“My mother is coming to visit me on Sunday. We’ve had the visit in the works since I left. You know that. If I tell her what you’ve done, she’ll bring every last elder right to this ice cream shack if that’s what it takes,” Clarice replied, jutting her chin out as she set her jaw.
Zeke’s eyes went wide and he held out his hands. “Please, don’t. I’ll get it for you!”
Without warning, he ducked to one side and all but dove back into the ice cream cart. He came back half a second later with a blue JanSport backpack. With shaking fingers, he unzipped the front compartment and produced what looked like a fur-lined vest. “Here it is!”
Clarice pounced on it like a hungry tiger. She clutched the pelt to her chest and closed her eyes, overwhelmed with relief.
“Why did you steal it?” Adam demanded of the teen.
Zeke consulted his toes.
“Zeke!” Clarice snapped, still hugging the pelt. “Tell me now, or I’ll have this witch turn you into a toad!”
Zeke’s brown eyes bulged, filled with panic as he shrank away from me.
I sighed. “Relax, kid. I can’t actually do that. Although … it’s tempting. What were you thinking?”
“I didn’t want you to leave, Clarice. I thought if we had more time together, here, I could show you the kind of life we could have if we left the pod. Together.”
Clarice softened. “Why didn’t you just ask me to stay? Maybe if you’d actually talked to me about why I was trying to leave, you’d have been able to talk me into staying through the solstice.”
Zeke’s lips twisted to one side. He actually looked ready to cry and my heart went out to him.
Just a little.
“Can we try again?” he asked, his voice almost too quiet to hear over the waves and nearby patrons of the mobile ice cream shop.
Clarice shook her head. “I don’t think so. How could I ever trust you?”
Zeke gave a nod. “I’m really sorry, Clarice. Believe me, I wish I could take it back. Please know that I wouldn’t have ever stopped you from going back if that’s what you really wanted.”
He stared at her for another minute, and when she didn’t respond, he tucked his chin, went back into the cart, and shut the door.
Clarice sagged as soon as he was out of sight. A sob broke from her and she beamed up at us. “Thank you so much! I can’t believe we got it back.”
“Anytime, kiddo,” Adam said, smiling back at her.
She narrowed her eyes. “I’m sixteen, you know.”
I laughed at her teenage scorn and shook my head. “He’s just an old man, Clarice. You can’t take it personally.”
Adam snorted. “Gee, thanks, gorgeous. I know I can always count on you for a vote of confidence.”
Clarice smiled at us, happy tears still swimming in her violet eyes. “Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome, Clarice. Is there anything else we can do?”
She shook her head. “All I want to do is go for a swim!”
We laughed and waved to her before she turned and hurried down the beach.
Adam looped an arm around my waist and pulled me in close. “Once again, gorgeous, we made a perfect team. And hey, this time, no one almost died. So, that’s a step in the right direction.”
I smiled and squeezed his hand. “For a man who likes caramel-apple ice cream, you sure like to keep your life as vanilla as possible.”
He laughed. “Does that make you the sprinkles? Cause, you add all kinds of color to my world.”
I smiled. “That’s insanely cheesy, but I’ll take it.”
“Good.” He kissed me. “Now, you know what I’m in the mood for?”
I groaned. “All right, all right, we’ll go get you a waffle cone.”
THE END
About Danielle Garrett
From a young age, Danielle Garrett was obsessed with fantastic places and the stories set in them. As a lifelong bookworm, she’s gone on hundreds of adventures through the eyes of wizards, princesses, elves, and some rather wonderful everyday people as well.
Danielle now lives in Oregon and while she travels as often as possible, she wouldn’t call anywhere else home. She shares her life with her husband and their house full of animals, and when not writing, spends her time being a house servant for three extremely spoiled cats and two wild-child pups.
Follow Danielle Garrett online at:
www.DanielleGarrettBooks.com
www.facebook.com/DanielleGarrettBooks
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