Skyler was at the register now, too, holding a magnet. Who was he buying a magnet for? Riley? Did Riley have a magnet board with pictures of her and Skyler all over it? Ticket stubs of places they’d gone together?
Stop,I told myself.Why do I care?
I went to the sock wall and found a pair of green and brown bison socks. As I was about to turn back, I noticed a rack of beaded friendship bracelets. They didn’t look exactly like the one that Skyler had given me, but they had the same feel. They were sold in pairs, of course, like all friendship jewelry was. I found myself taking a blue and silver pair off the hook and carrying it to the register with the socks.
“Are you guys still here tomorrow night?” Ty was asking as I rejoined them.
“I’m not sure,” I started to say when Skyler said, “Yes, weare.”
“Well, this is random,” Ty said, “but we’re having this dance thing at our campsite. We came with my aunt’s family and we invited a few other people we’ve met and you all should come.”
“A dance thing?” Paisley asked as the woman rang up my purchases. I added a couple Yellowstone postcards that were in a small stand by the register—one had some dramatic canyons surrounded by dark green trees. And another had the famous gushing geyser.
“Yes, I know it sounds lame, but we did it last summer, too,and it’s pretty fun. We string up lights and we dress up, or at least as dressed up as we packed, and we turn on some music.”
“That’s cool,” Skyler said. “We’ll be there.”
“Awesome,” Ty said. “Invite the rest of your family too.”
“Will do.”
***
“Will do?” I asked Skyler as we headed back after separating from Ty.
“What?” he said.
“Seriously?” Paisley said. “You’re either clueless or doing this on purpose.”
I pointed at Paisley. “What she said.”
“What? It sounded fun. Something different.”
“Okay, clueless,” I said.
“That guy likes Norah.”
“He doesn’t know me,” I said. “He just hasn’t seen a girl he isn’t related to in weeks.”
Paisley rolled her eyes. “Whatever the case, he thinks he likes you.”
“And?” Skyler said.
“And she doesn’t like him back.”
“I’m pretty sure Norah is used to that dynamic.”
“What?” I asked, more than shocked by his statement. Was he kidding? “No, I’m not.”
“Huh. Well, he’s throwing a party in the middle of a national park. That seemed like the kind of thing you’d be into.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”
He shrugged. “Just a hunch.”
Was this the same hunch he’d been using while looking at my Instagram? “Yeah, well, your hunches suck.”
***