All the Inside Howling (Hollow Folk #2)(127)

We shook, and since I had no idea what to say, I decided not to say anything.

Without letting go of my hand, Jake continued, “He’s not mad at you. He just—he doesn’t know what to say. But he thinks you’re about two steps short of walking on water, and Sara talks about you like she’s finally caught the Man-in-the-Moon, and my dad asked when you were coming to dinner again, which you might not understand why that’s a big deal, but my mom says the only person he’s ever wanted for dinner was Ronnie Reagan. So if you’d give me a chance, I’ll try my best not to screw it up again.”

“Yeah, um. Sure.”

“He said you don’t really like talking either.”

“I don’t.”

To my surprise, Jake laughed and finally released my hand. “Will you let me do you a favor? Or maybe it’s more like asking you to do me a favor. I’m not sure which.”

“I guess.”

He cocked his head to the south. “Fifty bucks says he’s sitting in the Charger.”

“He’s here?”

“He dropped me off, and he won’t go anywhere or do anything or talk to anyone.”

“Yeah, ok.”

Jake’s face colored, and his thumbs punched down behind his buckle again. “My mom said—” His face turned even more red. “Aw, Jesus. She said he likes orchids. I just heard her say it one day, so I don’t know if it’s true.” He was sweating by the time he had finished, his speech growing faster and faster, and at the end he even jerked on his flannel collar.

I fought to keep from smiling. “Thanks.”

Jake nodded without meeting my eyes. I figured the biggest favor I could do for him would be never to put him in a position where he had to talk about his brother’s romantic preferences ever again.

“I don’t suppose,” I said, “you’ll let me see Temple Mae now?”

“Not a chance in hell,” he said. Politely, and still without meeting my eyes, but very, very firmly.

“Good night, Jake.”

“Night.”

I retraced my steps, but more slowly this time. My heart had slowed to a steady hammering against my ribs. He’s not mad at you, Jake had said. He’s not mad. But he doesn’t know what to say. And it made sense, of course. Austin Miller, who was handsome and nice and who had worked hard to become a better person, was doubtless having a hell of a time figuring out how to break up with me. He was sitting out there in the Charger, alone, really alone. He was sitting out there, thinking about how to break it off with me because I’d almost gotten his family murdered. He was a good guy. I took the stairs down, two at a time, and I thought I didn’t know a heart could break and just go on breaking, I never knew that. How could somebody know that until it happened? It was like one of the secrets of the universe, and you could only figure it out for yourself.

I picked up an orchid in the hospital gift shop, and as I stood at the counter, the pleasant-looking woman stared at me, waiting for something. I realized some sort of explanation was necessary, so I blurted, “I love him.” Saying the words out loud left me dizzy, and the woman loomed in front of me.

“Well,” she said, drawing out the word like she was unrolling a tangled ball of yarn. “I suppose you better tell him that. But you do still have to pay for the orchid.”

Of course, I couldn’t. I didn’t have any cash. I hadn’t had any cash in days. I blinked, set the orchid back, and heard a quiet laugh. A hand clapped me on the back, and its mate picked up the orchid and passed it to me.

Kaden Decosse stood behind me, wearing another of his ratty cardigans, smiling like his teeth were supercharged fluorescents. “I got it,” he told the lady. Then, giving me a gentle shove, he repeated, “I got it.”

I took a few steps. My brain, it seemed, had stayed behind on the third floor with Temple Mae and Jake, and I found myself saying, “He’s going to break up with me, right?”

Kaden mimed a kick, and I dodged back another step. “I like you, Vie. Really. And I’ve tried with you, I’ve made a serious effort. But sometimes, you are as dumb as the ugliest, heaviest sack of rocks.” When I didn’t move, he sighed. “If you don’t go, I’ll call Colton. He’ll just pick a fight with you.”

“Young man,” the woman behind the counter said.

“Yeah,” Kaden said, “I’ll pay for it. Vie, get out there, right now.”

“Young man,” the woman called again.

“I know. I said I’ll get it.”

“Not you,” the woman said. “You. With the orchid. Did you mean that, when you said you loved him?”

Not trusting myself to speak, I nodded.

“Child, that is the beginning and the end and it might as well be the middle. Go on out there. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Kaden cocked an eyebrow at me, grinned, and mouthed, Go.

So I went. Jake was right; the Charger sat at the back of the hospital lot, so far back that the distant light from the sodium lamps gave only a hint of the Charger’s electric blue paint. Most of the car, instead, blended into the blackness. Through the windshield, I could see Austin with his phone in his hands, his head tilted down towards the screen, its blue glow bathing his face. My sweaty palms slipped on the orchids tiny clay pot, and my heartbeat was so strong that it seemed outside my body, vibrating through my shirt and the denim jacket and sending shockwaves through the air.