Page 24 of Distant Shores (Stapled Magnolias #2)

ADAIR

I was fairly certain I’d been body snatched.

Feeling at odds with my body wasn’t new to me, but this had taken it to a new level.

I should call Cole ASAP. This felt like his influence, which meant it was possible his mysterious new roommate Gary had actually murdered him. It tracked that my best friend would spend his afterlife possessing me, giving me the balls to call my new roommate beautiful. To her face.

I rubbed the back of my neck and stepped aside, clearing my throat. I wasn’t quite up for checking her indigo eyes for clues, so I let out a subtle breath of relief when she brushed past me and made for the front door without comment.

I bit back a laugh as she cursed under her breath at the door, somehow not getting the key in properly no matter how she finagled it.

She glanced over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at me.

Man, she could be scary, but I had to admit, that glare kinda did it for me too .

Lordy, I was in so much trouble.

“It probably needs to be lubed.”

Ireland’s tired eyes widened, and I clamped my teeth together in a regret-filled grimace.

Cole was definitely dead. After I confirmed that, I’d need to Google an old priest and a young priest.

“Sometimes, ahh—” I gestured to her hand that clutched the key. “—newly cut keys need that.”

As much as I wanted to look away, roll away, spirit myself away and join Cole wherever he was, I didn’t. I couldn’t.

Maybe I’d just hope for a sinkhole to open up beneath my feet.

“Noted,” she said finally.

Taking my own key from my pocket, I inched past her and unlocked the deadbolt and knob in two quick motions.

She huffed in annoyance, and I held back my smile at the sound as I stepped inside. The smartest move would be to go straight to my room. My ankle ached something awful, but I craved making her smile, and the desire to see it one more time today kept me in place.

“See?” I said, gesturing vaguely with my hands. “I walked in before you. Extremely rude.”

Her lips twitched, and my heart skipped.

That might have to be enough. For now.

I set the takeout bag on the table as she propped her board against the wall by the front door.

“Adeline has her key, right?” she asked, her hand hovering over the locks. “Though I guess she could be back already.”

I hummed, then inhaled deeply before yelling, “Delly! You home?”

Home….

Weird calling it that after only a few hours. I turned back to Ireland after it was clear there wouldn’t be a response, raising my eyebrows like a dork. “Safe to say she’s still out. And yes, she probably has her key.”

Ireland locked the deadbolt and knob in response, then aggressively pulled the knob to check that it’d actually locked.

I couldn’t tell if she hated locks or was just… not great at them.

“So, they had two kinds of soups today in the cafeteria,” I said, untying the bag and making a mental note to always double-check the locks too.

Not that I wasn’t already in the habit of doing that.

Maybe she couldn’t be comfortable until she super knew they were locked.

Kind of like Delly and her hair straightener thing.

She’d probably spent a year of her life checking or wondering if it was turned off.

Ireland turned to me with a confused frown. “What?”

I opened the bag and showed her the two containers of soup inside. “I wasn’t sure which one you might want. I didn’t think you’d had lunch yet, and it seemed like you came straight from class, so, uh, you’re probably hungry?”

She stared at me blankly, and I trooped on like the world’s bravest moron.

“I got the vegetarian option and the regular. Just in case you, you know, don’t eat meat.” I shrugged. “Delly went through a vegan phase, and honestly, it was cool, but I’ve learned not to assume.”

She stared at me, her expression completely unreadable.

I opened my mouth, but then closed it. I didn’t think I could survive saying “soup” one more time.

Just go to your room, Adair. You’re done here.

“You got that for me?” she asked quietly.

I nodded hesitantly, then pushed my hair out of my face, not really sure if that was the correct answer based on her tone.

She stared at the containers for several long moments, and then her chin started to wobble.

Oh no.

Her eyes flicked from the soup to me, then back to the soup, and she gritted her teeth.

“Hey,” I said, approaching her cautiously. “What is it? What do you need?”

She balled her hands into fists by her side and swallowed thickly.

“I don’t know. Everything.”

“We can put the soup in the fridge for later,” I said. “No pressure here. It’ll keep.”

I moved to take the soup to the fridge, but she grasped my forearm, halting me.

“I just want… him,” she whispered, dropping her hold on me to gesture across the house to her bedroom doorway.

“Him who?” I asked, taken aback. Was there some guy in her bedroom right now, waiting here for her while she went through all of that with her dad? And whatever else was going on with her life?

