Page 56 of Fracture

“I’ll see you later.”

“If that’s what you want.”

“It is,” she said. She moved toward him like she was going to touch him, but she stopped. She shook her head once, then turned and went to the door.

“What was that about?” Karli whispered as the door closed.

“I wish I knew,” Lorelei answered.

That makes two of us.

13

Lorelei’s mind stayed on Vinnie all through dinner. It was supposed to be a fun night with her cousin and friends, but all she wanted to do was talk to Vinnie. To find out why he was upset. To fix it.

“Do you want this?” Karli asked, dragging Lorelei back to the conversation around them.

Lorelei shook her head, not caring about the last egg roll on the plate in front of her. She wasn’t really hungry. Not after walking away from Vinnie.

“Are you worried about Vinnie?” Karli asked.

Lorelei forced a smile to her lips and shook her head again. Pretend, pretend, pretend. “No. I’m sure it’s just something with work. It’s fine.”

“It’ll be fine. And if it’s not, you can just move in with Cade and me.”

Lorelei smiled. She had the urge to tell Karli to quit pushing. She didn’t want to move in with Karli and Cade. She wanted to be with Vinnie.

But if Vinnie didn’t want her there, Lorelei needed another place to go. She couldn’t isolate herself from the people who cared about her. Even if she didn’t remember them.

Karli wrapped her arm around Lorelei’s shoulders and hugged her tight. “I’m so happy you’re here, cuz,” Karli said.

Two young girls in matching jean overalls. Curly black hair in braids. Blue beads on the ends. Red shirts, white shoes, sparklers in their hands. They laughed together, spinning in circles until the sparklers went out and they collapsed together.

“I’m so happy you’re here, cuz,” young Karli said. She threw her arms around young Lorelei.

“Me, too.”

“July Fourth,” Lorelei whispered.

“What?” Karli asked.

“July Fourth. We were in matching outfits and playing with sparklers. There was a big white house and adults around a fire pit. Water. Maybe a beach? Is that real?” Lorelei looked up at Karli and found tears rolling down her cousin’s face.

“You remember that?” Karli whispered.

Lorelei nodded. “You said I’m so happy you’re here, cuz, and the memory popped up. It is a memory, right? We were young, eight or nine?”

“Yeah. The whole family rented a house for the July Fourth week. We shared a room and insisted on matching outfits for the holiday. Your mom did our braids. We loved to swing them and make the beads clack together.”

“I remember that.”

“You do?” Adam asked.

Lorelei nodded, feeling a piece of herself snap into place. It was the first memory that didn’t terrify her. The first one that wasn’t about her being attacked.

“That’s amazing, Lorelei,” Raina said, reaching for Lorelei’s hand.

Lorelei sat with the memory, trying to conjure up more. She couldn’t see her mom or remember swinging their hair, but laughing with Karli was solid.