Page 75 of Kiss Me Like You Mean It

‘Darlene’s wig room,’ Mei explains. ‘She has a pretty extensive collection.’

We’re interrupted at that moment by more banging at the door, but it’s still not the food. Instead, a harassed-looking Luke stands on the step.

‘Hey, Lee,’ he greets me, ‘sorry I’m late.’

‘You’re not late, dinner hasn’t even turned up yet.’ I gesture him inside. ‘This is my friend Tara from home, she just arrived.’ I turn to Tara but she’s staring at Luke with wide eyes.

‘Hello,’ she whispers.

The harassed look melts off Luke’s face, and his own eyes are doing something funny; his pupils are ginormous.

‘Hi,’ he says, and he leans over me like I’m not there to take her hand. He doesn’t exactly shake it, but holds it for a moment in his own while staring at her.

I clear my throat and he jumps back, pink spreading across his cheekbones.

‘I—’ he starts. ‘Sorry. I—’

Fortunately for him, the delivery guy does make an appearance then, and there’s a brief flurry of activity as Nico pays him, Kat and Mei spirit the boxes over to the kitchen and Phoebe heads off to her room, complaining the whole way, with Taco sneaking in behind her to sleep on her bed.

Amid this chaos, Tara stands completely still beside me and I wonder if she realises that she’s dreamily humming ‘Cowboy Take Me Away’ under her breath. Probably not.

We all help ourselves to the food on the counter, piling up our plates before taking our seats around the dining table. Luke practically sprains something throwing himself into the one beside Tara.

Kat is openly laughing at him, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

‘So, Tara, how long are you in town for?’ Luke asks.

‘Just a week,’ she says. ‘Lee made this place sound so interesting, and I thought maybe the big plan would benefit from having someone from Lee’s side of things here to help out.’ She bats her lashes, and – for some reason – starts talking in the breathy accent of a Southern belle. ‘Y’all, Lee and Nico sure are the cutest couple I’ve ever seen.’

‘You know you don’t need to do an accent, right,’ I ask, ‘if you’re supposed to be my friend from home?’

Tara pouts. ‘Another tragic instance where I cannot put my drama degree to use.’

I close my eyes. ‘This town is going to love you.’

‘How do you feel about improv?’ Mei asks.

‘Extremely positive,’ Tara beams. ‘So, the guy is turning up when exactly?’

‘The day after tomorrow,’ I say uneasily. Despite his visit being the whole reason I’m here, I’ve been trying not to think about it.

‘That reminds me,’ Mei says. ‘I have a gift for you. Ta da!’

From her copious tote bag she extracts a large envelope. Inside are a stack of laminated cards with photographs on them.

‘My flashcards!’ I squeal.

‘I used the school laminator and everything.’ Mei looks proud.

‘Ugh, I love a laminator,’ Tara puts in, only providing further evidence of our soulmate connection.

‘My students helped me with the info,’ Mei gestures to the cards, and I realise that underneath the photographs are short biographies that include facts like ages and spouses’ names and other, more specific insights such as: Obsessed with an old movie called Clueless; Has a mean dog; Smells kinda soupy.

‘They’re such little jerks,’ Mei says fondly.

‘Please don’t tell me they really think Clueless is an old movie?’ Kat asks, forlorn.

‘We’re ancient,’ Luke sighs into his glass.