“From one outsider to another, welcome into the fold,” I tell Liv, grabbing a fry and holding it up as a toast.
She looks cold, her nose turning a light shade of pink as she reaches for a fry and taps it against mine and then Rose’s. “Here, here.”
“Also, Rae Rae hooked me up. She gave us a couple of city passes that she got from work. Nine days to see five attractions. Prepare to feel like a local.”
Rose shakes her head. “Locals don’t do the tourist stuff.”
I point at our food. “She didn’t know what Dick’s was. She has to experience the tourist stuff to see the local stuff. We can’t send her back to Texas to tell them all it does is rain here.”
“It does rain a lot,” Liv says.
Rose laughs. “I’ve spent four years trying to convince her that she wants to stay in Seattle, only to be met with counters on how Texas is better. Good luck and Godspeed.”
I grab one of the milkshakes and place it in front of Liv and put a wrapped cheeseburger beside it. “Oh, I’ve got this.”
25
Olivia
I half expected Arlo to forget about what I’d told him about my mom and Ellen and his offer to come back with me and talk to the woman who may have cursed him. Maybe I expected it because he’d been so supportive and quick to offer his assistance or maybe because last night after I let him into the darkest room of my thoughts, he didn’t grow distant or strange like so many would.
Instead, he texted me this morning, asking me what time I wanted to go downtown to see her. I considered going by myself, but he was right, I didn’t want to go alone. I didn’t want to be with this lady by myself.
Arlo’s gray eyes study me, balancing my nerves as we stop outside of her shop.
I raise my hand and knock. Arlo stands beside me, his arms crossed over his chest, and a backward baseball hat covering his hair, his jaw flexed like his patience for this conversation is already in the negative. Focusing on him helps me ignore the erratic beating of my heart and the feeling my lungs aren’t working as my breaths fall too quickly. He grips my hand, his fingers lacing with mine. “If you want to go at any point, just say the words.”
I nod as the door opens, and the old woman appears. She looks surprised to see me, but it passes nearly as quickly as it flashed as she opens the door wider. “I was hoping you’d be back. Would you like to come inside?”
I nod without looking at Arlo to see his reaction.
The woman nods in return and takes several steps to the side, allowing us to come in. Arlo stays close to my side, providing a sense of security and confidence.
The shop is small, filled with live herbs and plants in every kind of pot, some colorful and others muted—both big and small. It smells sweet and floral, though there are no flowers, a giant counter set in the back with dozens of glass jars filled with dried herbs lining the wall.
“Who’s Ellen?” I blurt the question.
The woman smiles, the movement causing her too-large glasses to slide down her nose. “You already know—"
“I don’t want a riddle,” I say, cutting her off. “Who is she? And how do you know her?”
She smiles, but it waivers before quickly disappearing. “You know that, too.”
I shake my head. “What’s your name?”
“Miriam.”
“Do I know you?”
She blinks slowly and then rapidly before shaking her head.
“But you know Ellen? How? Did you know Holly? Is my dad really my dad? How do you know him? Why does he hate you? And why didn’t anyone tell me?”
She shakes her head, saying nothing.
Anger snowballs, making me feel too warm, and my too constricting. “You dropped a bomb in my life, and now you’re refusing to tell me anything. How is that fair? Are you just a fraud? Did you just get lucky pulling nothing out of thin air, not even aware it was something?” I fire off the questions and accusations as quickly as they pop into my head, and when she still makes no attempt to answer me, I shake my head and turn to leave. Arlo remains still, anchoring me from getting too far, and it’s not until I turn back around that I see why. She’s placed a photo on the counter, pinning it