Free The Shadow Girl by Jennifer Archer Page A

“Maybe he’s maturing.”
    I snort a laugh, but then I remember the way he looked at me yesterday after that kiss. I didn’t recognize that Wyatt. Maybe he has changed.
    Wyatt’s wearing a ball cap with the bill to the back and a short-sleeved T-shirt. The muscles in his arm flex each time he swings the hammer. Crazy questions start knocking around in my mind as I watch him work: What if Wyatt and I hadn’t grown up together? What if we were meeting for the very first time?
    He lifts his head, catches sight of me, and stops hammering. “Hey.” Wyatt sits back on his heels, squinting in the sunlight.
    “Hey,” I say back.
    He flashes a grin, and I cross my arms, embarrassed that my hair is a mess and I’m not wearing a bra. Weird. Wyatt has seen me looking worse than this more times than I can count and I was never self-conscious. Suddenly, I wish that I could remember every detail of our kiss, and that wish startles me so much, I quickly shift my eyes to the ground.
    “Come on down whenever you’re ready, Wyatt,” Mom calls. “I’m sure you have chores to do at home.”
    “I’ll just finish this row,” he answers. “If you want me to come back later, I will.”
    As Wyatt starts hammering again, Mom says to me, “He’s nice to offer, but I can’t ask him to finish the roof.” She sighs. “I don’t know how we’ll afford to hire someone else to do it, though.”
    I flash back to Dad’s memorial. “I met someone who might be willing to do it,” I say, and tell Mom about Ty Collier.
    She frowns. “I don’t know, Lily. I don’t like the idea of hiring a stranger.”
    “He helped me with Dad and Cookie.”
    Reluctantly, Mom says, “I’d want to meet him before I decide. And I’d need references.” She hesitates another moment, then smiles, adding, “I guess you can call him.”
    I send her a cautious smile back, relieved that she’s more like her old self today. I consider asking about Jake and Winterhaven, Massachusetts—if she’s ever heard of it, if we’ve ever been there. But something tells me that Jake and Winterhaven are connected to the secret Dad wanted to tell me, and that both might be touchy subjects, like the red flannel shirt. I don’t want to spoil Mom’s good mood.
    When Wyatt finally comes down from the roof, he carries Cookie into the house for me. Placing him in his pen, Wyatt asks, “Do you have plans today, Lil?”
    “Not really,” I say.
    “Me, either.”
    “Could I keep Lily until after lunch, Wyatt?” Mom asks, sitting on the couch. “We need to call Adam’s clients and look over some paperwork. He had several projects under way.”
    “Sure.” Wyatt starts toward the door. “I’ll call you later, Lil.”
    “Thanks for your help today, Wyatt,” says Mom. “With the roof and with Cookie.”
    “Anytime.” He steps onto the porch and closes the door.
    Mom calls me over to the couch, and I’m surprised to see tears in her eyes. “Your father would hate letting down his clients.”
    “How can I help?” I ask, my eyes filling, too. “What do you want me to do?”
    “Nothing right now. I just needed an excuse to steal you away from Wyatt for a while.” A tear clings to her lashes, and as she swipes it away, the shadow of a smile curves her lips. “We have some other unfinished business.” Reaching beneath the coffee table, she slides out the package with the yellow bow. It’s been sitting there on the floor ever since the morning of my birthday, and I completely forgot about it. Holding the gift out to me, she says, “I hope you like it.”
    I press my lips together and shake my head. “I don’t know if I can open it, Mom. Dad should be here with us. Me and my stupid birthday tradition. We should’ve stayed home that morning.”
    Mom sets the package on the coffee table. “Come here, Lily.” As I settle in next to her, she says, “Your father is still here in so many ways.” She gestures around the room, at the view outside the window.