town. The options that I can afford are limited.
I scroll through my phone, searching online for nearby apartments to rent. There are a bunch of summer leases available because a lot of students go back to their families for the summer, but all of the apartments for lease are two or three bedrooms. Seeing that Quinn and Amos—my only real friends—are going home for the summer, I need a one bedroom, a cheap one.
A text comes through on my phone. It’s Cat. She’s been texting me on and off over the past couple of months, asking if we can meet but I always tell her no. She has definitely been persistent. I know she means well and is trying to help, but Leo’s no longer in my life, so his family shouldn’t be either. I don’t have the right to know anything that Leo hasn’t told me himself, nor do I have a reason to get involved.
Please, Alma. Just meet me for a quick bite.
I’m driving through Ypsilanti in a bit.
Just tell me where to meet you.
I’m not going to give up until you talk to me.
It’s important. Pretty please.
Her texts come through in rapid succession. I don’t have time to respond to one before she’s texting again. She seems desperate to speak to me. I let out a groan and type back.
Fine. I’ll meet you at Luca’s Coney Island, but then that’s it.
Thank you, Alma! See you soon.
I grab my purse and head out. The walk to the diner is quick, and before I know it, I’m pulling the door open and finding a seat.
Maybe I should’ve offered to meet her somewhere else. This place will always remind me of Leo. Fear courses through me as I wonder if I’m going to run into him here. Though he’s seemed to have dropped off the planet, and I know because I’ve looked. Every time I walk across campus, my eyes scan for him. Every party Quinn drags me to, I look. He’s just gone. This school isn’t that big. There’s no way our paths wouldn’t have crossed, even once, since February.
“Hello, my lady! Good to see you. Is my favorite customer meeting you here today?” Luca greets me, setting down a plastic cup of water in front of me.
“No.” I shake my head. “I’m meeting someone else. Have you seen Leo lately?”
“Not for many months,” Luca answers with a frown.
His answer doesn’t surprise me. I knew Leo was gone. I felt it.
“Hey, Luca”—I look around at the packed diner—“you aren’t hiring, are you?”
“Why? You want a job?” He smiles wide.
“Well, I desperately need a job.” I nod, folding my hands in front of me.
“You’re hired. My waitress Sally just quit.”
“Really?” I gasp and stand to hug him. “Thank you!”
“Come in tomorrow, and we’ll get the paperwork completed and your schedule set.”
“You don’t know how much this means to me. Thank you so much, Luca.”
“Thank you.” He pats my hand and scurries off to another table.
The bell above the door chimes, and I look over to see Cat walking through the door. She waves when she spots me. I wave back and can’t help my smile. She’s just so nice. How she got mixed up with the Hardings, I’ll never understand.
I greet her when she reaches the table, and she pulls me into a hug.
“Thank you for meeting me, Alma. You look beautiful,” she tells me, though I think she’s just being polite.
“You too,” I say because it’s the truth.
“What’s good here?” she asks, looking over the menu.
“Everything. Though Leo’s favorite is the chili-cheese fries.” His name burns as it leaves my lips, but I swallow the hurt.
Luca returns to the table, and we both order the chili-cheese fries.
“Should I just get to it then?” She quirks a brow.
“That’d probably be best.”
“Well, as you know now, Leo has addiction problems,” she says softly, as if it pains her to admit it. “Stephen tells me that Leo’s been abusing substances since he was twelve. The other thing, the information that I wanted to tell you on Christmas … well, the thing you have to understand is that my husband loves his brother, but there is so much hurt between them that he doesn’t know where to start to mend it. You might see cruelty in Stephen, but it’s simply frustration. Anyway, I’m getting off track.” She waves her hand in front of herself.
I realize that she wanted to tell me that little tidbit about Stephen because I had seen the way he