“Hey, Vi,” Lily said. “Have you met our neighbor Nick?”
Lily spoke calmly. Casually. She didn’t want Violet to jump to conclusions about her and Nick, or worse, try to play matchmaker.
“So you’re the famous Nick.” Violet’s eyes twinkled. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Did you just move in?”
Lily groaned, embarrassed on Violet’s behalf. “He’s been here for months.”
“I moved back in March,” Nick said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Really?” From Violet’s tone, you would have thought Nick’s move-in date was the most interesting piece of information she’d heard all day. “Well, it’s nice to meet you too, Nick.” Her eyes darted between them again. She was smirking. Lily didn’t like that smirk.
“So, what were the two of you up to?” Violet asked.
“We were just talking about books,” Lily said quickly, and Nick nodded in agreement.
“Books, huh? That’s so interesting. Do you hang out in the hallway together often? Nick, I don’t know if my sister has told you this but I’m bicoastal, so I miss out on a lot. I didn’t find out until very recently that you and Lily were spending time together.”
Now Violet’s smirk had transformed into a full-on Cheshire cat grin. She was raring to go. Lily swore under breath.
“Uh, yeah, she did mention that you spend time in LA,” Nick said to Violet. He glanced at Lily and flashed a smile. He had no idea that he was walking right into Violet’s trap.
“Mhmm,” Violet mumbled. She turned to Lily. “I just had a wonderful idea. You know what we should do?”
“What?” Lily asked, already grimacing.
“We should invite Nick to the barbecue next weekend.” She turned back to Nick. “We’re inviting you to our parents’ July fifteenth barbecue. It’s a big birthday thing that they do. It’s lots of fun. Say you’ll come.”
Lily balked. Nick blinked, wide-eyed. He glanced back and forth between the sisters. “I don’t want to intrude—”
“You won’t be!” Violet said. “But you will disappoint me and Lily if you say no.”
“Vi,” Lily hissed. “Nick, I’m sure you have better things to do with your Saturday than join us for our parents’ birthday party.” She shot Violet a look, which Violet ignored.
“What’s better than spending a Saturday afternoon at a barbecue with good food and good people, am I right?” Violet said. “We’d love to have you. So, you’ll come?”
“Uh. Sure, yeah,” Nick sputtered. It was obvious that Violet wouldn’t take no for an answer. “But only if it’s all right with Lily.”
They both looked at Lily. The thought of exposing Nick to her family made her want to crawl inside the deepest cavern in the Grand Canyon. But then again, possibly to her own detriment, her desire to have a reason to spend more time with him was stronger.
“It’s okay with me,” she said.
“Perfect!” Violet declared. “It was lovely meeting you, Nick.”
Lily shot daggers at Violet with her eyes. Violet smiled in her dazzling way and sauntered back across the hall, letting herself into their apartment.
“So . . . she seems nice,” Nick said.
Lily frowned at him. “She thinks she’s being slick.”
“Slick about what?”
She almost said that Violet was trying to set them up, but if that wasn’t obvious to Nick, she’d leave it alone. It wasn’t like Violet’s efforts were going to be successful.
“Nothing,” she said. “So, I guess we’ll see you next Saturday.”
“I’ll see you next Saturday.”
“Good night.” She backed away, clutching his copy of The Nermana Chronicles to her chest.
“Good night.”
He waited until she opened Violet’s door and waved before he went inside his own apartment.
Later that night, as she lay on Violet’s couch with Tomcat curled in her lap, she paged through Nick’s book, fingering the creases of the pages he’d dog-eared. The book was old and worn, well loved. And he’d trusted her enough to let her borrow it. She placed it on Violet’s coffee table and snuggled under her blanket, careful not to wake Tomcat.
Right before falling asleep, she realized she hadn’t thought about Strick even once all week.
11
On the morning of July 15th, Lily sent prayers to God, the universe and anyone who would listen that the entire day might go off without a hitch. That her family would get along. That no one would make comments in front of Nick that might embarrass her.