Page 55 of Big & Lily

“Fine. But you have to come with me. I need you behind me.”

“I can do better than that. I can be beside you.” I take my sister’s hand. “Let’s go. Because our ride leaves soon.”

The bar has gotten more crowded, the sound of conversation rising to the wood-beamed rafters. Dane is still at his place at the bar. The coffee and cookie are untouched. At least there isn’t a glass of whiskey anywhere near him. He turns when Lily touches his back, and his face lights up.

“You missed an awesome dinner,” she says with her Lily smile. “Reindeer chili. Yum.”

“You didn’t eat reindeer! Rudolph? And Blitzen? How could you?”

Lily had a Cobb salad for dinner, but I’m certainly not calling her out on it. She lets go of my hand and stands next to him, belly to the bar. She turns to me and says quietly, “I got this. Thanks for having my side, Sis.”

“I’ll be out there. If you need me.”

On the street, in front of the bar’s front windows, I’m doing my best lip-reading—by which I mean not picking up a word they are saying—when Brick walks up to me.

“Any luck?” he asks.

“He’s in there. With Lily.”

He glances up at the sign over the door.beer and libations. “Does that mean what I think it means?” I nod. “Good Lord,” he says. It’s bad enough that Dane is drinking, but on his watch. “Should I go in there?”

“Let’s let Lily handle it.”

He gives me a smile like a proud dad. “Well done,” he says.

“The grasshopper has become the master.” I chuckle and then put my hand over my mouth. What’s happening inside that bar is no laughing matter.

We peek in the window, and I can tell from the shape of her back that Lily is crying. Dane hashisarm aroundher. Only Lily. The hour is almost up when Dane and Lily step out of the bar into the evening twilight. Some of the tiny blossoms that have been floating through the air all day land in my sister’s hair. They could be newlyweds stepping out of a church if it weren’t for Lily’s red eyes. She must have come clean with him. I’m sure it doesn’t make him any less smitten with her, but from the body language, the hand on her back, her eyes to the ground, they’ve come to an understanding.

Dane pulls his phone from his pocket and walks away. Brick and I throw each other sideways glances. Our ride leaves in a few minutes.

“Can we give him a second?” says Lily. “He’s going to call his sponsor before we lose service.”

“That’s a promising sign, right?” I ask. “You okay?”

She nods, and I wrap my arm around her. “I’m proud of you.”

She rolls her eyes and pushes me off. “Gee, thanks, Mom.” That’s my Lily.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Our next and final location of the trip is Denali State Park. Brick promised us amazing hikes, spectacular views of Mount Denali, and, best of all, glamping. If Alaskan glamping is anything like the safari glamping I see on the Discovery Channel—all the comforts of a five-star hotel within canvas walls—I’m all about it.

I almost chip a tooth as the van bounces down a dirt road that brings us to our new home. Soon we arrive at a small parking lot filled with dusty cars but no luxury camping.

“It’s only a half-mile hike in,” Brick announces.

“I have to drag my suitcase a half mile?” Lily asks.

“Just bring yourself,” Brick says. “Frank and Jace will take care of the rest.”

“Thank God,” my sister says to me. “This has been a day. Dragging my bag even a few feet would have put me over the edge.”

The fact that she hasn’t gone over the edge before now is striking.

“Soon you’ll be tucked in a soft bed, with your own robe and a chocolate on your pillow,” I say to her. I received a glossy Abercrombie & Kent African safari catalog in the mail once; that makes me practically a glamping expert.

A short walk brings us to clearing in between the trees, where four round canvas huts with circus tent–like roofs gather around a cold campfire encircled by rocks. Not exactly the white-glove reception I was expecting.