She wanted to get closer. She knew they couldn’t have sex, not right out in the open with people walking by and the game dragging into halftime. But maybe if she climbed into his lap, they could do a little something to help ease the throbbing ache that was starting to soak her underwear.
Evie broke their kiss and buried her face in Zach’s shoulder to cover her laugh.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, giving her side a little squeeze. A little tremor of excitement rushed all over her body. She’d been waiting to do this for a while.
“Nothing. I just told Nicole I wouldn’t.”
“Don’t tell Nicole you did then.”
Evie looked to her left at the hole that had been created in the back wall of the school. It had been like that for as long as she could remember, the library and part of the custodian’s office exposed to the parking lot. Thorny vines grew up the walls of crumbling cinder block. Evie laughed even harder as she saw Mrs. Milenakis moving back and forth in the line, trying to avoid the thorns. She looked right at Evie and Evie knew she was going to get an earful the next morning, if she decided to go to homeroom. Which she wouldn’t because she was an adult and she didn’t have to report to homeroom. She had to be on set in the morning. Nicole was going to kill her.
“We’re missing Jesse’s game,” Evie said when she turned back around, but Zach was gone. It didn’t make any sense. She could still feel him all around her. She searched the truck. Tears pricked the back of her eyes and suddenly this strange pain tightened in her chest. It was happening again. It kept happening. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to will the feelings away. She would be fine. She was fine.
When she opened her eyes she was standing in a dark stairway. More crumbled walls wrapped in thorny vines. Below she could hear music. Nicole was waiting for her. She started down the stairs, but every time she tried to take a step down, her foot would get stuck. Something was wrong with her laces. Evie reached down and untied her sneakers and then she fell.
Evie woke with a start. It took her a moment to realize where she was. She blinked a few times, trying to place the claustrophobic feel of her hospital room. Even with her glasses off she could tell the windows in front of her were too big. She leaned up in the comfortable queen-size bed, blinking some more, knowing the blurry scene around her wouldn’t improve unless she put on her glasses.
She was in Charming, California, in the home of Miss Leona Lovell. She’d slept through the afternoon and would have slept through the night if Tilde hadn’t woken her up to encourage her to eat some dinner and hydrate. She appreciated the interruption to her deep, dreamless slumber, but as soon as she finished the delicious leftovers Miss Leona had sent to her room, she changed her clothes and went right back to sleep.
She felt for her glasses and pushed them up her nose. The digital clock across the room told her it was three thirty in the morning. She could still feel the edges of her dream. Her throat felt raw, like she’d just been crying, but the rest of her body was still in that kiss. Nothing about it was real, but Evie could still taste Zach on her lips and the throbbing ache between her legs didn’t want to fade either.
She reached for her phone that Tilde had plugged in on the nightstand. Blaire had showed her how to use thedo not disturbfunction. Her phone had been silent all night, but there were a few notifications on her screen. A text from Blaire and two from Raquelle. She’d been so tired and overwhelmed she’d forgotten to call them when she reached Miss Leona’s home. She was sure Jesse had touched base with them after they arrived, but she wanted to text them back. She wanted to talk to Blaire and tell her everything about her journey cross-country. She wanted to hear Raquelle’s bubbly voice. Both would have to wait. Even with the three-hour difference, something in the back of her mind told her that it was too early for social calls.
Evie turned on the bedside lamp and carefully made her way over to her bags. The journal Zach had given her was right on top of her things. She knew the diary was made for a kid, but that didn’t stop her from writing down everything she could remember from her dream and how every detail of the dream made her feel.
* * *
The next time Evie woke up it was to the sounds of Miss Leona and Tilde arguing in the hallway. She wasn’t exactly sure what they were saying, but it was suddenly quiet. A few minutes later Tilde entered her room. She checked Evie’s blood pressure and her bandage, then told her to go back to sleep. Evie wasn’t going to argue with that suggestion.
