Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 193(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 193(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
I walk over to her and put my finger under her chin to help her close her mouth. She didn’t notice it had popped open at that bit of news. It was a bit comical, but she laughs after I do it.
“You were my first kiss, too,” she says shyly. “I like that. That we were the first.”
“And the last,” I add, placing my lips on hers. The kiss is soft and all too quick, but I can’t take the chance of my parents walking back here. They’re looking for any excuse to talk to Lily, I can feel it. “Let me show you around the place.”
I spend most of the late afternoon giving Lily a tour of the place and showing her what I do when I’m here. She helps me stock shelves, water the plants, and sweep the floors. I show her how to use the scanner, and we do some inventory.
It’s fun working together, and it gives us more time to talk. Lily wants to major in art and teach one day, and I think she would be an amazing teacher. She’s shy, but she’s also patient, and I think she would be incredible. I can see her passion when she talks about it, and I want to figure out a way to make her dreams come true.
“How long do you usually work?” she asks me as we go to the back and take our aprons off.
“We close at six, so sometime before then. Dad normally closes up and I go home to either cook dinner if my mom is on shift, or eat dinner if she’s off.” I smile at her, and she shakes her head.
“Always eating,” she says and hands me her apron.
“Always hungry,” I reply, putting away the aprons and pulling her into my arms for a quick kiss.
I wait up front for her as she goes into the back office with my dad to square away her paperwork. After a few minutes they come out and she tucks an envelope in her pocket.
“All set?” I ask, and she smiles at me and nods. I hold her coat open for her and then zip it up before we say goodbye to my dad and we leave.
In the Jeep in the way to her house, she’s quiet. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, but I think your dad paid me too much.”
I laugh and grip her hand. “He pays the high school kids well because they’re almost free labor. He gave you cash, didn’t he?” She nods. “He pays me in cash, too. It’s under the table that way, and it’s only a few days a week, so there’s really no harm.”
“It’s really nice of him. Both your parents were really sweet.”
“Maybe I could meet your dad sometime soon.” She freezes, and I can feel the change of atmosphere in the car. “Or maybe some other time. No rush. I just want to make sure we’re out in the open with this. I don’t want to sneak around with you, Lily.”
“Me neither.” She says it so low I almost don’t catch it.
I know there’s more there, but I let it go. I don’t want to push her too hard, too fast, so I change the subject.
“So.” I look over at her when we pull up to the front of her house. “You want chocolate chip muffins again tomorrow, or a bagel?” She smiles at me, and the tension is broken.
I would do anything to keep that smile on her face.
15
Lily
I stare at myself in the mirror, wondering if this dress will be nice enough. It’s a simple cotton dress that’s fitted at the top and through the waist until it hits the hips, then it flares out a little. The hem comes to my knees, but the whole thing gives me more of a figure. It makes me feel like a woman. It’s soft pink and simple. I’m pretty sure I got it at a thrift store last summer but never wore it. It’s the only one this nice I have, and I have no idea where Ren is taking me tonight, so I really hope it’s okay.
He showed up this morning with a chocolate chip muffin with a candle in it. It was sweet and I made him share it with me. The school day went by entirely too fast and now I’m left with a belly full of butterflies about tonight, wondering what Ren has planned. He wouldn’t tell me a thing. Not even the smallest hint.
It’s nice to be excited about a birthday again. I haven’t celebrated one since I lost my mom, and I’m sure my father forgot about it. He was gone before I got out of bed this morning, and I’m praying he would be home late tonight. I’d rather him not know I’d gone out at all. I’m not sure how he’ll respond to me going places. He may not care, but if he does, it will be bad.