Page 67 of Buried in the Woods Below

“Never mind,” I say.

“No, tell us,” says Penelope, pleading, her ponytail bobbing as she jumps up and down.

“Yeah, tell us,” says Emma.

I toss him a wave. It’s unavoidable now.

Carlos whispers something to his “friend” and rises from his seat and strides over, cone in hand.

“Hey, Mami. Funny seeing you here,” he says.

“Yeah, it’s a small world.” I give him a hug and wonder if it really is that small.

He kneels down and waves at Penelope and Emma. “And who are these two lovely ladies?”

The girls blush ear to ear, smiling gummy smiles. Penelope twists her braid in her hand.

“This is Emma and Penelope. They’re daughters of the family I’m staying with.”

“Hi, Emma and Penelope.” He shakes their hands. The girls can’t take their eyes off him. “Would you like some ice cream?”

“Oh, they said it’s too cold for—”

“Yes, please,” says Penelope. Emma nods. I roll my eyes.

The four of us amble over to Ben & Jerry’s. He introduces me to his friend Kenzie, who has the personality of a lily pad. We head inside, and he sets the girls up with two double-scoop cones. Kenzie sits outside, tanning. While they wait for their order, he pulls me aside.

“Hey, I just wanted to tell you again. I’m sorry about last night. It seemed like a fun, spontaneous idea but clearly was a total fail.”

I place a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I know you were just trying to be sweet. Plus, it looks like you found someone else to hang out with.”

“Oh, no, it’s not like that. She’s just a girl I hung out with a couple of times in Chicago. She’s the only other person I know here, so when I didn’t hear from you, I looked her up. She lent me the pontoon boat.”

“How nice of her.”

He ignores my sarcasm. “Do you still want me to stay at the house with you?”

I stiffen. I don’t know if it’s because I’m hurt. Or because of Eric, and how much I enjoyed breakfast yesterday, just the five of us.

“Honestly, I don’t think it’s such a good idea anymore,” I say.

He pulls back. “Really? Why not? It’s not because of Kenzie—”

“No.” I scramble for a convincing lie. “The Parkers’ dog just died, and I don’t think they can handle guests right now.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.” He cracks his knuckles. “Well, do you want to hang out at all?”

“It would probably be better if we didn’t. I think the family needs me right now.”

The girls grab their cones and run back outside to harass Kenzie. I keep my gaze locked on them, but I feel Carlos’s eyes studying me.

“Is everything all right, Charlotte?”

I clutch the doorknob to exit the shop. “Yeah, why?”

He grabs my forearm and spins me around. His grip is unnaturally strong, cutting into my muscle. “Why? I don’t know. Could be because you invited me here and seemed like you were excited to have me stay with you. And now you’re basically kicking me to the curb. You tell me the family dog died and some guy from work assaulted you. You keep saying you’re fine, but you don’t look fine.” His gaze flicks from one pupil to the other, trying to mine something in me.

I snatch my arm out of his and burst out the door. “What, are you my therapist now?”