“You never said” was all I could manage. “The…the job and”—ew—“dating.”
“Of course I didn’t! You were just a kid, Elle! You’remykid. Those weren’t your burdens to bear. It was bad enough I needed to rely on you to help out with Brad so much and with chores around the house.”
“But…” I gulped, not sure where the lump in my throat had come from or when the tears in my eyes had appeared.
My dad stepped forward and lifted my chin, sighing and giving me a sad, small smile. “You had to grow up so quick after your mom died. I just thought…this summer, why not let you be a kid a little while longer? I didn’t realize Linda being around like this was so upsetting for you. And I’m sorry about that. I should’ve known, bud.”
At least he was back to calling mebud,I thought. He couldn’t be too mad at me anymore for yelling at his new girlfriend.
I sniffled, feeling a couple of tears drop down my face. I ducked my head, trying to wipe them away quickly. “I guess I should’ve said. And I guess I was kind of being a brat.”
“Just a little,” he agreed, pulling a face and making me give a snotty, wobbly laugh before he tugged me into a warm hug, letting me cry a little into his shirt.
And just for a little while, everything seemed okay.
Chapter Thirty-One
Noah didn’t come home to the beach house that night. I was back at work on the morning shift so didn’t get to stick around to see if he’d show up.
I was hoping, though, that by the time I got home things would be back to normal.
Some guy was at the beach house painting the doors. I gave him a polite smile and scooted past to find Amanda in the kitchen, packing some stuff into a box. The place was quiet, which felt unusual—especially after the chaos of yesterday.
“Let me guess,” she said, squinting thoughtfully at me, head cocked to one side. “You’re looking for…Lee?”
“Anyone, really.”
“Master Flynn the younger has thrown a tantrum and left to cool off,” she told me with a helpless shrug. “June sent someone to paint—”
“I kind of noticed. She did mention something about it.”
“—and Lee flipped out when the guy went to paint over some door frame with all your heights marked into it. Which was very cute, to be fair, so I can see why he got so mad. Rachel went with him, but she’s going to see her parents this afternoon. And, uh, Lee said…Hold on, I jotted it down.”
She set aside the brown packing paper she was holding to rummage around the worktops, eventually coming up with a pink Post-it note.
“He said to remind you about the arcade later. Your phone was off.”
“It died midshift.” Which reminded me—I started searching the lounge for a charger. With five of us here, you’d think it’d be easy to lay your hands on an iPhone charger pretty much anywhere, but they always seemed to disappear onus.
I didn’t need the reminder, though. I’d remembered that we’d made plans to go to the arcade today. How could I forget? Our beloved childhoodDDMmachine was being retired tomorrow, and today was our final chance.
“What’re you doing anyway?” I asked her.
“Oh! There’s a ton of plates here. There must be fifty-odd. I was a little too scared to count, to be honest. June said yesterday about needing to empty the place out soon, and I figured we wouldn’t need so many after the big party yesterday. Thought I’d be helpful. Earn my keep, you know!”
I wondered what Lee would say about half the kitchen being emptied out but decided not to stop her. Amanda had a point, and turning down her help when we were finding it so hard to let go of this place felt silly.
Better her than us,I thought.
“And, um…” I put the couch cushion back in place, giving up my hunt for a charger for a moment to look at her. I fiddled with the hem of my shirt. “Did Noah…”
She shook her head.
“Oh. Right.”
“He probably stayed at home last night,” she said. “He’s just…There’s a lot on his mind right now, Elle, that’s all.”
I felt that old, familiar flare of jealousy over how close Amanda was with Noah, but this time with an intensity I hadn’t felt since Thanksgiving. A lot on his mind? If he had a lot on his mind, why didn’t I know about any of it? Did she just mean Levi? And why didsheknow but not me?
