Page 35

35

LYDIA

Lydia was nearly to the trees, beanie pulled low and palms wiping her cheeks, when she heard noise from within the shed.

Ray had been in there earlier, hadn’t he? If her dad was still in the house, then it had to be him.

She didn’t want to admit how relieved it made her to think she wouldn’t have to walk all the way to his home. Her limbs hurt with the small, muscle-numbing pain that meant something worse was coming, and she hadn’t taken her med pack with her, and she was so stupid tired in the way that her body got after big emotions, and she didn’t want to be near her dad but she also didn’t want to be away from him either.

What she wanted, most of all, was for Ray to tell her it was okay that it sucked, and then to curl up on her floor with a pillow and watch videos until she forgot to be worried about Dad panicking himself into a migraine. Maybe Ray would stay with her dad for a bit. Maybe he could help.

Lydia gave her face one last rub with her beanie, sliding it back on and taking a good, deep breath to get the sobs out of her lungs, before stepping into the shed. “Hey, Ray—”

She froze four steps in.

The man hovering over her dad’s work bench, sliding his phone into his pocket as his eyes locked on her, wasn’t Ray at all. He smiled. “You must be Lydia. I’ve been waiting for you.”