Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 117201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Chapter Twenty-Two
The following evening, Tallulah sat on Chloe’s couch, staring through gritty eyes at her friend over the mug of her hot chocolate, her chest churned up and raw. Last night, she’d arrived on Chloe’s doorstep with nothing but her purse, but she’d been too overwrought to explain what happened. Sweet as ever, Chloe had simply led Tallulah to the still unoccupied guest bedroom and urged her into bed, saying they would talk in the morning. Only, Tallulah must have blacked out from pure abject misery, because she didn’t wake up until the afternoon, when Chloe was already at harp practice.
This was her first chance to speak to anyone about what happened. She hadn’t even spoken to Burgess, although he’d called several times. Tallulah desperately wanted to know if Lissa was all right. She was also very afraid to find out she wasn’t. The numerous calls were yet to be returned, but she would get to that. Maybe. Probably.
As soon as she fully absorbed what happened.
And what was happening. Continuously.
“I think I might be in love with Burgess,” she stage-whispered into the quiet.
Chloe nearly spat out her hot chocolate. As soon as the shock wore off, a giant smile bloomed across her face. “Oh, my goodness. Really?”
“Don’t look so happy about it.”
“I can’t help it. I’m a terrible romantic.” Her grin dimmed in degrees. “Are you telling me this is a bad thing?”
“Let me start at the beginning.” Briefly, she explained to Chloe how Lissa had been hopeful for a reconciliation between her parents and brought it up several times since the beginning of her employment. “Last night, we were in the car coming home from . . .” She expelled a breath. “Honestly, it was the best night of my life. He rented out the aquarium, Chloe. The whole thing. There was some, um . . . interesting foreplay in the works. We were kissing on the sidewalk, like really going for it, and . . . there they were. Lissa and her mother. There’d been an emergency and they’d been waiting for us to come back, so Lissa could stay while Ashleigh and her fiancé dealt with it. Lissa just freaked out. Worse than I was expecting she might. I couldn’t stay in the apartment with them.”
Chloe’s mouth dropped wider as the story went on. “Holy shit biscuits.”
“You can say that again.”
“Holy shit biscuits.”
Tallulah’s snort turned into a groan, her head falling backward onto the arm of the couch. “The worst part is, I had told Lissa there was nothing going on between me and Burgess. When she asked me, I was still trying to convince myself there wasn’t. Now she feels like I lied to her, which I kind of did . . . but only because I was lying to myself.”
“You know what? It’s all going to work out.” Chloe squeezed her knee beneath the fleece blanket that was currently draped over them both. “Everything is life or death to kids that age. I was the queen of drama queens. Still am, sometimes,” she said, taking a thoughtful sip of her cocoa. “I remember when my mother divorced my father and we had to move—again—and leave all my friends behind—again—I ran away the first day in our new house. I lived in a tree for six hours. My mother had to call the police and everything.”
Tallulah’s mug paused halfway to her mouth. “Wow. Did they find you or did you just eventually go home?”
“I went home.” She shrugged. “I’m scared of the dark.”
“Really. Do you sleep with a nightlight?”
“No. I leave the TV on the Home Shopping Network.”
“A criminally underrated channel,” Tallulah said, briefly raising her mug.
“It is.” Chloe glanced toward the coffee table where their phones sat, side by side, each of them lighting up periodically. “I think we should call Sig. He’ll know how to fix this.”
Tallulah jolted upright. “What? How?”
“Sig fixes everything,” Chloe said simply.
“What does he know about a twelve-year-old’s psyche?”
“Probably not a lot, but I’ve gone running to him with far weirder problems.”
“Such as?”
“Well.” Chloe pursed her lips, thinking for a few beats. “I didn’t know how to clean when he rented me this apartment. I’d never cleaned anything before, so he gave me cleaning lessons. He even created a homemade formula for hard water stains. He’s a genius.”
“Hold on, I’m trying to picture this professional hockey player giving cleaning lessons.”
“I picture it a lot.” Twin red stains bloomed on her cheeks. “Because it’s funny, I mean.”
“Uh-huh.” Tallulah watched Chloe’s reaction closely. “When did you say your mother was marrying his father?”
“I don’t know. Next year sometime.” The words came out in a rush and sitting forward, she quickly set down her mug on the coffee table. “But back to the problem at hand . . . don’t you think you should give Burgess a call? He’s probably worried.”