Page 15 of Roundabout

After putting the water gun back in its holder, Letty shrugs, and mutters, “He pissed himself.”

“No, I didn’t!” comes from somewhere behind the wall of clown heads and half-filled balloons.

Oh my God. As much as I hope they didn’t tie the attendant up, I wouldn’t put it past them.

I turn to Emaleigh. “What happened?”

With a giggle as light as air, she explains, “He hit on me, so Letty sprayed the front of his pants until it looked like he peed. He ran to the back to…I don’t know…change probably.” Her shrug is an exact replica of the one Letty just gave.

“He hit on you?” I ask before raising my voice to the perv in the back, yelling, “You know these girls are only fourteen!”

“He knows now.” Rebel’s dark chuckle reminds me of Marc’s so much I have to stop myself from laughing, too. “Want one for Jace?” she asks seriously, gesturing to the ceiling of stuffed animals above her.

I shake my head. “Get down before your dad sees you up there and starts asking questions. If Marc, or either of your uncles, finds out a grown man was hitting on you girls…” My eyes widen for effect, then narrow when it actually works.

Even though she’s no longer looking at me, Rebel appears downright nervous, and I know her well enough to know she’s not afraid of anything, least of all our family members.

“No way. Is that really them?”

Them? My breath freezes in my lungs, turning to blocks of ice.

“Wait, wait, wait,” she murmurs before lifting on to her tips of her boots, angling her body for a better view. “Angela, I swear I just saw—”

“Brittni and Makya,” I finish for her, more statement than question. I thought I was the only one. I thought I was going crazy. I thought my grief over their absence was making me see their faces in others.

If Rebel is seeing Brittni and Makya, too, then that means they’re really here and I might actually have a chance at seeing them again. I’ve dreamt of this day, agonized over what I’d do, what I would say, and now that I’m here, I have no idea how to act, or what I should say. As I’ve gotten older, I expected to…grow up, I guess, but the truth is how I felt mentally at seventeen is exactly how I feel now, just with more insight. Even after years of adulting, I still feel just as awkward as I always have.

“Where’d they go?” Whether I have a solid plan or not, I’m not missing what might be my only opportunity to see them again.

“I don’t know, but they were just standing by the pretzel cart.”

“Ordering?”

Rebel’s eyes flit down to her friends, lingering on Letty’s a second longer than Emaleigh’s before she rasps, “No. Just staring at it.”

My nose tingles as tears build behind my eyes.

“Okay,” I force out, mentally shaking myself. I’m the adult here. I can help. I will help. “Emaleigh, leave the bear here and you—”

“Don’t leave the bear.”

I stare up at my niece. “Why?”

“She deserves compensation.”

“She deserves an apology,” I tell the girls, making sure to touch on each of their gazes focused on me. “You’re allowed to exist in this world any way you want. You shouldn’t get harassed because of it. He owes you an apology, Emaleigh. I’ll go back there right now and make sure he gives you one.” Hopefully he’s dressed by now.

Emaleigh pushes to standing, oversized bear still in her clutches, and shakes her head. “I don’t want an apology from him. It’s not like he’d actually mean it. They never do.”

Emaleigh’s words ring with a truth every woman knows all too well, but she doesn’t sound bitter about it. Just indifferent. She’s a very, very pretty young girl, and unfortunately, men of all ages have already started taking notice. And apparently, they’ve had no qualms letting her know it.

Letty was right to drench that asshole.

“Fine. Take the bear.” I pull a twenty from my back pocket. “And go buy a couple pretzels while I look for Brittni and Makya.”

Rebel grabs two more teddy bears, these only slightly smaller than Emaleigh’s, and jumps down, landing in front of me and her friends…and the giant bear. What the hell are they gonna do with all these damn big bears?

“What are those for?” I ask her.