Page 27 of Fortunate Miracles
I watch the sadness seep into Seb as E wraps an arm around his shoulders. “I’m sorry. Did she tell you where she was staying?”
“No, she wouldn’t answer any of my questions, just kept repeating she needed money. I had only $50 on me, so I gave her all of it. I hope she doesn’t use it to buy more drugs.”
“Me too. Come on, the rest of the guys are waiting.” E turns us around to walk back to our vehicles.
I hop into Bay’s Honda when we're ready to leave. He has to pick Olivia up and drop her off at the shop before we drive to my place. “Thanks for offering to stay with me Bay.”
“You’re welcome, Summer,” he smiles. “The timing worked out. The shop has slowed down, so I don’t need towork as much.”
He drives us to an older-looking elementary school 15 minutes away. Despite its tired appearance, the landscaping is well-maintained and clean. I follow Bay through the front door. A reception area is just inside, where an older woman greets Bay by name. She makes a call, and minutes later I hear Olivia yell my name. Turning, I find her jogging down the hallway towards us. “Hey Olivia,” I smile as she slams into me.
“Bay didn’t tell me you were picking me up. Bad Bay,” she scolds him, wagging her finger. The receptionist and I laugh at her as Bay rolls his eyes.
“You'd already left for school when I found out, squirt. Ready to go?”
“Yes. Bye, Ms. Rogers,” she waves as she grabs my hand to lead me back outside.
“Where’s my hug?” Bay asks her.
Olivia sighs and lets my hand go to hug him. “Sorry Bay. I was excited to see Summer. Can we get ice cream today? I bet Summer wants ice cream too. Don’t you, Summer?” She asks, turning towards me. She puts her hands together in a pleading gesture, blinking her eyelashes up at me.
“Sure. I can always eat ice cream,” I shrug with a smile.
“Yay! I know the best place. Mr. Jim makes the ice cream himself, and he lets me sample all the new flavors.” She grabs my hand again and pulls me along. Bay is shaking his head at her, but has a smile on his face.
He drives us to an older-looking downtown street. After finding a parking spot, we each take one of Olivia’s hands to walk as she talks nonstop. We enter a small convenience store, and Olivia leads us towards the back. There’s a small ice cream shop there with a wall of windows overlooking a side street. You wouldn’t know it existed if you were driving by. “Mr. Jim,” Olivia greets a large, older man behind the counter with an apron on.
“Olivia,” he smiles. “How ya doin’, girl?”
“Good,” she replies. “This is my friend Summer. You got any new flavors this week?” She asks, peering into the display case.
“Nice to meet ya,” he nods. “I have two new ones this week. Let me get ya yer samples.”
He grabs two little paper cups and adds a spoonful to each one, setting them on the counter. “The yellow one is pineapple and mango. The other is blackberry almond.”
Olivia quickly eats both. “Good job, Mr. Jim, but I think I’ll have a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of blueberry today.”
“Comin’ right up. What can I get ya, Bay and Summer?” He asks.
I peruse the flavors as he gets Olivia’s order. Bay requests a scoop of pineapple mango, and I order a scoop of dark chocolate and a scoop of cream. We take a seat at a table to enjoy our ice cream, and it’s fantastic. You can tell it’s homemade; the consistency is so smooth and creamy. Olivia tells us about the bean plants she’s growing in class and about a new boy who just moved here.
When we’re done, Bay drives us to the shop to drop Olivia off, where find David under the hood of an older car. After chatting for a few minutes, we leave for my house.
Once we get home, I tell Bay to grab a snack and get comfortable before I text Zander and call Sarah. We’ve been talking through the E situation more, and my nightmares lately. When I’m done, Bay follows me into the garden to harvest enough for a fresh salad. Bay grills some burgers on the barbecue for supper while I construct the salad and make a dressing.
After dinner, we spread out on the dining table to do homework. “Summer, I wanted to give you a heads up. I’m going to ask another girl to homecoming. I didn’t want you to be blindsided or hear from someone else.”
“Oh,” I say, kind of shocked at the news. I know we won’t be together because of the other guys, but I wasn’t expecting something like this so quickly. Seb mentioned homecoming at lunchearlier in the week, though. It’s the first basketball game of the season, and there’s a pep rally on Friday and a carnival and dance on Saturday. “Thanks for the heads up, Bay.”
“I need to find a way to move on from you, Summer. This is the best way I can think of,” he says, reaching over to squeeze my hand.
“I understand,” I smile sadly at him. This is rough. I’m going to have to watch Bay with another girl. I’ve never been in this type of situation before, and my heart hurts, but I have to respect his decision. I remind myself I have three amazing guys already and not to be selfish.
Luckily, Seb calls my cell, interrupting my pity party. I put him on speaker as we complete our homework and chat.
We decide to spend Saturday and Sunday at Alex’s beachfront house since it’s supposed to be sunny and hot this weekend. After clearing it with Zander, Bay drives us down on Saturday morning. E won’t be joining us, unfortunately, because he has something going on with his grandparents. I pack some of the processed food from the garden for us to eat.
Alex is already there when we arrive. He meets us at our vehicle to help carry the cooler into the house. “Morning,” I greet.
