Page 84 of Forest Proximity
“I do it!” Sammie squawks at me, shoving my hand away.
“Okay, okay,” I mutter. My niece is a little tyrant like her mother.
Ruth is spread flat on the carpet, her chin pointed at the ceiling. “Okay, fill in the blanks,” she says loudly, drawing out the words. “What I love about Stevie Sullivan is ...”
Thunder rumbles outside, and Sammie gasps. “No, no, no.”
“Shhh. It’s okay.” I whisper, tightening my arm around my niece. Then I turn to Ruth. “Okay, I’ll talk, but this stays between us.”
“I said fill in the blanks,” Ruth demands with a laugh.
“Oh, geez.”
“Do it.” She twirls her toes in circles. Ruth could’ve gone anywhere on her weekend away, and she chose to come here and torment me.
“Fine,” I sigh. I enunciate like I’m reading a scholarly essay, “What I love about Stevie Sullivan is that she’s passionate about her friends, the outdoors—whatever she loves, she goes all in. She’s so dang smart”—I chuckle at a few recent memories—“butshe’s wrong a lot. I love the way her mind works. I love her freckles. Her red hair. When I hug her, it feels like I’m home. I love that.” I'm aiming for nonchalant, as if Stevie hasn’t upended my world. “Happy?”
“Blissfully.” Ruth closes her eyes with a sigh while rain hammers the windows. “What do you think Stevie loves about you?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know if Stevie loves me.”
“Why can’t you let me have this?” Ruth props her elbows behind herself, glaring at me like I shoved her wedding cake off a table and ruined romance forever. “You’re so annoying.”
I shrug. It’s my duty as her older brother. “Do I need to talk to Davis about making your life more romantic?” I threaten. “Because you’re weirdly obsessed with my love life.”
“Aha!” Ruth holds up an obnoxious index finger. “You admit it’s a love life!” She flops back onto the carpet, satisfied.
I'm afraid she’s right. Love is the only word that can possibly describe what I’m feeling. I can’t stop thinking about Stevie. Did she make it back to town before this storm hit? Maybe her phone died, or she dropped it in the woods again. I’m sick over her. This has to be love, right?
“Do you want to know what I love about Stevie?” Ruth cuts through my thoughts.
“You’ve never met her.” I glare uselessly out the window. “I appreciate that you’re trying to distract me when there’s nothing I can do to help her, though.”
“What I love about Stevie”—she ignores me, mimicking my loud, scholarly tone—“is the person you are when you’re with her—you know, since I’ve never met her. My confirmed hermit brother is getting out of the woods, making friends, going to town meetings and family dinners. Stevie Sullivan has my full, one-hundred-percent endorsement—”
“Hewwooooo?” Sammie interrupts, holding my phone to her ear. I’m sure her mother has modeled this behavior plenty of times. “What-tup?” she stresses the hard P, her spit landing on my arm this time.
I wipe my arm on my jeans. “I know, I know. Everyone likes Stevie.”
Ruth isn’t done, though. “No, we’ve established that youloveher.” She twirls her feet in circles again. “Have you told her that you love her?”
I roll my eyes. Of course not. I only figured it out myself thirty seconds ago. “I’ve told her I’m her boyfriend, but not—”
“Gah!” Ruth screeches. “You did? What did she say?”
I sigh. “She asked me to give her a day or two to figure out how to tell everyone she lost the bet—”
“Lost the bet because she’s yourgirlfriend,” Ruth butts in like she can’t contain herself. She’s in heaven right now.
I roll my eyes. “Mysecretgirlfriend, but I'm sure she’s using this time to find Bigfoot evidence so she doesn’t have to lose the stupid bet. Hence—” I gesture with frustration to the storm outside, where my girlfriend may or may not be marooned. My worst fears about Stevie being in the woods are coming true right now.
“Unkie Adam said a bad wodd,” Sammie tattles into my phone.
“Sorry, ladies.” I grimace at my sister and squeeze my niece.Stupidis on Ruth’s list of forbidden bad words. The betisstupid, though, so I reword and reiterate, “Stevie is determined to win thesillybet, to the point that she risks her safety.”
“I wonder why.” Ruth frowns at the wood beams running across my ceiling, lost in thought.
I’ve also wondered why Stevie cares so much. No one likes to lose, and Stevie loves being right. I get that. But this is different. She’s hyperfixated on it. “I don’t know.”
