Needed her dad.
Zoey shoved her hands in her pockets. “I get that, but?—”
“No. Youdon’tget it.” Amelia’s cheeks flushed pink. “You haven’t been in my shoes.”
“You’re right. I didn’t mean it like that.” Zoey held up both hands, fighting to hold her optimism. Maybe she was just screwing this up as much as Linc. Then an idea struck. “I know it’s different from your situation, but my parents moved across the entire world when I turned eighteen.”
Amelia squinted with suspicion. “How come? Were you that bad of a kid?”
“No. They’re missionaries.”
“So they just left you at the first possible second to go serve God?”
Zoey blinked. “It wasn’t like that.”
But it’d felt like that a little, hadn’t it?
She shook her head, pushing aside the past. She was proud of her parents—and they loved her. They were just…busy. “I’m only saying I know how unsettling all that felt, suddenly taking care of myself and being so responsible for everything. And I was legally an adult.”
Amelia jutted her chin. “So?”
“So…” Zoey held Amelia’s gaze. “I’m trying to say you don’t have to do it alone this time.”
“Well, maybe I want to.” Amelia broke eye contact, jaw clenched, hands fisted. Across the street, joggers ran through the park, while a yoga group stretched under a shade tree. A sprinkler whistled across a nearby yard.
How was life continuing like normal when all three of their worlds had been completely upended? It didn’t seem fair. Then again, neither was the fact that Zoey’s shop had burned down.
She drew a breath. Thankfully, Linc wasn’t catching the brunt of this conversation. Zoey felt better equipped to handle it than Linc right now—he clearly still needed time to process this massive change. Helping Amelia helped her best friend, so it was the least Zoey could do.
Besides, taking care of someone else helped her forget her own dumpster fire of a situation. “I’m sorry. I know you didn’t ask for any of this.”
Amelia rolled in her lower lip, remained silent.
“And I can only imagine how hard it is to trust someone. This happened really fast, didn’t it?”
Silence. Then a small nod.
Zoey hesitated. How much could she say without speaking for Linc? Without committing to too much?
Then she had it.
“Follow me.” Zoey headed toward the park and the gazebo across the street without looking back. Thankfully, Amelia fell into step behind her.
Zoey led her down the path, straight to the lamppost, hers and Linc’s, and turned to face Amelia with a somber expression. She gestured to the post with both arms, like a game show hostess revealing a prize. “Ta-da.”
Amelia huffed. “What? It’s just a light.” She wrinkled her nose. “With a spider web.”
Zoey brushed at the web. “Yes, it is, but it’s more than that. Turns out, you can’t lie if you’re touching this pole.”
“What?” Amelia rolled her eyes. “That’s dumb.”
“You sound like your dad.” Zoey snorted. “But hey, even he believes it.”
The teen’s expression faltered a bit. “He does?”
“Yep.” Zoey nodded. “It’s like the ultimate pinky promise. Lying in this instance would be worse than even, say, lying in court.”
Amelia studied the post, her expression morphing from skeptical to curious. “So why did you bring me here?”
