ignore the sensational feelings raging through me, so I keep looking at Rose and pat the top of her head.
“I’ll meet you here in the morning, then. Is nine too early? I can bring breakfast.” He squats down in the sand so his eyes are level with Rose’s. “Do you like bagels, Barbie?”
“The kind with cheese?” Rose asks hopefully, temporarily perking up from her sleepy mode.
I sigh. “Gabe, you don’t have to bring us breakfast.”
As kind as he has been, there will be no way for me to pay him back for everything. It is starting to make me a little irritated. It will be hard to keep up the appearance of having parents if we always show up hungry and I never offer to bring something instead.
He shrugs. “Don’t worry about it. I want to. I had fun hanging out with you guys today.”
I certainly had fun hanging out with him, too. But there are also a lot of things I need to do, like figure out a way to enroll Rose and myself into school. I also need to find a job, as soon as humanly possible. We can’t continue to hide out in the cold house every night.
“Thank you.” I know I am repeating myself, but I try to give the words as much depth and meaning as possible.
He takes a step forward and presses his lips against my cheek, letting them linger longer than I expect. My heart flips in my chest and I nearly gasp aloud. The electrical surges that continue to pass between us are really hard to brush off once I have felt his lips against my skin.
“I will see you in the morning,” he whispers, taking a step back. “Sleep well.”
He bends down to pat Rose on top of her head and gives us one final smile before turning to walk down the beach. I am happy when he doesn’t turn back because I can’t stop staring after him as he walks away.
“Lily,” my sister says after a moment, pulling on my arm.
The sound of my real name surprises me and I am amazed how she is able to slip out of our pretend mode with such quick ease. When I look down at her, I don’t have to ask what she wants. Gabe left his blanket and cooler behind. I turn back to look where he had been, but he is no longer there.
Rose eats one of the apples from Gabe’s cooler as we walk back to the little yellow house. We are able to slip in through the back again without being seen. I am relieved that Gabe left his blanket behind when Rose and I snuggle under it together. The blanket smells wonderfully masculine, just like Gabe. With my little sister wedged up against my side and Gabe’s scent filling my lungs, sleep comes more easily than I would have guessed, despite my excitement to see him again in the morning.
* * *
When morning comes we meet Gabe on the beach again as promised. The bagels are warm and happily fill my stomach to the point where I actually feel full for the first time in days. The day goes by in a blur when Gabe gives us a walking tour of the immediate area. The city is even more alluring than I had first imagined and it is nice to learn things about the area from a local. He buys us lunch at a sandwich shop later in the afternoon.
I decide we need to leave before he can offer to buy us supper if he is going to believe I have parents that are waiting for us to return, but he is able to convince me to stay with him long enough to grab seafood from a cute little restaurant near the pier as the sun is about to set in the sky. Gabe is so kind and easy going that I begin to relax a little around him, knowing we may not be in any kind of immediate danger of being discovered.
We spend a lot of time with Gabe in the days to follow when he is not in school, although I consciously try not to spend too much time with him to keep up the appearance of having parents and an actual home to go to. I have not yet figured out how to get us enrolled in school and our money begins to run dangerously low with the few meals we have without Gabe.
I purchase a couple more shirts for each of us at the used clothing store and use
“I’ll meet you here in the morning, then. Is nine too early? I can bring breakfast.” He squats down in the sand so his eyes are level with Rose’s. “Do you like bagels, Barbie?”
“The kind with cheese?” Rose asks hopefully, temporarily perking up from her sleepy mode.
I sigh. “Gabe, you don’t have to bring us breakfast.”
As kind as he has been, there will be no way for me to pay him back for everything. It is starting to make me a little irritated. It will be hard to keep up the appearance of having parents if we always show up hungry and I never offer to bring something instead.
He shrugs. “Don’t worry about it. I want to. I had fun hanging out with you guys today.”
I certainly had fun hanging out with him, too. But there are also a lot of things I need to do, like figure out a way to enroll Rose and myself into school. I also need to find a job, as soon as humanly possible. We can’t continue to hide out in the cold house every night.
“Thank you.” I know I am repeating myself, but I try to give the words as much depth and meaning as possible.
He takes a step forward and presses his lips against my cheek, letting them linger longer than I expect. My heart flips in my chest and I nearly gasp aloud. The electrical surges that continue to pass between us are really hard to brush off once I have felt his lips against my skin.
“I will see you in the morning,” he whispers, taking a step back. “Sleep well.”
He bends down to pat Rose on top of her head and gives us one final smile before turning to walk down the beach. I am happy when he doesn’t turn back because I can’t stop staring after him as he walks away.
“Lily,” my sister says after a moment, pulling on my arm.
The sound of my real name surprises me and I am amazed how she is able to slip out of our pretend mode with such quick ease. When I look down at her, I don’t have to ask what she wants. Gabe left his blanket and cooler behind. I turn back to look where he had been, but he is no longer there.
Rose eats one of the apples from Gabe’s cooler as we walk back to the little yellow house. We are able to slip in through the back again without being seen. I am relieved that Gabe left his blanket behind when Rose and I snuggle under it together. The blanket smells wonderfully masculine, just like Gabe. With my little sister wedged up against my side and Gabe’s scent filling my lungs, sleep comes more easily than I would have guessed, despite my excitement to see him again in the morning.
* * *
When morning comes we meet Gabe on the beach again as promised. The bagels are warm and happily fill my stomach to the point where I actually feel full for the first time in days. The day goes by in a blur when Gabe gives us a walking tour of the immediate area. The city is even more alluring than I had first imagined and it is nice to learn things about the area from a local. He buys us lunch at a sandwich shop later in the afternoon.
I decide we need to leave before he can offer to buy us supper if he is going to believe I have parents that are waiting for us to return, but he is able to convince me to stay with him long enough to grab seafood from a cute little restaurant near the pier as the sun is about to set in the sky. Gabe is so kind and easy going that I begin to relax a little around him, knowing we may not be in any kind of immediate danger of being discovered.
We spend a lot of time with Gabe in the days to follow when he is not in school, although I consciously try not to spend too much time with him to keep up the appearance of having parents and an actual home to go to. I have not yet figured out how to get us enrolled in school and our money begins to run dangerously low with the few meals we have without Gabe.
I purchase a couple more shirts for each of us at the used clothing store and use
Similar Books
