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Little Jack tossed a handful of popcorn too, only his reach wasn’t quite as strong, and the pieces tumbled off the backs of the people sitting in front of them.

Jack giggled as they turned around, brows knitted.

“Sorry,” Jude apologized, but he was doing a poor job of holding in his laughter too.

“That guy’s not wrong,” I said, while Jude gently admonished his son. “It’s hard to watch.”

This was supposed to be a championship game, but the Quince Valley team seemed to have lost confidence early on.

The coach, who’d just called for a timeout, went to confer with his pitcher.

Jude stood up, stretching.

“Not you, too?” Cass asked.

“I’m just going to take Jack to the concession.”

“I’ll go,” Chelsea said, tucking her phone in her pocket. “I need some water.” She’d promised Cassandra she wasn’t hungover, but she’d shown up in dark sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat, complaining about the sun being ‘too loud’.

“No,” Jude said. “I’m on it.”

“It’s fine, I—”

“Relax, I’ll get you your water.”

It was then I noticed the woman standing over by the food service area. Even from this far away, I could tell she was looking at us, her hand up in a little wave.

Chelsea sighed and leaned back against the chain link fence behind us. “Fine. Extra ice, please.”

Jude turned to us. “You guys want—” he began, but Jack let out an excited whoop—he’d spotted the woman too. She must have been waving at him. He began climbing around people's legs to get to the stairs.

“Buddy, slow down!” Jude called, running after him.

“Who’s she?” I asked after they’d left.

I wasn’t sure Cassandra had heard me. She was gripping my knee now, assessing the situation with narrowed eyes.

“Nora,” Chelsea said for her. “The Quince Valley Town librarian. Which is funny, considering I don’t think Jude’s been in a library since… ever.”

“He takes Jack to story time there,” Cass said, bringing her attention partway back to us. “I think they’re just friends. Actually, that’s thanks to you,” she said to me.

Chelsea, meanwhile, had gone back to her phone.

“Me?” I asked, surprised.

“You’re the one who suggested Jude start going to the library to look in the archives. He’s really into this Eleanor Cleary ghost story.”

“He’s not the only one,” I said, remembering now that Lila insisted I tell her whatever they find out about the cipher. “Lila’s pretty invested too.”

Cass laughed. “Really? She seems so… practical.”

“She is. But ghosts or no, it’s a cool mystery.”

For a moment, we sat in silence, and I knew Cass was thinking about Lila. Her brows had slanted the same way on the beach that morning when she’d asked what happened with her.

“Lila came out to her parents,” I’d told her. Lila had given me permission to share with Cass. No more secrets, she’d said. “It didn’t go great. Her mom is working on getting there, but her dad’s not speaking to her.”

My heart hurt thinking about it now. It was the thing Lila had been trying to avoid her whole adult life. But you can’t run away from that kind of pain.