###
“I’m glad we’re finally doing this,” Roz said, kicking her feet up on the coffee table in Carter’s living room. “We haven’t had a sleepover in forever.”
“Because these two never stop working.” I nodded between Mel and Carter—the only two of us who had jobs.
Roz’s parents had encouraged her to spend her childhood being a child, preaching that there was plenty of time to be an adult later.
And I would’ve gladly taken a job since it meant having money for food, but Dad wouldn’t hear of it. He said I should be at home—where I belong. So that’s where I stayed . . .
Which is why I couldn’t believe he’d actually let me out of the house for the night to stay with my friends.
“Mom’s making homemade pizzas,” Carter said. “And Jasper has a dessert in mind.”
“Jasper, huh?” Mel asked, bouncing her eyebrows as she looked to me. She grinned as she focused back on Carter. “So when do we finally get to meet this mystery cousin of yours?”
“Mel?” Roz chimed in. “Don’t you remember? He was down at the—”
“I wonder what he’s making,” I said, interrupting Roz, because as far as Carter was concerned, I was the only one of her friends who’d met Jasper. She didn’t know about the evening in The Red Barn when he’d first showed up, and she didn’t need to learn about it now.
“He said something about brownies,” Carter said. “He and Mom are at the market. They should be back any second.”
“He’s making us dessert?” Roz asked, still filling in the blanks.
“Yes, Roz.” Mel nodded. “Baking’s what he does.”
And then Mel turned a looked to me with an amused smile—one that was meant to remind me that Roz really hadn’t heard me on Monday night when I’d broken the news to her about the cake. Because if she had heard me, she would’ve also heard all the details about Jasper joining the party-planning team . . . which I now realized I had yet to officially clue her in on. Oops.
Jasper and Nora returned after another fifteen minutes, neither of them spending too long on hellos or introductions before disappearing into the kitchen. Nora wanted to start on dinner, and Jasper was focused on making dessert for the evening.
Mel, Roz, Carter, and I sat on the living room floor, gossiping and catching up, spending the time together that we hadn’t gotten much of over the summer. It was the first time we’d all been in the same room together outside of school for any extended period of time in weeks. It was refreshing.
The TV was on in the background as we ate our pizza, but none of us really paid attention to it. Nora and Jasper had even come in, each taking a spot on the couch and observing our group dynamic as we sat in a circle on the floor.
“Best—pizza—ever,” Roz said, shoving the last of hers in her mouth.
“Yeah, really good, Mom,” Carter echoed.
I turned to thank Nora for the food, only to catch Jasper’s stare instead. He’d been looking at me, long before I’d ever turned, and I’d expected him to instantly shift his focus away—embarrassed that I’d caught him staring. But he didn’t. He just held my gaze, and I swallowed hard.
“So, Jasper,” Roz said, turning to Carter’s cousin. His eyes darted to her. “Where are you from?”
“Cedar Lake.”
“Whatcha doing in Sutton Woods?” she asked, completely oblivious to the fact that his answer could spoil the party.
“Just wanted to spend some quality time with my girls.” He winked at Nora.
“He’s going to help me paint my room on Sunday,” Carter added. “And finally install that ceiling fan we bought forever ago.”
My lips twitched into a smile. I loved that he cared so much about them that he was spending his time off, essentially his vacation time, doing the chores they hadn’t gotten around to since moving.
“Don’t forget we have the loose railing on the front porch,” Carter said, turning to her mom. “You should have him look at that. And the gutters are full of leaves, so maybe while he’s out there—”
“Stop putting him to work,” Nora said. “He’s visiting.”
“Well, somebody’s gotta do it. Oh!” Carter turned to Jasper. “And while you’re at it, you should go next door and look at Ally’s hot water heater.”
“What’s wrong with—”
“Nothing,” I said quickly, cutting him off. “There’s nothing wrong.“
“Something’s wrong,” Carter said. “You were just saying earlier that you haven’t had hot water in—”
“Carter, let it go,” I snapped.
No one said anything for a few minutes, and the longer the silence dragged on, the thicker the air in the room got.
“Is it hot in here, or is it just me?” Roz asked.
“It’s a little warm,” Nora agreed.
“Yeah,” I nodded, standing up. I maneuvered around my friends on the floor, turning out of the living room and into the kitchen to throw my paper plate into the trashcan. Looking out the window over the sink, my eyes locked on The Red Barn.
The evening had taken such a horrible turn. I shouldn’t have said anything to Carter earlier about the stupid water heater, but then again, I never imagined she would announce to everyone that it was broken.
She may not have understood what that meant, but Mel and Roz certainly would. They’d known my dad long enough to know he’d dropped the ball again, and that would leave them worried about me. Pitying me.
My chest felt heavy, and I needed air.
I just needed to go home.