The Bookstore on the Beach - Brenda Novak Page 0,32
last thing you need to worry about,” he said, and the door swung shut as he walked out.
* * *
“I’ve decided what I want to get,” Taylor announced to Sierra. They were at Sierra’s house binge-watching A Handmaid’s Tale, a series Taylor hadn’t seen. Caden and the others hadn’t wanted to watch it. They were at the twins’ house playing pool, Taylor supposed. She didn’t know exactly where they were, and she didn’t care. While she liked the others, Sierra was the one who mattered to her. She’d never been quite so taken with anyone. Regardless of what question Taylor asked or what happened when they were together, Sierra’s response was always unexpected and unusual. Sometimes it was even inspiring—or witty or wise or just plain supportive and nice.
“Get for what?” she asked, moving the bowl of popcorn they’d been eating to one side as she paused the television and sat up.
“For the tattoo.”
“Oh! What are you thinking?”
“Daddy’s girl.” Just saying the words made Taylor smile. The idea of having that as her tattoo felt right and seemed to soothe some terrible upset inside her.
“In English?”
She felt her eyebrows go up. “I was thinking in English, but now that you bring it up, maybe I’ll go for Ukrainian. That’s his heritage, what I associate with him—and that’s where he went missing, so I feel like he must still be there, somewhere.”
“I could see that. Where will you put it?”
“I’m going to have it written right here in small letters.” She indicated the inside of her wrist.
Sierra sat up straighter. “Are you kidding? Your mother will be able to see that. Everyone will be able to see it.”
Taylor was well aware of that. “I’ve decided I don’t care,” she said, emboldened by Sierra’s example.
“Are you going to ask for permission, then?”
Taylor nibbled at her bottom lip as she imagined how that conversation might go. Considering the reason she was getting the tattoo—the significance of it—she felt she might be able to talk her mother into giving her permission. But she was afraid to risk asking in case she was wrong. “No,” she said with some conviction.
Sierra lowered her voice. “Will you get into a lot of trouble?”
“That’s hard to say. I might.” Taylor was nervous to find out, but she’d never been more committed to the idea than she was right now. “Whatever she does to me will set the precedent for Caden, and he also wants to get a tattoo, so there’s more to think about than how close I am to turning eighteen and being able to decide for myself.”
“Your situation and Caden’s are very different.”
“He’s only a year younger.”
“A year is a year. I just... I don’t want you to get grounded for the rest of the summer or something. Your mom would never do that, would she? Because I would hate it if I couldn’t see you. If there’s any chance of that, I think you should wait. Nine months isn’t really very long.”
It was the first time Sierra had indicated that she was special in any way, and that made her feel so good she couldn’t help reaching out to grab her new friend by the arm. “I’d sneak out, if I had to.”
Sierra’s eyes dropped to Taylor’s hand. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do,” she said earnestly.
“I don’t believe it,” Sierra said, pulling away. “It’s only because you don’t know me very well yet.”
“We’ve been together every day for two weeks! That’s a lot of time.”
Sierra looked as though she was about to say something important, but the door opened before she could, and Sierra’s father came into the house, yelling her name at the same time.
Sierra nearly spilled the popcorn she jumped to her feet so fast. “What is it?”
Dennis Lambert looked from his daughter to Taylor and back again. “Get her out of here,” he snapped.
Sierra’s face turned bright red. “But...we’re right in the middle of watching a show.”
His eyes were bloodshot, his clothes rumpled and he reeked of alcohol. It wasn’t even dinnertime yet. “I don’t care. Do what I say.”
A muscle moved in Sierra’s cheek. “You’ve been drinking again. Just go into your room. We won’t bother you.”
He moved so fast that Taylor fell back to avoid getting stepped on, and the next thing she knew, he’d doubled up his fist and was brandishing it an inch away from Sierra’s nose. “Oh yeah? You’re going to talk back to me? You know what happens when you do that.”