Wendy hadn’t given up yet, and she still wouldn’t. She was determined to bring her brothers home.
When she and Peter finally rescued them, would they still look the same as when they’d disappeared? Or had they continued to age, too? The thought of John now being sixteen and Michael being thirteen was jarring. Would she even recognize them? Would they recognize her?
Wendy pressed a finger to one of the red lines on her hand and winced.
Peter’s shoulders sank and his auburn hair fell into his eyes. He squinted, a small grimace playing across his face. “Does it hurt?” Peter asked.
She shrugged. “A bit. It’s mostly sore.” Wendy sat up straighter. Her dry, cracked hands were a constant reminder. She couldn’t keep herself from scrubbing away at them. People stared at them and sometimes the kids asked how she’d gotten hurt. It was embarrassing and she felt like they outed her as being odd, but the feeling of her hands being dirty made her skin scrawl. She bit her nails down to nubs, but things still caught under them sometimes. The Burt’s Bees hand salve she kept in her bag did little to help the irritated skin.
Wendy exhaled a deep breath and splayed her fingers on the table. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Here.” Peter leaned forward, picked up the plastic cup of water, and reached out for Wendy’s arm. Gently, he pressed the side of the icy cold cup to the cracks in her knuckles. Trickles of condensation ran down her wrist, making her shiver. “Does that help?” he asked, glancing up at her with those big blue eyes. His breath smelled like chocolate.
“Yeah, actually…”
Peter rested his elbow on the table, propping up his chin in the palm of his free hand. His smile peeked around the corner of his fist, and she couldn’t help smiling back.
She hadn’t laughed or smiled this much in a long time. Her cheeks were starting to ache.
“Wendy?”
The voice came from behind her. Wendy looked over her shoulder to see Jordan standing in the entrance to the patio, her boyfriend, Tyler, at her side. Jordan wore a maroon tank top and khaki board shorts. Over it she wore a black apron with the silhouette of a girl sipping from a cup, circled by the words COFFEE GIRL. Her brown curls were tied back in a knot. Jordan’s mouth was agape, her eyes wide with surprise as they bounced back and forth between Wendy and Peter.
Tyler thumbed through his phone with one hand, and the other held the leash to his husky, Bucky, who panted merrily at his side. Bucky was half blind, the fur around his snout a pale gray.
“Jordan, Tyler—hey!”
Tyler nodded in greeting, barely sparing her a glance. Meanwhile, Jordan’s eyes immediately snagged on her outstretched arm in Peter’s hand.
Wendy jerked it back and jumped to her feet. Peter also stood, giving Jordan a curious look. Wendy pushed her fingers through her hair, uncomfortable laughter clogging her throat. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I’m on my way to work,” Jordan said with an awkward laugh of her own, gesturing down at her apron.
“Right—obviously!” Dumb question, Wendy.
“We grabbed lunch at the brewery before I had to start my shift. Tyler and Bucky are walking me down to the pier.” Jordan’s eyes went right back to Peter.
Suddenly, he stepped forward. Wendy nearly grabbed him, anticipating that he might say or do something incriminating.
“Hey, can I pet your dog?” Peter asked Tyler, looking hopeful.
“Mm?” Tyler spared him a quick glance from his phone. “Yeah, go for it, man.”
Peter sank on his heels and buried his fingers in Bucky’s golden scruff, his face splitting into a wide smile.
Bucky, in kind, sat back on his rump, his tail sweeping back and forth as his tongue lolled to the side.
As soon as Peter ducked out of sight, Jordan’s eye bulged as she emphatically pointed down at him and mouthed in silent exaggeration, WHO IS THAT?
“Oh, uh, this is Barry,” Wendy said. “He’s from out of town, just visiting his relatives for the summer.” The lie was simple enough, as long as Jordan didn’t ask too many questions. She hated lying to Jordan. It didn’t feel right at all, but Wendy couldn’t just tell her the truth, especially in front of Tyler. “I’ve been showing him around town. Being neighborly and all that.”
Wendy hoped Peter wouldn’t say anything strange, but, apparently, she didn’t need to worry.
Peter sat cross-legged on the ground, distracted and chuckling as Bucky licked at his face.
Jordan gave Wendy a knowing look. “Uh-huh, neighborly.” The smirk on her best friend’s face let Wendy know exactly what she was thinking. But, just to be sure, Jordan mouthed, He is SO cute.