One of Us Is Back by Karen M. McManus

Author:Karen M. McManus [McManus, Karen M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2023-07-25T00:00:00+00:00

PART TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Addy

Tuesday, July 14

I take the envelope and hold it up to the light of my vanity mirror. No—not see-through. I’ll have to open it to know whether to expect a niece or a nephew in the fall. Maybe if I do, the excitement will help balance the nightmare this summer is turning out to be.

But then again, it might just be one less thing to look forward to.

My phone rings, and I drop the envelope when I see that it’s a FaceTime from Keely. “Hiiii!” she says when I pick up, waving from what looks like an oceanfront deck. Stars twinkle behind her as she adds, “Happy one-third birthday, Addy!”

“Thanks,” I say, propping the phone up against my mirror. There’s a brief second where I’m not sure what to feel, and then I take in Keely’s bright doe eyes and the glowing tan of her skin and—yes, there they are. Butterflies. “You look pretty. I miss you,” I blurt out, before my lizard brain kicks in and makes me say something like How’s the weather there?

Keely gives me a huge, dimpled grin. “I miss you too. And your hair looks amazing. Very celebration-ready. You know, I actually thought about flying out there for your party, but then I heard about Reggie and I wasn’t sure you’d even have it.”

Keely was going to fly out? All the way from Cape Cod? That’s—I don’t know. That seems like a lot. I scrunch down in my chair and say, “It’s been way toned down. Nate and I have terrible timing when it comes to these parties. The last one was barely a week after Brandon Weber’s death, and now…same thing, pretty much, with Reggie.” Gloom settles over me again as I tuck the envelope from Ashton’s obstetrician back into the top drawer of my vanity. Now is definitely not the time for happy news. “It’s so awful.”

“I can’t believe Nate and Bronwyn were the ones to find him,” Keely says. “That must have been so scary. Do the police have any idea who could’ve done it?”

“If they do, they’re not telling,” I say. “But you know Bayview. There are always a half-dozen people being sketchy at any given moment.”

“I do know Bayview,” Keely sighs. She tilts her head and adds, “And I know you. Be careful, okay? Just focus on getting to Peru. You have two weeks, and then you can exhale. Things could look completely different when you come back.”

“They could,” I say, picking at a hangnail. “And you’ll be back at UCLA by then, so—I guess I’ll see you at Thanksgiving, maybe?” I huff out a sort-of laugh and try to tamp down the butterflies because really, who am I kidding here? We’re on totally different schedules, and even if we weren’t, I’d just ruin things and then ruin our friendship too.

“That might be a good thing,” Keely says.

I blink, stung. I’m supposed to be the one doing the preemptive rejecting here. “Why?” I say.

“You remember when Cooper and I broke up?” she asks.

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