“How many more are there?” I asked, nodding at the clay car.
“Two. One in the sitting room and one on the back porch.”
I finished up my breakfast and made to stand. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
I got to the archway that led into the foyer before I glanced over at her. “You understand why I wanna stay, don’t ya?”
She smiled wryly. “I imagine it has something to do with the young man who visited before any normal young person would be awake, just so he could leave tiny gifts for you all over the house.”
“Yeah, but it also has something to do with the bully that’s taking up half of the guest room upstairs.” I returned her smile. “And the badass boss lady who put him in his place.”
Before I turned away, I could’ve sworn her face turned a little pink.
A stone hexagon was waiting for me on the coffee table in the sitting room. It looked like a coaster made out of smaller hexagons of different shades of yellow. Pointy mountain ranges, wavy prairie lands and striped fields were carved into the tiles at random, giving it a multi-textured surface. Little numbers were etched into the center of each one and painted black, completing the Settlers of Catan board game replica.
I spent a minute or two just running my fingers over it and marveling at Charlie’s talent. How long had it taken him to make this?
It took at least thirty minutes for him to skate over here. He’d gotten here early enough for even Aunt Dinah to be impressed; he must’ve been awake before the sun rose. If he’d slept at all. I pressed the hexagon to my chest as I pictured him tossing and turning in bed, agonizing over what had happened, trying to come up with the best way to apologize.
Ugh, why did he have to be so adorable? He was making it extremely hard to stay mad at him.
I slipped the hefty coaster into my back pocket and crutched over to the back door.
A golden gift box had been left on the porch’s wooden railing. I removed the top and peeked in. Amid the folds of crisp white tissue paper, I found a dark leather strap about two inches wide. A golden star the size of a half dollar was sewed into the bracelet with black string, but it looked like five dots along each point. I brought it to my nose and took a good long whiff. The leather smelled so good, like the inside of a brand-new pair of boots.
I strapped it onto my wrist without preamble, tying and tightening the strings with my teeth. It fit perfectly. I was about to put the lid back on the gift box when another yellow sticky note caught my eye. More of Charlie’s handwriting had me peeling it away from the bottom of the box.
I promised myself a while back that I’d never do anything to jeopardize our friendship, but last night I let my insecurity do the talking and now I’m terrified that I’ve lost my best friend. I really hope I’m wrong. When you’re ready to talk again, I’ll be ready to listen.
His cell phone number was written underneath.
So all it took to finally get his digits was a stupid misunderstanding.
A teardrop landed over the note. I quickly dabbed at the paper to keep the ink from running. I wobbled back into a lawn chair and sat. Once I’d yanked my phone out of my pocket, I put his number into my contacts list.
The door opened behind me. I twisted around to face my mom.
She rushed over to fall into the chair beside me. “Oh, why do you want to stay here, sweetheart? It looks like all this place has given you is pain.” Scowling at my knee brace, she added, “Emotional and physical.”
“Mom, these are happy tears,” I said with a laugh. “My boyfriend is…” I ran my fingers over the star on my new bracelet. “My boyfriend is clueless, grumpy, impatient, insecure, brutally honest, and really only likes four people in this whole city, but he’s also one of the kindest guys I’ve ever met.” I shrugged. “I love him.” I placed a hand over my bum knee. “I’m glad this happened to me; I don’t think Charlie and I would’ve gotten together if it hadn’t.” At my mom’s look of confusion, I added, “He’s the one who found me that day. He called 911.”
My mom pressed her hand against her mouth.
“He’s stuck by my side ever since. I owe him everything.”
She slowly lowered her hand into her lap. “Apparently, so do I. But, Esmer, home is—”
“Home is where I’m happy, safe, loved. Home is here.” I forced myself to look into her face despite the guilt. “I ain’t trading Aunt Dinah and Charlie for Hunter and Marty. Not even if it means living with you again. I’m sorry, but that’s how I feel.”
My mom stared out at the garden for a long time, pressing her lips together and blinking back tears. “It seems I was destined to be abandoned,” she finally whispered.
“Come on, Mom, don’t say that,” I said with a groan.
“First your father, then Robbie, and now you.” The tears finally escaped, falling hard over her plump cheeks. “It’s not fair. I loved them. I love you with all my heart. Isn’t that enough?”
I reached for her hands but she pulled them away. It made my whole body ache.
“Pill-of-a-man that he is, at least Hunter loves me enough to stay,” she said with a sniffle.
I shook my head, latching onto what would probably be my only chance to speak my mind during her visit. “He’ll never leave because he knows nobody else would put up with his bullshit. You gotta prove him wrong, for your own safety and happiness. You deserve so much better than him.”
My mom gave a little scoff but it sounded more sad than sassy. “You already said you’ve made up your
