Sammy—maybe four—pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest as he made his way over to us. He climbed onto the seat, crawled into her lap, and put his arm around her neck. Then he just looked at me—more like scowled.

I put my hand out for him to shake. I didn’t know if that was a thing that kids his age understood, but I didn’t know what else to do. “I’m Blake,” I told him. “And what’s your name?”

He shut his eyes tight and counted to six, missing the five. Then he opened them. A smile quickly spread across his face. “I’m Sammy.” He looked down at my hand and slapped it. Giggling, he turned to Abby. “Is he your friend?”

She smiled, but it was sad. “I guess.”

“I didn’t know you had friends,” Sammy told her.

She sighed then. “You better get inside before Mary realizes you’re gone.”

He hopped off the swing seat awkwardly, causing it to glide backwards. And then he was gone, running up the steps to the front door, just as it swung open.

He froze.

“Inside!” A middle-aged woman whisper-yelled. I assumed that must be Mary.

He ran in, ducking under her arm while her eyes searched the front yard. When she saw Abby and me, a different expression replaced the scowl on her face.

Sadness. Sympathy. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” Abby replied quietly.

Mary studied me quickly, before speaking to Abby, “When you’re done out here, come inside and get some clothes on.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Then she, too, was gone.

Abby self-consciously tugged her skirt lower.

“Abby . . .” I said cautiously. “What’s going on? Why did you want to lose yourself tonight?”

“It’s the anniversary of my mom’s death.” She glanced up at me now. “I was having a really bad day, Blake. The kind of day where all I want to do is forget.” Her voice broke. A tear fell. She went to wipe it away, but I beat her to it. I didn’t remove my hand from her cheek. Not even when her eyes widened in surprise as I leaned in closer. She searched my face, begging for an explanation.

“Do you think that’s what she’d want?”

She sniffed. “What?”

“Do you think that your mom would want you to try to forget her existence? Even just for one day? I don’t really know you, but from where I’m sitting, you turned out pretty well . . . and if she had anything to do with that, then maybe you should try celebrating her life, rather than trying to forget it.”

She let it out now—the sob that had been brewing inside her. “I’m sorry,” I said in an effort to soothe her, but my words just made her cry harder. “I’m so sorry,” I repeated.

She pulled back. Her hair caught in the wetness of her tears. “Where did you come from?” It wasn’t a question, though. More like a thought that needed to be voiced. Then she rubbed her nose against mine.

And then it happened.

The kiss.

My eyes drifted shut. I could taste the saltiness from her tears. But the moment was over way too quickly. I was still frozen when she pulled away. Her breath brushed against my lips. Then the cold morning air replaced it. “Thank you, Blake.” My eyes snapped open. She was already on the steps, walking up to the door.

I rushed over and took her hand. “What are you doing? Where are you going?”

She turned to me and placed one hand on my cheek, rose up on her toes, and kissed the other. “It’s just one night, Blake.” There she went, using that tone with my name again. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

I blinked, confused, as she ran up the steps and into her house, closing the door behind her.

What the hell had just happened?

I sat in my car for a good ten minutes before finally starting the engine. I’d never felt anything like that before—that anxiety at the thought of never seeing her again. I took one last look at the house. The attic light was on. She was there, one hand raised, waving good-bye.

CHAPTER FOUR

I lifted my head and reached for the phone on the nightstand. I had no idea how long I’d been asleep, but the ringing made my head pound. I knew it was Will, because he’d put some stupid rap song as his ringtone on my phone. It drove me crazy—which was why he’d done it. “What?” I said, sitting up and letting the covers bunch at my waist.

I tried to focus my vision as I pulled the phone away to check the time. It was early afternoon, but I felt like I’d only just fallen asleep.

“Find a new toy last night? Hannah was pissed you just left.”

I’d never been with anyone but Hannah, and I didn’t know what made him think differently. “That’s why you’re calling?”

His chuckle made me squirm. “No, dick. We’re all meeting at the tattoo shop. Remember?”

I rolled my eyes. We had just won the state championship the week before, and the team wanted to get matching tattoos. It was stupid. They were stupid.

“Yeah, man. I’ll meet you there,” I lied and faked the edginess in my tone as I said, “I gotta go. Hannah’s calling.” I hung up and threw the phone on the bed. Not five seconds later, it rang again. Hannah this time. I picked it up and rejected the call.

Resting on the edge of the bed, I let my feet drop to the floor with a thud. And then I did something pathetic. I got on my phone, pulled up Facebook, and typed in the name Abby. Of course I had been too dumbstruck to call my phone from hers and get her number last night, but I was sure we had to know some of the same people—and Facebook was the place to find anyone.