LITMIR.BIZ

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morning and walk her through the steps for getting the breakfast buffet ready. Their enthusiasm was cute.

      Kailyn came over at three o’clock for our checkers game in the dining room. She beat me without me even letting her. “You’re getting good, Kiki. Have you been practicing?”

      “Trevor plays with me before I go to bed. He’s bad. He always loses like you.” As she set the board up for another game, I went into the kitchen to heat a homemade cinnamon bun for us to share. They were her favourite, along with my homemade hot chocolate. When I returned to the table with the tray, her mood shifted. She rocked back and forth in her chair and fidgeted with the checker pieces. “Derian, are you going to leave?”

      I knew she wouldn’t like the truth because change was not something she was comfortable with, but I couldn’t lie to her, so I said, “A new family is moving in to run the Inn starting September. I’m probably going to move to Toronto to go to a school there. They are a really nice family. You’ll like them.”

      “Toronto is far away. When will I see you?”

      “During the holidays, I guess.” Her expression was heartbreaking, so I added, “But there is also a small chance I might move to my mom’s in Vancouver and go to Trevor’s school. I haven’t decided yet.”

      “You don’t like your mom. You can live with us.”

      “What? Why would you say that? I like my mom.” I frowned, wondering where she got that idea from. Obviously I’d given her that impression with all my complaining over the years. “Okay, I admit, my mom might be a little challenging for me to live with, but I love her. And thanks for the offer, but it’s too inconvenient to drive from Britannia Beach to school every day.”

      “I don’t want you to move away.”

      “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay here forever.”

      She looked incredibly disappointed and I couldn’t handle it. I dropped extra mini marshmallows into her hot chocolate, but she didn’t take the mug when I offered it to her. She stared down at the tile pattern on the floor, still rocking. She had flip flops on and it looked as if she’d been hiking through mud puddles.

      “Did you go into the forest?”

      “No.” She was a horrible liar. Her facial expression always gave her away.

      “You’re not supposed to go into the forest by yourself.”

      She tucked her feet under the table so I couldn’t see them. “I’m a grown-up, Derian. I can do whatever I want.”

      “I know, but it’s not safe to go in the forest by yourself.”

      She picked up the mug and sipped the hot chocolate in a delay tactic. “I didn’t.”

      “Really? How did your feet get so dirty?”

      She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. “Don’t tell Trevor. He’ll be mad.”

      “He won’t be mad. He just doesn’t want you to get lost. Your dad and Trevor were really scared that time you got lost in the forest.”

      “I won’t get lost again. I promise.”

      “Okay. Good.” A man I didn’t recognize entered the Inn, and Granddad was showing Paula and Alan something in the basement, so I got up and rushed over to scoot behind the front desk and help the man. He had reddish-blond hair that was thin on top. His small eyes flicked around, searching for something. His gaze never rested on me even when I asked, “May I help you?”

      “I need a room until next Wednesday.”

      “Okay. We only have one small one left and it’s on the highway side.”

      “That’s fine.” He nodded. “I’ll take whatever you have. Everything in Squamish is full.”

      “Oh yeah, there is a big baseball tournament going on. They’re usually booked a year in advance for that. I’m going to need a credit card and a piece of picture ID,” I said.

      He frowned and sighed in a tense, irritated way. “I don’t have a credit card. I’ll pay cash up front.”

      “There’s a damage deposit of two hundred dollars. You’ll get it back when you check out if the room is in the same condition you found it in.”

      “Fine,” he said and opened his wallet. A credit card was perfectly visible in the first slot. When he realized I had noticed it, he tipped his wallet until I couldn’t see the card.

      I told him how much he owed and he counted out the entire amount in one-hundred-dollar bills. While I was getting the key, I caught him staring at Kailyn through the archway to the dining room. He was already creeping me out, but when he focused on Kailyn like that I felt extremely uncomfortable. “I’m going to need a copy of your driver’s licence in case you leave anything behind in the room.” I totally lied, but I wanted to have a record of him just in case.

      “It’s in my suitcase,” he said, even though he didn’t have a suitcase with him. “I’ll bring it down later this evening.”

      He was a quick liar, which made me more wary. “Your room is up the stairs and on the right. A buffet breakfast is available in the dining room between six and nine,” I said as he walked away. He didn’t say thanks.

      Kailyn had kept playing while I was gone, so I had almost no checkers left. “Did you see that man?” I whispered.

      “Yes. Is he a bad man?”

      “I don’t know for sure. It would be better if you didn’t talk to him or go anywhere with him just in case. Okay?”

      “Okay.” She cleared the board and set it up to play again. “Do you think I’ll ever meet Riley Rivers?”

      “Sure,” I said, but I was distracted because Murphy’s light-green GMC pulled into the parking lot with Trevor in the passenger seat. He looked as if he was still in one piece. It was a relief, but it meant something bad was still going to happen to someone at some point. Trevor transferred his climbing gear back into his own truck. Murphy waved one of his massive arms out the window, then drove away. Kailyn noticed me staring, so she followed my gaze.

      “Trevor’s home.” She got up, grabbed her half of the cinnamon bun to take with her, and walked out without saying goodbye to me.

      I cleaned up the game and returned it to the library, then loitered around the lobby, waiting to see if Trevor was going to come by and tell me about his trip. He didn’t call or come over, so I decided to focus on getting ready for my date with Mason instead.

      Sophie’s instructions were extremely helpful, and although I didn’t come close to resembling the girls who used to hang out with Mason in high school, I looked pretty good for me. Sophie’s heels made my legs look even longer, which I liked, because my legs were my best feature. And thanks to the conditioner I had brought back from Italy, my hair turned out extra shiny and smooth. A cardigan would have been my first choice, since it was still raining torrentially, but Sophie was right, it made the whole outfit look dumpy. For the sake of fashion I committed to braving the weather with bare arms.

      When I was finally as presentable as possible without professional help, I headed to the lobby. Trevor was leaning his elbows on the front desk and laughing with my granddad. He had on a white dress shirt, dark jeans, and motorcycle boots. He smelled really good. They both saw me at the same time. My granddad whistled, which made me feel suddenly very self-conscious. Trevor stood up straight and stared at me without saying anything. His expression was weird. I looked down at myself to see if I had screwed something up. The clothes seemed to look okay, so I smoothed my hair with my hands to check if it had gone awry. It seemed okay too. I stared back at Trevor and tried to figure out why he wasn’t smiling.

      Granddad excused himself, smiling and mumbling something I couldn’t quite hear as he disappeared through the archway into the dining room.

      “Welcome home.” Trevor

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