Page 44 of How (Not) to Conjure a Boyfriend
“Yeah.” I look back and nod. We’re at the gate. “So…”
I stop storytelling to stare at the chain links drooping from the gate with a massive rusted padlock hanging from it. I survey the gate. It’s made of the same black wrought-iron bars, except it has a bigHon each door and the spikes are taller. I pull at the lock to see if it’ll budge, but get nothing. I don’t think we’re getting in this way.
“Locked,” Kaitlynn says the obvious.
“No shit,” I blurt.
“Is there another way in?” Zachary asks.
I shrug even though he’s not looking at me. I honestly figured we’d have to jump a fence, but I hadn’t expected it to be this tall. I had a fence I could look over in my mind, like a littlewhite picket fence. Not a stay-the-hell-out iron monstrosity. And honestly, I expected the gate to just be open.
“Over?” I suggest, but the doubt is clear in my tone.
Zachary groans, eyes shooting to the spears topping the fence. “It’s sort of tall, and spiky.”
“Maybe there’s a log around here somewhere we can use to stand on,” I say, knowing all too well it’s much too convenient. There’s not going to be a random perfectly shaped piece of log just sitting around. “Or we could walk around and see if there are any openings?”
“Didn’t you say this was a farm?” Kaitlynn’s whining yet again.
“Yeah.” I shrug and face them both.
“Um…” Zachary puts a finger in the air. “How big of a farm?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I didn’t get the Zillow specs on the property before we came to view. Are we planning to buy or something?”
Okay, maybe it was a little spicy, more of a Kaitlynn thing to say, but this isn’t working like I’d planned. We were supposed to be inside already, exploring, seeing if there are ghosts or cool old nineties relics.
Kaitlynn pooches her lips and shakes her head. “It’s probably huge, then. And I’m not here to walk miles in the pitch black, in the woods, where there are bears. Big bears.”
“I’m with her,” Zachary says.
“Traitor.” I aim my light at him.
“Well, I… I— Wait!” Zachary yells and shields his face from the sudden brightness. Then he shrinks back like he said something bad. “That was loud.”
“Everything is loud out here,” I tell him and then raise my eyebrows to say,and?
“I have this project I’m working on for school in the back of my truck. We could use it,” he says.
“We going topresentourselves over the fence? Lecture it into submission?” Kaitlynn scowls.
I bite my lip to hold back a laugh, but my belly shakes anyway.
“No-o-o.” Zachary strings it out and laughs it off. “My carpentry project. It’s a bookshelf.”
“Oh.” I nod quickly. “How big a bookshelf are we talking?”
“Just three shelves,” he says.
“That shouldn’t be too hard to carry,” Kaitlynn says.
“Well…” Zachary starts.
I don’t like the sound of that.
“It’ll take at least two of us.” He looks at me, then grimaces. “Okay, maybe all three.”
Kaitlynn giggles and nods at Zachary approvingly.
