9
Hadley
I pipedthe icing onto the cupcakes in a swirl of color, finishing with a flourish.
Everly moved closer to the counter, surveying my work. “That looks amazing.”
“I never would’ve thought to put those colors together,” Addie said softly. “They look beautiful. Birdie and Sage will love them.”
I gave her a smile even though it made my insides hurt. She was everything I wasn’t—graceful, reserved, quietly beautiful. I had a feeling she was exactly what Calder was looking for. And when he finally opened his eyes, he’d be lost to me forever.
But none of that was Addie’s fault. I pushed the tray of cupcakes towards her. “A slumber party needs cupcakes. Want to put the sprinkles on?”
She took in the array of decoration options on my counter. “I don’t want to screw anything up.”
“They’re unicorn cupcakes with every color under the sun in them. It would be impossible to screw them up.”
“Okay…” Addie examined each jar before picking one and delicately dusting some pink sugar on one of the treats.
Everly squeezed my arm and mouthedthank you.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
Toby:Video’s rendering. Should be done in a couple hours. You look badass!
Me:Thanks for weaving your magic. Just shoot it over when you’re done.
I moved from my texts to my email, scanning to see if Angela had sent the completed contracts for the Sport-ade deal. There wasn’t anything from her, but another message caught my eye. The subject line read:liar.
I clicked on it.
You think you’re so special. You’re not. I bet you bought every last follower. You’re nothing but smoke and mirrors, and one day people will find out. I’ll make sure of it.
A chill skittered down my spine, but I shook it off. It was probably some weirdly jealous teen. The message didn’t exactly scream maturity.
A hand landed on my shoulder. “Hey, you okay?” Everly asked.
I forced a smile. “Sorry, just work stuff.” I motioned for her to follow me. “Why don’t you help me with the sleeping bags and air mattresses?”
“Sure.” She followed me into the garage. “I really appreciate you including Addie and me.”
“Of course. How’s she doing?”
It had been less than a year since Everly and Hayes had helped Addie break free of her controlling father, and I knew the transition hadn’t exactly been easy.
Everly glanced back towards the kitchen as we stepped into the open garage, and I could see the worry for her cousin etched into her face. “I’m honestly not sure. I thought by now she’d have opened up to me. But I’m lucky if I can get her to have one or two meals with me a week. I want to help, to make sure she has whatever support she needs, but everything I do seems to be the wrong thing.”
I pulled Everly into a quick hug. “All you can do is be there when she’s ready.” Ev had already done everything she could for Addie, setting her up in Hayes’ old house and helping her get the babysitting job with Birdie and Sage.
“I can be as patient as the day is long with animals, but it’s harder with people.”
I chuckled. “I can’t be patient with anything, so you’ve got me beat.”
Everly scanned the storage boxes in my garage. “What am I looking for?”
“It’s over here.” I grabbed a box labeledcamping gearand another with no label at all. “Can you get three sleeping bags out of that box? I’ll get three air mattresses.”
“Is Shiloh not coming?”