Page 155 of The Five Year Lie

“Now pretend you’re going inside,” Jay says, taking multiple photos.

“Wearegoing inside. Aren’t we?”

“In a minute,” Jay says, snapping another shot. “Okay—now a selfie with me and Mommy. Ariel, come here a sec, would you?”

“Another one?” Buzz squirms.

I hurry over and stand beside him, because it won’t take too long, and I don’t want to ruin Jay’s first-day-of-school vibes.

“Smile!” Jay urges. “Good job. Okay, now show me where your classroom is. I’m ready to meet Miss Betty.” We all start toward the door.

“Excuse me, Ariel?” Maddy steps forward, halting my progress with her infernal clipboard. Today, the pen is disguised as a chrysanthemum. “It’s time to sign up for the fall festival.” She thrusts the clipboard in my direction. “Please take one slot for you and one slot for your partner.”

“Baby, taketwoslots for me!” Jay calls from the steps.

As if.He has no idea how slippery that slope can be. So I check just two boxes—one for apple bobbing, and one for pumpkin carving.

“Oh, those are fun choices,” Maddy gushes as she takes the clipboard back. “The apples and the pumpkins come to us at a discount from the orchard. You’ll pick them up the day before, okay? I’ll get you the number. We’ve got plastic carving tools, but you’ll need a chef’s knife to cut the stems out. You can wrap a piece of cardboard—”

“Around the blade,” I say. “So I won’t cut my bag. You gave me that tip last year. And thank you, Maddy. Really. I literally found that tip to be alifesaver.”

Maddy gives a slow blink. “You’re welcome, Ariel.”

“Now if you’ll excuse me...”

I hurry after my family into the school while the other moms continue to stare.

Ten minutes later we’re back in the Jeep. But Jay doesn’t start the car. He just sits there for a second, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

“Everything okay?” I ask. “Aren’t we going to the paint store?”

“Yeah,” he says, turning to me.

I should probably be over the surprise by now. But when I see those steady blue eyes look my way, I am still a little stunned that he’s here with me. For good.

“Is he really okay?” he says, his gaze flipping toward the school building. “We’re justleavinghim here with strangers? Didn’t he seem a little hesitant?”

I laugh and grab his hand. “He’s always a little quiet during the first half hour. That’s just Buzz.”

“If you’re sure.” He gives me the kind of smile that makes my stomach swoopy. “Paint store, then?”

“Definitely. We’ve got the whole morning.”

Needless to say, I’m no longer an employee of Chime Co. My uncle isn’t, either. My mother and the C-suite team have hired a new CEO—one who promised to make privacy and security his number one priority.

After all the bad press, I expected Chime Co. to go belly up. I’m no businessperson, but I couldn’t fathom how a brand could survive all this negative coverage about privacy violations and illegal surveillance.

For a minute there, it looked like I was right. Sales of new devices and subscriptions dipped a whole ten percent. But then sales leveled off when the new CEO came onboard. Which means that ninety percent of Chime Co. customers simply shrugged at the thought of randos with bad intentions watching their private video feeds.

What’s more, my mother expects to sell the company to a tech giant in the next three years, after the scandal dies down. She tells me they’re already circling like seagulls on the pier.

Mom is coping. I’ll give her that. She’s had to step in and involve herself with Chime Co. now that her ex-fiancé is in disgrace. The wedding is off, too. For now, anyway. I have a sneaking suspicion that Ray and my mother will find their way back to each other eventually. She still talks to him all the time.

I love my mother, but I don’t understand her. But I guess she’d probably say the same about me.

“How about this one?” Jay asks, holding up a paint sample in a saturated yellow.

“Baby, that’s a little bright. What’s it called?”