Page 43 of Summer Holiday Lifeline

“You always give up really fast with me.”

“You don’t need me to tell you what to do here, Stevie.” She pulled a book from the box and recited title and author for him before wiping it down and putting it on the shelf. “You like him. If I was a betting person, I would say he likes you. But you can’t get to know him if you stay cooped up here. I don’t know why you’ve become so… hermit-like. But you know I don’t like it, and I know I can’t force you to do anything about it until you decide to do it for your own reasons.” She pulled another book but didn’t read the title, looking over at him instead. “And I will wait until you’re ready, but also, I will be by your side the minute you want to. You know that, right?”

He gazed at her, seeing the worry she always tried not to show but could never quite hide. “I know.”

“Good.”

For a while, they worked in mostly peace. Steven couldn’t help but anticipate the moment she asked. She always did, and he never had an answer for her.

“Steve—”

“I don’t know, Steph. I still don’t know how long this will last, and I swear if I did, I would tell you.”

“Maybe it’s worth talking to someone about it. You know. Who isn’t me.”

“Probably.”

“Likely.”

“And say what. exactly? I’m afraid to leave my house because it has self-destructive tendencies and I want to keep an eye on it? That definitely doesn’t sound bonkers at all.”

“You read too much into things. It’s just a house.”

“So is the B and B. So is Lucky’s shelter. Yet no one denies those places have personalities. You can’t deny the Oaks was Jake’s friend long before Kreed came along. She protected him. And the barber shop. Don’t even get me started on how much that place has cheered up since Marcus gave it that face lift last summer.”

“No, I know. Not denying any of that.”

“So if those places can be improved by people living their best lives in them, why can’t a place be sad because it lost its people?”

“You’re basically saying our house is suicidal.”

Steven said nothing, since acknowledging that did sound a little out there, even to him.

“And you don’t think your reluctance to leave has anything to do with you being afraid you’ll lose something else if you do?”

There wasn’t much left for him to lose. Their parents were gone. Jake had effectively moved out, and Steph was on the cusp of moving too. Which was good. She should. But what if he was right, and he left, and something happened while he was gone? What if he lost the house? The shop? Everything that was left of what their parents had tried to build?

She sighed when he didn’t say any of that out loud, and went back to reciting book titles and authors until the box was empty.

“You know I can do this on my own,” he said over the dry crinkle of tape she ripped off the box.

“I don’t have anything better to do.”

“Not even with Bob?”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Just asking.” Not just to deflect the scrutiny away from himself, either, but because he truly was interested in her answer.

“Bob is watching his son play basketball tonight.”

“Well, that’s good. You love basketball.”

She didn’t look at him as she carefully rolled the old tape into a tiny tube. “It’s his kid.”

“Did he not ask you to go with him?”

“He did, actually.”