Beautiful Darkness(34)

“Fries.”

“Exactly.”

I turned bright red, thinking about how flustered Mrs. Lincoln had looked when we dropped those books off at her door. I didn't point out to Liv that Delilah's devotee was the mother of my best friend, and the most ruthlessly righteous woman in town.

“So, you like the Dar-ee Keen?” I changed the subject.

“I'm mad about it.” Liv took a bite of her cheeseburger, big enough to put Link to shame. I'd already seen her wolf down more than the average varsity basketball player at lunch. She didn't seem to care what I thought about her one way or another, which was a relief. Especially since everything I did around Lena lately was wrong.

“So what would we find in your brown paper package? Church books, romance novels, or both?”

“I don't know.” I had more secrets than I knew what to do with, but I wasn't about to share any of them.

“Come on. Everyone has secrets.”

“Not everyone,” I lied.

“There's nothing at all beneath your paper?”

“Nope. Just more paper, I guess.” In a way, I wished it was true.

“So you're rather like an onion?”

“More like a regular old potato.”

She picked up a fry and examined it. “Ethan Wate is no regular old potato. You, sir, are a french fry.” She popped it into her mouth, smiling.

I laughed and conceded. “Fine. I'm a french fry. But no brown paper, nothing to tell.”

Liv stirred her sweet tea with her straw. “That confirms it. You are definitely on the waiting list for Divinely Delicious Delilah.”

“You caught me.”

“I can't promise anything, but I will tell you that I know the librarian. Rather well, it turns out.”

“So you'll hook me up?”

“I will hook you up, dude.” Liv started laughing, and I did, too. She was easy to be around, like I'd known her forever. I was having fun, which, by the time we stopped laughing, turned into feeling guilty. Explain that to me.

She returned to her fries. “I find all the secrecy sort of romantic, don't you?” I didn't know how to answer that, considering how deep the secrets went around here.

“In my town, the pub is on the same street as the church, and the congregation moves directly from one to the other. Sometimes we even eat Sunday dinner there.”

I smiled. “Is it divinely delicious?”

“Nearly. Maybe not quite so hot. But the drinks are not quite so cold.” She pointed at her sweet tea with a fry. “Ice, my friend, is something you find on the ground more often than in your glass.”

“You have a problem with Gatlin County's famous sweet tea?”

“Tea is meant to be hot, sir. From a kettle.”

I stole a fry and pointed it back at her sweet tea. “Well, ma'am, to a strict Southern Baptist, that is the Devil's drink.”

“You mean because it's cold?”

“I mean because it's tea. No caffeine allowed.”

Liv looked shocked. “No tea? I'll never understand this country.”

I stole another fry. “You want to talk about blasphemy? You weren't there when Millie's Breakfast ’n’ Biscuits over on Main started serving premade freezer biscuits. My great-aunts, the Sisters, pitched a fit that nearly took down the place. I mean, chairs were flying.”

“Are they nuns?” Liv stuck an onion ring inside her cheeseburger.

“Who?”

“The Sisters.” Another onion ring.

“No. They're actual sisters.”

“I see.” She slapped the bun back down.

“You don't, not really.”

She picked up the burger and took a bite. “Not at all.” We both started laughing again. I didn't hear Mr. Gentry walk up behind us.

“Y'all get enough to eat?” he asked, wiping his hands with a rag.

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“How's that girlfriend a yours?” He asked as if he was hoping I had come to my senses and dumped Lena by now.

“Um, fine, sir.”

He nodded, disappointed, and walked back toward the counter. “Say hello to Miss Amma for me.”

“I take it he doesn't like your girlfriend?” She said it like a question, but I didn't know what to say. Was a girl still technically your girlfriend if she drove off with another guy? “I think Professor Ashcroft may have mentioned her.”

“Lena. My — her name is Lena.” I hoped I didn't look as uncomfortable as I felt. Liv didn't seem to notice.

She took another sip of her tea. “I'll probably meet her at the library.”

“I don't know if she'll be coming by the library. Things have been weird lately.” I don't know why I said it. I barely knew Liv. But it felt good to say it out loud, and my insides untwisted a little.

“I'm sure you'll work it out. Back home, I fought with my boyfriend all the time.” Her voice was light. She was trying to make me feel better.

“How long have you guys been together?”

Liv waved her hand in the air, the weird watch sliding down her wrist. “Oh, we broke up. He was a bit of a prat. I don't think he liked having a girlfriend who was smarter than he was.”