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I watched her with my mouth hanging open. “How did you know where that was?”
“What? Um … that’s where I keep it.” A slow flush spread up her neck to her cheeks. “Why do you ask?”
We stared at each other for a seemingly endless moment.
“No reason.”
She held out the pin.
I pushed up my sleeves, took it, and started rolling.
When Lily and I walked out together at the end of our shift, the sun was shining through the disappearing gray clouds, reflecting off the puddles gathered on the asphalt. The humidity was stifling, making my hair feel heavy.
I shoved my jacket into my backpack and grabbed a ponytail elastic out of a side pocket. Stopping above the last step to the sidewalk, I held my bag between my knees and the elastic band in my mouth, twisting up my hair with my hands while I tried to keep my balance.
I froze midtwist when I saw Michael across the street. He was leaning back against a sleek black convertible with the top down, two fingers covering his lips to keep from laughing. He did that a lot. I wondered if it was a habit before he met me.
Lily let out a grunt of appreciation. “Mmm. Santa came early, and look at the deliciousness he brought with him.” She smoothed down her hair and rooted around in her purse, pulling out a breath mint. “Adios.”
“Hold it.” I reached out to grab the strap on her bag, pulling her back. “That deliciousness isn’t available for sampling.”
She turned to face me, eyes wide. “Is that the challenge you were talking about?”
“The challenge that’s off-limits. And occasionally a pain in the ass.” And possibly insane.
“Oh, girl.” Lily shook her head, looking back at Michael with obvious admiration. “I am so sorry.”
eaned over to peer into my eyes before saying with a hint of disgust, “You look like something I’d scrape off the bottom of my shoe.”
“Great, thanks. Not all of us can be naturally gorgeous. I bet you can’t even tell when you have sleepless nights.”
She shoved me out of the way and took over. “Let’s keep you away from heavy machinery until you get your groove on. Why no sleep?”
“The list is way too long.” And if I gave it to her, she’d call for the men in white coats. “Let’s just say I’m facing a challenge.”
“Does it have anything to do with Michael?”
I grabbed the cup of espresso she offered and threw it back in one scalding, exhilarating moment. After I could feel my tongue again, I held out my cup for a refill and said, “Sort of.”
“Sort of.”
“I’m not ready to talk about it.”
“Hmph.” Lily turned to start another espresso, and as if the day weren’t already off to a rip-roaring start, an image began to take shape behind her.
Just beyond the register sat a table full of teenagers in poodle skirts and letter sweaters. I knew they had to be ripples, because Murphy’s Law had slick, modern furniture instead of the leather booth with the Formica table where the couples were seated. They joked with a waitress in a pink nylon dress, a gingham-checked apron tied around her waist.
Pretty sure that wasn’t the standard uniform.
“Em? Emerson?” Lily snapped to get my attention. “Where did you go?”
“The nineteen fifties, if those shoes are any indication.” Saddle oxfords. Really.
“What?”
Crap. I’d said that out loud. “Nothing. Just a movie I watched last night. Thinking about it. Sandy and Danny. Beauty School Drop Out. Greased Lightning.”
“Okay.” Lily looked at me strangely as I sang “Shama Lama Ding Dong” under my breath. “I’m going to go pull some piecrusts out of the freezer. You’ll be all right out here by yourself?”
