“I’ll see you around, Foxberry,” Beau said to him as Trey got in his truck.
“Beau, you all right?” Kasey asked him.
“I’m all right. I’m good. I’m gonna go up there. I’ll see y’all soon,” Beau said to them. Ada didn’t know where or when they’d see Beau again, but she believed him and she liked that he said it. He jogged away from them and ducked inside the hospital.
The construction boys were gone now and so was Trey. Once all three girls were in the minivan together, Kasey told them Caro said Trey barely touched her arm when he was in her room and she freaked out and scratched him. Kasey saw those fresh scratches on Trey when she was talking to him in the hallway. He stayed out there while Kasey listened to Caro talk about how she was worried he’d try to use those scratches against her and claim that she tried to attack him. Kasey attempted to calm Caro down, telling her it’d all be okay. There was heat pouring off Kasey, and Ada turned the AC up.
Kasey told them the plan had changed. Tonight was tornado weather, so they’d move it to tomorrow. It’d been all over the news on the TVs inside, and as soon as she mentioned tonight for dinner, the weatherman talked about how bad it was going to be, so she asked Trey if Friday would work better. He said yes.
“I hate to change plans, but I also don’t want to deal with wrestling with a tornado and Trey Foxberry at the same time. Plus, it’d look weird if I insisted it had to be tonight. Flexibility is key here,” Kasey said, tucking her rain-wet hair behind her ears. “But I don’t want to wait around to see what tricks he has up his sleeve either.”
Kasey was right. If they waited…if Trey got another chance…
The wind was picking up; Ada craned her neck to get a good look at the sky.
“We’re not spooked by changing the plan, are we? Because I’m not,” Rosemarie said. “This isn’t like last time.”
“No, it’s not. Plus, Caro’s got her surgery tomorrow. She’ll be out of it for most of the day. That’s even better. The less she knows, the better,” Kasey said.
“Was he weird about it?” Ada asked Kasey.
Kasey shook her head. “He asked if I was flirting with him,” she said.
“Are you fu— Are you kidding me?” Ada asked, whipping around to look at her.
“Nope. He said it real quiet so no one else could hear him. I told him no, I just wanted to hear his side of the story—that was all. Give him a chance, since I don’t know him or anything. Also, wasn’t that a shame we never got to know each other in high school?” Kasey said, making her voice different and batting her eyelashes.
“Excellent. When it stops raining so hard, Rosemarie and I will go in there and see Caro. I bet she was so scared when Trey was here,” Ada said.
“Yeah, but I told her Beau was with y’all and that helped. And Mimi never left her side,” Kasey said.
“I’m so glad Beau came. He said he wants to kill Trey,” Rosemarie told Kasey.
“No shit. Did you tell him to wait his turn?” Kasey asked.
“Actually, yep. We did,” Ada said as the windy rain slid across the minivan like a curtain snatched back.
2004
32
Ada,
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was leaving, but I will email you properly soon. And call! We’ll see each other soon, somewhere. You’re such a city girl I’m sure you can already hear NYC calling your name. Ada, you’re the Princess of Goldie and that’s one thing I’ll love about Goldie forever. Goldie is good as long as you’re in it. Although I do hate to leave like this, I know you and me will be fine. I hate that I couldn’t tell you beforehand, because I know how much you love a damn schedule!!
Please tell your mom and dad thank you so much for everything. For feeding me and for letting me practically live at your house sometimes. Please tell Taylor I love her too. Tell Grayson I love him too, but wink when you say it, because that’s what I’d do. He’s my buddy and the two of you are going to make the prettiest babies someday, I know it.
About Silas…I’ve written him a long letter. He’ll probably hate me forever, but I’ll love him forever anyway. You can tell him I said that. I also told him that in the letter. I will email him or call him when I can. I promise.
Talk soon.
I love you so much.
RACK forever.
Kase
*
With Kasey gone, Ada spent a lot of time talking Silas down. The morning after he’d found Kasey’s letter by the bear outside the lake house, he stopped by Ada’s and asked if she knew exactly where Kasey was going, and Ada told him that she only had the address for the building her dorm would be in when school started. He said he was going to drive to NYC and go to the dorm, try to find her. Ada explained to him that Kasey wouldn’t be there yet, because the internship was somewhere else. Ada figured she’d worked out something until it started. Kasey was smart and resourceful by nature and made even more so by how she had to learn to survive under such awful circumstances growing up. Ada had been surprised Kasey left Goldie without saying goodbye, but also, Ada hadn’t been surprised at all that Kasey left Goldie without saying goodbye.
“I don’t understand why she broke up with me. Why couldn’t she tell me she was leaving?” Silas said, sitting on Ada’s front porch. It was only the second time she’d seen him cry. The first was at Kasey’s mom’s funeral.
“Y’all will talk soon, Si. She meant it when she said she’ll love you forever—trust me. Kase doesn’t say stuff like that about everybody. They have to earn it,” Ada said.
*
Once July rolled around, Silas started hanging out again with a girl named Lane he half dated before Kasey, and one night at the lake house when Mr. and Mrs. Castelow were out of town, Silas got the drunkest Ada had ever seen him and he called Lane Kasey more than once. She got so furious at him she slapped his face and left the party early. Ada and Grayson put him to bed, and he kept asking them to find Lane and tell her he was sorry. He said Kasey had run off with his virginity and his heart, and he felt like he was stuck in a bad fucking rom-com.
He hung out with Ada and Grayson a lot after that, and they didn’t mind. Silas also picked up extra work with his dad, building decks and fences in both Goldie and Adora Springs, and Ada even gave him some work to do at the bakery sometimes, having him help her take inventory and entertain the kids when she and her mom had birthday cake tastings for persnickety parents.
*
With Rosemarie gone on the mission trip to Costa Rica, it was just the AC of RACK left in Goldie, which brought Ada and Caro closer than ever. Ada fussed at both Caroline and Taylor easily when they were in the kitchen with her while she was trying to finish dinner. Taylor’s new collie puppy was circling Ada’s feet, jumping up at her apron strings.
“Y’all! There are too many people and dogs in here. Caro, I’ll keep an eye on your cake; step out for one second, please! Taylor, take the puppy outside and go invite one of your friends over because I made way too much potato salad again,” Ada said, shooing them out. Taylor scooped the puppy up and ran to their daddy, asking him to go pick up her friend.