An hour after dawn, he'd shown up with biscuits, orange juice, and a pastry box suspiciously free of dried fruit. Nocranberries. No raisins. And if there were prunes hiding somewhere in the box, I sure as hell hadn't found them.
Then again, it's not like I'd looked. I'd given the pastries half a glance before shutting the box and going about my day.
Unfortunately, this mostly involved staring at the water-stained ceiling while pretending I was done.
Done with Maisie.
Done with the island.
Done with that fucking bet.
I had what? Ten days left? I could bolt now and not break a sweat. I mean, sure I'd get some ribbing, but it would be better thanthis.
There was only one problem.
I didn't want to go.
Talk about messed up.
At the table, Ryder was opening the paper sack. He pulled out a wrapped sandwich, a nice bag of chips, and a big red apple. He held up the apple and said, "What are you? Five?"
I liked apples, as Maisie well knew. She'd once brought me a pear. I hadn't eaten it, and she must've noticed, because that was the last one I'd seen.
She was thoughtful that way – and in a thousand other ways that were quiet and sweet. She wasn't loud or flashy. She was real, with an inner beauty that didn't need sparkle to shine.
Inmybook that was a good thing. Or at least ithadbeen until everything had gone to shit.
To Ryder, I said, "It'syourapple now."
He frowned. "The hell it is." But then, the fucker took a big bite out of it anyway and said mid-chew, "You know, it's not half bad."
For some reason, it pissed me off. "What are you doing here, anyway?"
He took another chomp at the apple. "What do you mean?"
"You're working today, remember?"
"No shit," he said. "I can't believe you talked me into it."
In truth, it hadn't taken much talking. I'd barely had to ask before he'd said yes with minimal grief. But now he washere, leaving Maisie on her own.
I didn't like it."So why aren't you working?"
He grinned. "Lunch."
Inever left the shop for lunch. True, Maisie had told me countless times that I shouldn't feel obligated to eat at the shop. But I'd done so anyway – not because I was bucking for Employee of the Month, but because Ilikedbeing there.
I liked being withher. It didn't matter where. And hey, the shop wasn't half-bad either.
I could see why she liked it.
I liked it, too.
To Ryder, I replied, "And you left her alone?"
"Not alone," he said. "She was with Franny."
"I meantworkingalone," I clarified.
