Page 69 of You Found Me
Della spent most of her time in the living room. The cozy comfort of the space let her pretend everything was normal, and the books were a surprising treasure trove of escapes.
She’d never considered herself a reader. She’d been too busy going from concerts to parties to after-parties to events. She never sat still long enough to sink into anything longer than a magazine article. Now she had all the time in the world, so she selected a romance from the shelf, curled up on the couch, and lost track of time. By the end of the week, she’d read three and started a fourth.
She’d really been missing out. No wonder Piper always had a book queued up on her phone.
A knock on the door frame startled her out of a particularly steamy scene. She hugged the book to her chest like a kid caught in the act. “What?”
Ward leaned against the doorframe. He’d rolled up the sleeves of his dark gray shirt, and there were streaks of dirt onhis jeans. He looked a little more guy-next-door cute and less like a one-man army.
“Tomorrow’s my brother’s birthday.”
“Okay.” She waited for the punchline, but he didn’t seem inclined. “You make that sound like a bad thing.”
“It’s bad timing.” He gave a resigned sigh. “There’s a party. Since we’re in town, my family is expecting us to be there. They’re excited to meet you.”
A cautious smile crept onto her face. The idea of getting out of the house and being with people instantly thrilled her.
At the same time, she felt a stab of fear. The last party she attended had sent a man to the hospital. “Is it a little get-together at their house, or is it a take-over-the-theme-park kind of party?”
“Neither. It’s Mason’s eighteenth, and it’s at my dad’s bar downtown. There’ll be free booze, so…” He shrugged as if that explained everything.
“So the whole town will be there.” She curled her knees up to her chest. “I can see how you’d hate that. You’re such a hermit it would be like torture.”
“What I like or hate isn’t relevant.” He paced across the room to the fireplace, then turned. “It’s a lot of people, which means exposure and an infinite number of ways things could go wrong.”
“A lot of people.” Excitement and anxious dread tied knots in her stomach. She really, really,reallywanted to go. What he saw as a bad idea, she saw as a chance to feel normal. “It’s your brother’s eighteenth birthday. You have to go. But…maybe I should stay home?”
She tried hard to keep the hopeful longing from seeping into her tone.
“No.” It looked like the decision put a bad taste in his mouth. “I’m not leaving you alone, and if we don’t show up together, it’ll cause too many questions.”
She levitated off the couch and clapped her hands together. “Okay. So we’re going to a party. What’s your dad’s place like? What should I wear? I think we need to go shopping. Annie didn’t send me with party clothes.”
Ward’s attention wandered to his phone. “What you have on is fine.”
“It’snotfine.” Della plucked at her shirt. It was plaid flannel which wasnotparty material. “This is a bum-around-the-house outfit, not a go-out-and-be-seen-by-anyone-you-care-about outfit. And there’s no way your actual girlfriend would go to a birthday party for your brother looking like she just spent a month alone in a log cabin.”
“That would blend in around here.”
“I seriously doubt that.” She eyed him with suspicion. “Did you bring your brother a present?”
“I’ll give him cash.”
“Cash,” Della repeated. Was he serious? The blank look on his face said yes, yes he was. “Oh my God. You give your brother cash as a gift? I know I’ve accused you of being a robot, but I didn’t actually think it was true.”
“Every teenager likes cash,” Ward said, sounding perplexed.
She crossed her arms the same way Lizzie did when pointing out the obvious. “A gift should be personal. It shouldmeansomething. It should be wrapped and presented with flair so that the person you’re giving it to knows you thought about them and that youcare.”
“Nothing says care like cash. He can get what he wants with cash.”
“How much cash?” She waved both hands. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. You can’t give your brother pieces of greenpaper for his birthday. Besides, tomorrow’s Sunday. The banks are closed. Do you even have enough cash on you?”
“No. I’ve been focused on something else lately.” He gave her a look that said he thought her priorities were completely out of whack. “I can give it to him later. It won’t matter if he gets it a day or two late.”
She shook her head. “He’s yourbrother. It’s hiseighteenth. You can’t be late and you can’t just shove a wad of twenties at him like he’s a stripper. You have to give him something real. Something he can look at later and think wow, my brother must really love me. Something thatmeanssomething.”
He rubbed his face. “What, exactly, do you think I should give him, and can we find it within a thirty-mile radius in the next hour?”