“He doesn’t get this excited for his own birthday,” Rose says as they pile into the living room.
“Where’s Caleb?” Arlo asks.
“He’s on his way. He’s bringing Julie,” I say.
Arlo’s eyebrows jump. “That went fast.”
They met at the Halloween party, which technically means they’ve been together a day longer than Poppy and me. “She seems cool,” I say. “She was at the house last night, hanging out.”
“My boy deserves someone good,” Arlo says. I couldn’t agree more. Caleb is one of the most genuine, generous, and best kinds of people, and he’s been nursing a heartbreak for a couple of years that has left him uninterested in meeting anyone.
“Where’s the birthday girl?” Olivia asks.
“We’re coming!” Rae says, appearing from her bedroom with Poppy at her side, their hands joined. Part of what makes this arrangement both easier and harder is knowing how close the two are. I know Poppy would never do anything to deceive or jeopardize my future because her relationship with Rae is a bond as tightly knit as mine with my roommates. They would do anything for each other, and that ensures my privacy as well as her loyalty, and while I have no intention of taking that for granted and have every intention of returning the same respect, Lincoln’s warning that she will be hurt by the agreement or potentially by Candace leaves the residue of uncertainty as I take her in again.
Luis from our team and his girlfriend Alexis, show up next, closely followed by Tyler and Cooper who are also teammates, and their girlfriends Chloe and Nessie. And Caleb, and Julie arrive minutes later. Before we have time to settle or talk, Lincoln arrives and claps his hands.
“We will have time to hang out later, but right now, we’ve got to get going because we have three hours until we’re meeting up for dinner, and before that, we have a scavenger hunt.”
Poppy and Rae look at each other, and break into wide smiles. When Lincoln asked me to help him plan Rae’s birthday, I was clueless. My sister has never been big on the party scene. She likes small and intimate events and activities where time is spent together. I’d suggested we do another beach cleanup or something that would help the dolphins and whales that she devotes hours of every week to studying and helping, but Lincoln had a better idea in mind.
“Scavenger hunt?” Ian asks.
Lincoln nods. “Couples are the teams. Everyone has the same list of Rae’s favorite things but in a different order, and your objective is to go to those locations. If you pick the right spot, you’ll find a cardboard cutout of Rae’s face with a challenge. You have to take a picture while completing each challenge, and a second picture with the cardboard cutout. Whichever team completes the most tasks before we meet for dinner is the winner.”
“But you know all the stops,” Arlo objects.
Lincoln shakes his head. “I hired a company who asked Rae the questions and compiled the list. I honestly have no idea what the challenges are or where we have to go.”
“Do we get hints?” Poppy asks.
Lincoln pulls out a stack of envelopes. “I’m assuming so, but I don’t know. Each team has its own sealed envelope. I haven’t seen the clues yet.” He disperses the envelopes, passing them to each of the girls. “We meet at seven at Catalina’s, and if you’re late, you’re disqualified.”
“Bloody hell,” Tyler says. “If you have us streaking downtown…” He shakes his head and peers at the envelope Rae’s holding. “This is going to be like our road trip all over again. Is your envelope sealed, or is he pulling my leg?”
Rae hands Tyler the envelope, letting him check it as Lincoln reminds us where we’re meeting.
“Go!” Lincoln yells.
Half of the group scatters toward the door while the other half of us move out to the balcony as Lincoln locks their apartment and we open our respective envelopes.
“I know where we’re going,” Poppy says, grabbing my arm. I follow her, taking her hand when we reach the bottom of the stairs and leading her to my car. I unlock the doors, and she slips into the passenger seat, fastening her seat belt. “We’re going to Pike’s Place,” she says.
“Are you sure?”
She nods. “Positive.”
I don’t question her again. If anyone knows my sister, it’s Poppy.
She reads each of the hints to me as we make the short drive there, writing on the paper when we guess at a few of them.
“I think several of them are here. Do we have to go in order?”
I read over the sheet, skimming through the brief set of rules printed at the top, and shake my head. “I don’t think so.”
She nods. “Come on. The first one is the chocolate store over here. They give tours, and Rae and I have done it like three times.”
We follow the crosswalk, the air thick with humidity, but the weather is holding out for us.
“Come on,” Poppy grips the inside of my arm as we hurry across the street and down the sidewalk. She pulls the door open, and I hold it so she can walk ahead of me. We stop inside, scanning the rectangular-shaped shop, looking for the cardboard cutout.
“There it is,” I say, pointing at a wall that has pictures of cocoa bean plants. “We came here for one of her birthdays,” I say, recalling the tour now that we’re here.
Poppy looks at me, her eyes are bright with enthusiasm for the race. “Her sixteenth,” she says.
“That seems like a lifetime ago.”
She grins. “You hated the white chocolate.”
“It’s not chocolate,” I tell her.
Poppy laughs. “Come on. Let’s see what it says.” She heads across the store, where the cardboard cutout is approximately a foot wide.
“Chocolate was among the most desired foods in Mesoamerica with fermented chocolate beverages that date back to four-fifty BC. It was an energy booster and aphrodisiac with medicinal qualities. Tonight, celebrate the