Hours later she woke and realized she’d slept the whole morning away. It was almost noon. In the leather armchair across from the bed she found towels, a washrag, and a fluffy robe. She knew she should find Tilde and at least let her know she was up and she was going to take a shower, but she wanted a little more time to herself. She took off her pajamas and slid into the robe.
The en suite bathroom had a large shower with a marble bench and a movable showerhead. It took her a few tries to figure out the knobs, but she successfully showered and got ready for her day on her own. She used the lovely scented lotions that Blaire had packed in her suitcase. She used the lip balm from Shanny too. There was nothing she could do about her hair, but for the first time in a week she was starting to feel more human.
She followed the soft sound of music back out to the kitchen, but halfway she stopped as she realized the hall leading to her room was lined with photos and clippings of the Pleasant family. She’d been so distracted by Zach the day before, she hadn’t noticed the small family museum that went to the end of the hall, beyond the guest room where Tilde was staying. She followed the line of photos and found that the hall curved. It led to a large entertainment room with a big wall-mounted TV, a big couch that looked like it could seat least twelve people, and a pool table. This room was also filled with photos and there was a large case against the wall, filled with trophies.
Evie walked into the room and right over to the case. Dozens of trophies, some shaped like stars and others that were little statues of men on bucking horses. She looked at the names on the little plaques. Most of the trophies belonged to Jesse Pleasant Sr., but there were plenty with Zach’s and Sam’s names on them too. Evie didn’t want to be caught snooping, so she headed back out into the hall, looking at the pictures on the wall as she slowly made her way back to the kitchen.
She only stopped twice. The first time was in front of a framed cover fromEssencemagazine. It was dated a little over a year ago. Zach and Jesse were photographed standing side by side, wearing their signature cowboy hats. The wordsPRINCES OF CHARMING: How the Pleasant Brothers Are Changing the Face of Luxury Hotelswas printed across the left side of Jesse’s lapel. Evie had to admit they both looked ridiculously handsome. She wondered what he was like as a boss, what it was like for him and Jesse to work so closely together.
She moved on, those questions still running through her brain until she came to a picture of a young Zach and Sam with her grandmother Amelia. Looking at her grandmother’s warm smile and the confident way she stood with one hand on her hip and the other on the reins of a black-and-white horse that towered over her made Evie feel like maybe there was one side of this memory-loss thing that worked to her advantage. She couldn’t remember a thing about her grandmother, or her parents. She couldn’t remember losing them.
The music coming from the kitchen changed and she realized how long she’d been standing in front of the pictures. She found Miss Leona and Tilde both reading in the open kitchen/living room area—sitting as far away from each other as possible. Tilde was in an armchair near the fireplace, reading another paperback, and Miss Leona seemed to be flipping through a cookbook while she stood at the counter. A pair of reading glasses was perched on the end of her nose. Two of the dogs were sprawled out on the kitchen tiles. Only the big one bothered to look up as Evie entered the room.
“Good morning, baby,” Miss Leona said with a smile.
“Good morning.”
“Samuel had to catch a flight, but he told me to tell you he says goodbye and he’ll check back in tomorrow to see how you’re doing.”
“Oh. It was nice to see him for a little bit.” Evie felt an odd sense of disappointment. Sam was another stranger to her, but he seemed very sweet and very easy to be around. She looked forward to getting to know him. She looked forward to getting to know all of the Pleasants, but at the moment Miss Leona seemed to be the only one at home.
“He’ll be back soon. He always comes home. How’d you sleep?”
“Very well. Thank you,” she said, suddenly remembering her dream. She ignored the flash of heat when the sounds of Zach’s laugh echoed in her memory. She didn’t think it was a good idea to ask Miss Leona where he was too. “The bed is very comfortable. Much better than the one at the hospital.”
“Hmmm,” she said with a smile as Tilde made a bit of a grunting noise from across the room. Maybe she hadn’t imagined the argument they’d had earlier.
“You hungry?”