Page 47 of Bring me Back
I laughed as Mark patted me on my back. “It’ll go to her head.”
“I always knew I was a genius, darling,” Abby quipped.
I shook my head, chuckling, as Rose asked, “Can I try any of them?”
“Of course,” I assured her. “There’s more over there…” And I put April on the ground to go help my other girl.
I showed Rose all the possibilities, her eyes paying attention like it was the most important decision. Rose finally decided on aStar Trekuniform and April the puffiest pink dress around, and they dragged Mark to take multiple pictures in all the poses they could think of.
“Where is she?” Abby whispered as the pictures were being taken.
“Hmm?” I replied, not taking my eyes off the girls.
“Come on, Dan. Where’s the girl?”
I flashed her an annoyed look, making her laugh. “Hallie. Where’s Hallie?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Dan.” She sighed, rolling her eyes.
Yes, I was going to downplay it as much as I could. I wanted to scan the crowds for a glimpse of a high ponytail, but I wasn’t ready to confess how much Hallie affected me.
Mark and I were just two years apart; Abby was a year younger than him, and Kelly was my age. Abby and Mark started to date when Abby was fifteen, Kelly and I a few months after that.
The four of us were close. We did everything together. Abby and Kelly were best friends practically all their lives. I was the best man, and she was the maid of honor at their wedding. They did the same for us. Kelly and I were Rose’s godparents.
The reality was, I felt guilty for breaking up the group.
Kelly left because I wasn’t a good husband. She left because she thought I didn’t care enough for her and because of me, everyone suffered.
The four of us weren’t planning vacations together anymore. We didn’t bring the girls to the zoo and the planetarium on Saturdays. I fucked up and broke our group.
The rational part of me understood that what we had was gone, but the irrational one? I wanted to show off Hallie and make Mark and Abby like her. I wanted Abby to be her friend. I wanted her to be one of us.
But it wasn’t fair. Hallie was younger and clearly not someone very interested in making tons of friends. She was shy and quiet and completely different from Abby and Kelly, who were loud and unafraid.
Still, I ached for them to love Hallie, but I couldn’t say a word. So I didn’t. I pretended it wasn’t a big deal.
Eventually, Abby let the subject go when the girls were done with the costumes and begged for a snack. The four of them left, and I busied myself with other customers.
I glanced down at my watch to see I had another ten minutes left on my shift when I heard the voice to my side, raising the hairs of my arm. “Tell me we are rich.”
I knew she was at the diner in the morning, but now she smelled like citrus and something girlie. A slow smile came to my lips, and right there, I knew I was going to be garbage at hiding my feelings.
She looked amazing. Mini shorts with golden buttons, a cropped sweater that showed just a sliver of skin. Her hair was down for the first time, shiny and longer than I expected.
Yeah, I wasn’t hiding crap from anyone.
“It’s been busy,” I croaked.
“So, rich?” she joked.
“Super rich, Cricket,” I confirmed, making her giggle.
“Walk me through it.” She requested, coming closer, her nose up, looking at everything.
“You know your costumes,” I said. “Just get the tickets, put them in the locked box and then let the kids play around.”