Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins

Author:Kristan Higgins [Higgins, Kristan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488029264
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2017-12-31T18:30:00+00:00

15

I woke up late on Friday. Because I had the day off, I didn’t have to rush the party prep.

I had ended up inviting Amelia to the party, too; Gloria told me she didn’t have much of a social life, and my innate sense of Lutheran duty flared. Also, she signed my paychecks. There was that, too.

School was out today because of professional development, so I decided to take Poe for an outing and drove to my mom’s house. After only twenty minutes of cajoling, ordering, begging and bribing, I convinced my precious niece to finally shove her arms into a denim jacket and slump outside with me.

The road that led to our house continued a few hundred feet past it, into the state forest, marked by a sign that lectured on littering and swimming at your own risk. I went around the chain slung across the path, Poe a few paces behind me.

“Where are we even going?” Poe asked.

“It’s a place where your mom and I used to play,” I said.

“Yay,” she muttered.

We walked through the woods on a path springy with pine needles. The wind was gentle today, and the sky was achingly blue. Seagulls squawked overhead, and a crow fluttered from tree to tree, clicking occasionally, as if it wanted to be part of the conversation.

Poe almost walked into a tree, so busy looking at her phone. “There’s no cell service out here,” she said.

“Oh, well.”

“Stupid,” she muttered, shoving her phone back into her pocket.

“How have things been at school?” I asked.

“Fine.”

“Do you and Audrey ever hang out?”

“Not really.”

“Any other friends?”

“Is there a reason to make friends, when I’m going back to Seattle in a couple months?” she asked with exaggerated patience.

“You have a point,” I said. “But it might be nice to have a friend back here. For when you come to visit Gran.” I pushed a tree branch away from my face and held it for Poe. The smell of sea was stronger now. “By the way, I’d love if you came to visit me, too. Anytime. Maybe you’ll want to go to college out here. Boston has a lot of great schools, and so many great restaurants and things to do.” I sounded like a tourism brochure.

“Do you have an apartment?” she asked.

“Not at the moment. My boyfriend and I were living together. But before that, I had a really great place.” Best not to think about that. “Okay, we’re almost there.”

We came out of the woods onto the great golden slabs of rock that made up the shore. The tide was low, and the rocks were dark brown where the water had been just an hour before.

My feet hadn’t forgotten a thing. The cracks where I had to jump, the slanted rock that was perfect for pushing off, the little plateau with the best tide pool. Sure enough, two fiddler crabs were inside, skittering around each other in their own little world. I knew the way as if I’d never left the island.

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