“You did,” I said, holding her hand. I nodded over the side. “Remember St. Anthony Falls?”
“Yeah.”
We stopped to look at the water.
“You liked where you lived, huh?” she said.
“Minnesota? Yes, of course.”
“No, I mean you liked living here, near this.”
“I did. This is my favorite part of the city. I always dreamed of living within walking distance to the bridge. Didn’t dream about having a giant plumber staring into my apartment, but I do love the rest of it. I did love the rest of it.”
I went quiet.
She nudged me. “What are you thinking?” she asked.
I paused. “I feel like I’m showing you a life that doesn’t belong to me anymore.”
She looked out over the river. “I understand. I’ve had a lot of lives too. And none of them belong to me anymore either.”
I turned to look at her. “You could make one that does. You could always stay.”
I couldn’t read the smile she gave me. I wished I could.
I could ask her what she was thinking. She’d have to tell me. But I was as afraid of the answer as I was of not knowing and I didn’t want to put a shadow on the night if it wasn’t what I wanted to hear.
I cleared my throat. “Come on. Let’s go get gelato.” I nodded to the other end of the bridge.
A couple walked by, and the guy noticed our outfits. “Cool shirts.”
“Thanks, we’re employees,” Emma said.
I was laughing at this when my phone rang. I pulled it out and checked it. It was Leigh.
I debated just letting it go to voicemail, but she usually texted instead of calling and she had the kids.
“Hold on,” I said. “This might be important. Leigh?”
“Justin, I’m sorry, but I need to make you aware of something.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The kids have head lice.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Fuck.
“All of them?” I asked.
“Every last one. Chelsea came home with a letter from the preschool that there’s been an outbreak, so I checked ’em and sure enough. I’m gonna get started on shampooing everyone. I gotta comb the eggs out and the girls got long hair. I have to wash all the bedding, all Chelsea’s dolls, disinfect the brushes, run to Walgreens and get the treatment—”
I could hear Sarah losing her absolute shit in the background.
“Sarah’s having a goddamn fit,” Leigh said. “And Alex is no help. Your brother keeps dry heaving when I even mention he pick up a comb.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Okay. All right. Can I have a few hours? At least go out to eat with her?”
“You can stay for the whole thing if you want, I can handle it. But if the kids have head lice, you probably have head lice. If you’re fine with that, continue on.”
Fuuuuuuuuuuck.
Sarah screamed again in the background, and Leigh made an exasperated noise. “Hold on. Sarah? You’re gonna scare your sister. Zip it.”
“It’s disgusting!” she shrieked. “We all got this from her. She’s so gross, why does she always have to hug everyone?!” She was crying.
“Sarah,” Leigh said in a warning voice.
“You don’t understand!!!”
“Oh yeah? If I have to pick ’em off you, how is it I don’t understand? If you want to help, go strip your bed.” Leigh came back to me. “Justin, I gotta go. Let me know what you want to do.”
I moved the phone away from my mouth like she could see my disappointed expression through the line. I was going to lose my date with Emma.
I didn’t see what choice I had. I couldn’t walk around with lice if I had it. I wasn’t itchy, but who fucking knew. And I didn’t feel good about leaving Leigh to deal with Sarah’s meltdown either.
“Okay,” I said reluctantly. “I’ll be there in a bit.”
I hung up and turned to Emma, dragging a hand over my face. “I need to go home.”
