Hudson! Come throw the Frisbee with me!” My eight-year-old brother, Archer, waved at me from the edge of the water. I looked around and saw that our eldest brother—two years older than me—Everett, was nowhere to be found. Probably off trying to impress some girl.
He’d promised to play with Archer, and I didn’t want him to be disappointed, so I climbed off the lounger and removed my shirt and sandals. Then I jogged out to where my youngest sibling was dancing around in the waves excitedly.
After dinner that night, I grabbed my e-reader, moseyed out back, and plopped into the large hammock swinging in the breeze. Gracie hadn’t picked up when I called, so I did the next best thing. I opened up the book she was currently reading and dived into the same world, kinda like that song about being under the same moon.
The first time Gracie and I had been forced to spend a vacation away from each other, she’d finally convinced me to try one of her books, insisting that we could meet in our imaginations. She had great taste because I found myself hooked after one book. I only read them to be close to her and so we could have fun talking about them, but I somehow always ended up really enjoying them.
“Spoiler alert. His brother isn’t dead. He’s with the DOD.”
I jumped at the unexpected voice, capsizing the hammock so it dumped me out on the wooden planks below it. “Ouch! Fuck!”
“Ooooh, if your mom heard your mouth…”
I didn’t believe the voice talking to me was real at first. Then I got my bearings and looked up to see Gracie standing over me with a big, shit-eating grin and laughing blue eyes.
“Hi!” she said as she gave a little wave and bounced on her toes.
I scrambled to my feet and returned her huge grin. “What are you doing here?”
“The wedding only went until yesterday, so my mom and dad made plans with yours for me to surprise you! I’m going to spend the rest of the vacation with you!”
I didn’t know what to say. I’d been feeling a lot of weird emotions and stuff around Gracie lately. Definitely happy, but the other stuff was new and...super strange.
“That’s awesome!” I pulled her in for a hug, and a strange warmth spread through my body. See? Weird.
Then her first words hit me. “What the hell, Gracie! I haven’t read that part yet.”
She laughed and shrugged, completely unrepentant. “Hurry it up. I want to read about them falling in love, and you’re soooooo slow…”
I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head with a disappointed frown. “You’re such a girl.”
Gracie rolled her eyes. “You’re such a boy.”
We stood there for a minute, just smiling at each other...until it became a little awkward. I wondered if she’d been experiencing any of the same feelings as me but was too chicken to ask.
“Want to read some more?” I finally asked, gesturing to the twisted hammock.
“Sure.” She ran inside while I righted the bed of thick ropes and settled myself in it just as she ran back out, e-reader in hand. She handed me the device, then pulled a hair band from her wrist and put her long, auburn curls into a...I thought she called it a messy bun.
Once that task was accomplished, she carefully climbed in and laid back with her head at the opposite end of mine. Our sizes were so vastly different that her head was at my shin, while her feet rested beside my shoulder.
Even at twelve, it was clear that I’d grow up to look like my dad—tall with a big frame, dark hair, and gray eyes. Whereas Gracie looked like her mom—short, like a little pixie, with pretty blue eyes. Her size just made me want to protect her even more.
Gracie held out her hand, and I placed her reader in it. Then we both scooted around until we were comfortable and started to read.
I didn’t have a clue when we fell asleep, but apparently, my parents had decided not to wake us. Gracie looked peaceful as she slept, so I grabbed her foot and tickled it, startling her hard enough that she flailed and we both ended up on the ground. We laughed hysterically, not bothering to get up. And when we were done, we stayed sprawled out on the deck and I reached out to grasp her hand.
“I’m glad you’re here, Gracie.”
“I know,” she sassed. “Life is no fun without me.”
Life isn’t worth living without you.
* * *
14 years old
“Get the fuck away from her,” I snarled as I approached Gracie’s locker.
Justin, a varsity football player and
