Page 99 of Let Me Be the One
“Seriously?” Callie joined her in the mud. “I didn’t know if anyone around here had caught my channel yet.”
“You have a lot of followers. You don’t check it?”
“A little here and there, when I have time. My cousin,Glory, edits and uploads the vids for me.” Oh, how she missed Glory.
“There are a lot of girls at the home—you know, where I’m staying right now? It’s like a halfway house. Whatever.” Nell skipped right past that. “We watch you.”
“I had no idea.” Callie’s thoughts scrambled as she tried to remember the various episodes. Had she been appropriate for teenage girls? God, she hoped so. Until this very moment, she hadn’t given a lot of thought for her audience. “I mostly record stuff because it’s… I don’t know. Cathartic for me.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It’s a way for me to express myself and shake off some tension.” It was nice to have another girl to talk to, especially with Glory away. “Moving here, uprooting my life, trying something new. It’s all different for me and I could so easily get overwhelmed.” More often than not, shewasoverwhelmed. But she was twenty-eight years old and she had options open to her.
Nell was only sixteen and her choices were limited. Callie had no idea what it might be like to live in a group home, but if her silly videos helped to entertain the girls, well then, she was honored. “I record the stuff I’m struggling with. When I’m laughing at the camera and admitting how bad I am at learning new things, it somehow makes it easier.”
“Huh. I didn’t know that.”
“Boring, right?”
“No, I think it’s interesting. Right now, I’m sharing a bedroom with three other girls. We watch you together at night when we’re supposed to be sleeping.”
Callie barely withheld her wince. Four girls to a room? “You’re all friends?”
“We were strangers at first but we’re friendlier now.” Nell was matter-of-fact about it. “You know our favorite episode? You did that thing with your hair once and everyone loved it.”
“Thing with my hair?”
“Yeah, when you were working in the garden. It was like you just… I don’t know.” Nell put her own hands in her hair and gathered it to the top of her head. The silky hanks immediately fell loose again. “You twisted it up somehow, but it looked awesome. We all said so.”
Flushing with pleasure, Callie smiled. “Really?” Only half-jokingly, she said, “Maybe I should do more hair videos.”
“That’d be great. I’d love to see them.” Giving the goat a hug, Nell said, “They’re all fine. No injuries that I can find.”
“Wonderful news. Thank you.” Though she’d already suspected as much given how easily the goats had moved around, Callie still said, “You’ve put my mind at ease.” Together they stood and, almost at the same time, they each glanced at their backsides—and then laughed. “Luckily, with the sun, it isn’t as bad now as it was this morning. When I first got up the yard was a swamp. If I’d sat down I might have sunk to my chin.”
“The whole town is muddy right now. I can’t wait for summer.”
Would she still be in the home then? It saddened Callie a lot. Girls her age should be cherished, encouraged. Loved and protected by their families. Knowing Nell didn’t have that made Callie want to hold her close andpromise her the world. “So,” she said, trying to sound lighthearted. “How much do I owe you?”
Startled, Nell laughed and said, “Nothing.”
“Oh, no way. I have to pay you, otherwise I won’t be able to ask you for help again if anything else happens and I’d really like to know that I could call on you if necessary.”
“Yeah, I’d like that, too.”
“Then…how much?”
“I guess… Whatever you want to pay is fine.”
Callie smiled at that offer. She’d make it well worth Nell’s effort. “Deal.”
As they started in, Nell stared at the house. “Do you think Liam is still here?”
“He should be.” In a friendly gesture, she nudged Nell. “You two already know each other?”
“Sure. It’s a small town.” Without being asked, Nell added, “Liam has big goals. He doesn’t waste time on girls.”
Callie didn’t mean to, but she snorted.
