“Hey, Abby.” Sebastian swung one long leg over the picnic table’s bench. There was at least twelve inches of space between them, but Abby could still feel, or imagined that she could feel, the heat from his body; the warmth of his regard. She could also feel her mother’s attention sharpening.
“We still on for tonight?” he asked, unwrapping an enormous hoagie.
“Mm-hmm.”
“What’s happening tonight?” Eileen asked.
“Oh, nothing,” said Abby. As Sebastian said, “We’re having dinner together.”
The line between Eileen’s brows deepened. “Don’t you always have dinner together?” Eileen asked.
“That’s what Abby said!” Sebastian had the nerve to look pleased with himself.
“We’re just going to sit together and Sebastian is going to interview me,” Abby said hastily, hoping to forestall her mother’s interrogation. Wondering if there was any way Eileen had figured out what had transpired the day before. There was no way she could have known, Abby told herself, and hoped that she was right; that it wasn’t written all over her face. As she hoped, she also remembered how Mark had helped to get Eileen on the bike trip. Did that mean they were still talking? Was Mark casually calling her mom for updates—Hey, Mrs. F., just want to hear how it’s going out there? Was her mother casually calling Mark, unprompted—Hello, Mark, just wondering if you were aware that there’s a very handsome young man on this trip and he and Abby seem to be spending a lot of time together?
“So you two are friends now?” Eileen was asking. Her tone was innocent, and her expression gave nothing away, but Abby knew when she was being judged. After a lifetime’s worth of experience, of course she knew when she’d done something wrong or disappointing; when Eileen had weighed her in the balance and found her wanting.
“It’s just dinner,” Abby muttered. Eileen’s chipmunk-bright eyes stayed fixed on her daughter.
“Oh!” said Sue, taking a seat next to Sebastian. “You two are having dinner together?”
“We are,” said Sebastian. Sue and Lou both looked delighted to hear it. Lou actually clapped her hands together, beaming. Eileen said nothing as the rest of the Spoke’n Four sat down. Today, their jerseys were kelly green with white lettering.
“Where’s Andy?” Lou asked Abby quietly.
“In the doghouse,” Ted boomed, not quietly. “You know he ran off with Morgan this morning.”
“Shh!” Sue hissed as Ezra’s head popped up.
“Andy’s taking a day off,” said Abby.
“And Morgan’s with her mom. I think they’re going shopping,” said Eileen. Abby gave her mother a grateful look.
“Andy’s with his mom, and Morgan’s with hers, and both of them are in trouble,” Ted said, oblivious to the other three’s attempt to shush him. Sebastian smiled at her. Abby ducked her head, but she couldn’t keep herself from smiling back. In spite of Eileen’s scrutiny and judgment, in spite of her fear, or maybe paranoia, that her mother and her boyfriend were both onto her, she felt happy. She had zero hopes of things with Sebastian going anywhere, the same way she’d had no expectations the night they’d hooked up in Brooklyn. At least, she was doing her best to keep from hoping for things that would never happen. And, just like she’d been on that night, she couldn’t wait to be with him, to be close enough to feel the warmth of his body, to bask in his attention, even if it was only for the length of a meal.
* * *
At home, in her apartment in Philadelphia, Abby had a closet full of clothes and a drawer full of lingerie; a vanity full of makeup, and a hairdresser around the corner. Here, in her hotel room, she had a tinted ChapStick and a travel-size bottle of lotion. Her only jewelry were the tiny studs in her ears. Her only footwear were a pair of slip-on sneakers and her cycling shoes, and her only grooming products were deodorant, and the hotel-provided shampoo and conditioner.
Abby shook her head, and started twisting her curls with her fingers, murmuring “My kingdom for a diffuser,” when she heard a knock on her door. She opened it to find Lou and Sue, standing in the hallway.
“We heard there was a fashion emergency,” said Sue.
“And we’ve come to the rescue,” said Lou. “Come with us!”
Abby found her shoes and let Lou and Sue lead her out of her room and out the door, across the puddle-dotted parking lot, and into the Spoke’n Four’s RV. Abby was amused to see an IF THE TRAILER’S ROCKIN’， DON’T COME KNOCKIN’ bumper sticker affixed to one of the windows.