“My bed,” she said with a tired laugh, as if that explained it.

Bafflement shook hands with relief and my heart clenched as if it’d just escaped that sinkhole that I’d been desperate for only minutes ago.

“Your bed is a ‘he’?”

“Yep.” Her lip twitched again, like she was completely aware of how ridiculous it sounded but kept talking anyway.

Maybe Cole was haunting us both.

“I dunno. I can’t explain it . ” She threw up her hands, but the gesture was half-hearted.

“I know I sound so dumb. I do. I just love sleeping, Adair. Like, really, really love it.” Her glistening eyes met mine.

“Being in a bed in general, really. It’s my favorite hobby outside of dancing.

And this is the first bed I’ve had in….” She trailed off, her eyes widening in horror.

Maybe at what she’d almost admitted. Had admitted.

I couldn’t have that. Couldn’t bear her feeling self-conscious about opening up with me.

I gripped her upper arm gently and met her gaze. “Indigo Girl, I need you to be real with me, okay?” She nodded, not questioning the nickname that slipped out as I leaned in and asked her in a hushed tone, “Is my bed a dude too? Is there a way for me to check?”

The snort of laughter that came out of her shocked us both so much that we jumped, and then we laughed together.

It hadn’t even been that funny, but it felt like it, in a way that only things can when you were tired like this—stretched thin and completely off your routine.

Her laugh faded fast, and that made me damn sad.

“Thank you for that,” she said seriously, her voice almost hoarse as she wiped under her eyes. “And for your help with Dad. I hope whatever he said didn’t scare your sister.”

Delly had been a little taken aback when Mr. Sewell went from a quirky, placid guy to yelling, but she was okay.

We’d done our due diligence preparing this past month, ever since we got hired on to work at Live Oak for the summer, and she knew the facts and realities of memory disease on paper and now in practice.

There was also the truth that neither of us were strangers to yelling, but that was a whole other thing.

“Your dad is, well….” I paused, looking for the correct word.

Ireland’s expression instantly hardened, as if she was bracing for something shitty, so I hurried on.

“He’s hilarious, Ireland,” I said honestly.

“Asking Pops about his demons when they first met was one thing, but then the thing about Georgia’s state flower, calling it invasive as fuck? ”

Her eyes flicked to my mouth before moving to my eyes.

“It was iconic, really,” I continued, not sure what that was about. “Maybe the best state-specific burn I’ve ever heard.”

She deflated in relief, and I relaxed, too, but grimaced as my ankle started to throb.

“I have the feeling he’s always been a funny guy?”

Ireland made a soft sound, something between a laugh and a huff. “Yes and no. He takes some getting used to, and with Alzheimer’s, it’s, well… difficult to tell. The line between joking and… everything else, I mean. But yeah, for the most part, he’s always had an… edge, I guess you could say.”

I took in her tired eyes. “You were amazing today. Truly. Mr. Sewell is lucky to have you.”

She slid her right hand across her chest to grip her left arm, subtly hugging herself, but then dropped it in frustration. “Can I…,” she started, but then stopped, pressing her lips together, brow furrowing as she looked at the floor.

I studied her for a moment, thinking of my earlier assessment of her when she first walked into this house, then took a gamble and placed the takeout bag back on the kitchen table.

Holding my breath, I held my arms out in invitation.

Within three heartbeats, which was no time at all considering how fast my heart was currently racing, she made her decision .

Careful of my booted foot, she stepped between my feet and wrapped her arms around my middle.

As if we’d done this a million times before, my arms went around her, pulling her in tight.

Taking what I hoped was a subtle inhale of her lavender scent, I rested my chin on top of her head. Could she hear my heart trying to jump out of my chest?

She fisted her hands in the back of my shirt, pulling it taut against my front, and I wasn’t even self-conscious about her feeling my body. This beautiful, tired woman had a name now, and she was getting the hug I’d prescribed her.

She needed this. And maybe I needed it too.

Because Pops had scared me today. I’d never seen him so low energy, so checked out, and it’d thrown me.

But then Ireland was there, and she just… fixed everything.

I squeezed her in silent thanks, drawing a sigh from her as the tension in her body melted away.

She pressed the side of her face more firmly into my chest, and the urge to kiss the top of her head nearly overtook me.

Life had changed so much since the incident at the ravine, but holding Ireland like this was just as life-changing.