n green Umm Just the regular I’m doing sugars right now and then No I mean Digby this is way more than the regular afternoon coffee crowd The place is packed What’s up What’s everybody talking about Digby looked out over the seating area Oh Yeah The whole town is going bonkers He went back to filling sugar dispensers He always stopped exactly when the container was full and he never spilled He was a pro His Brew n-Bake visor sat straight on his brown curls His bright polo shirt was clean and tucked I straightened my own shirt Bonkers is right Do you know why Digby held up one hand His forehead crinkled Wait I need to concentrate I waited Digby finished with the sugar Then he checked that each of the four coffee pots was full or filling He put more water on for tea He made sure the napkin dispensers had enough napkins 2
n green Umm Just the regular I’m doing sugars right now and then No I mean Digby this is way more than the regular afternoon coffee crowd The place is packed What’s up What’s everybody talking about Digby looked out over the seating area Oh Yeah The whole town is going bonkers He went back to filling sugar dispensers He always stopped exactly when the container was full and he never spilled He was a pro His Brew n-Bake visor sat straight on his brown curls His bright polo shirt was clean and tucked I straightened my own shirt Bonkers is right Do you know why Digby held up one hand His forehead crinkled Wait I need to concentrate I waited Digby finished with the sugar Then he checked that each of the four coffee pots was full or filling He put more water on for tea He made sure the napkin dispensers had enough napkins 2
messing up our holiday and destroying my first semester of high school She had gotten a job as a nurse at one of Kentville’s old folks homes It was the same place she had volunteered at when she was in high school Isn’t that great she had said It’s like it’s meant to be It’s like coming back home I didn’t know about that To me it felt like going backward instead of moving forward She said I should find a place to volunteer at but I didn’t have time I was too busy feeling sorry for myself I knew that’s what I was doing but I didn’t care I had no interest in changing things I’d been through enough change already Coming east meant I’d had to leave my friends I’d had to leave my best hang-out spots I’d had to leave a steady babysitting job for the world’s sweetest two-year-old Worst of all my brother Cade hadn’t come with us in the move He was in his first year of a cooking program that was really 4
hard to get into He didn’t want to give that up Or his part-time job Or his Thursday-night hockey games He didn’t want to come to Kentville I got that I didn’t want to either But I was only fourteen so I didn’t get to choose On the day we left Cade messed up my hair I hated when he did that Going to miss me Nerd Girl he asked Not one bit I said punching him on the arm But it wasn’t true Not one bit It’ll be okay Skye Mom said after we’d hugged Cade one more time and pulled away for the long drive east You’ll see I know you’ll miss your brother but he’s just getting started on his own life And we’ve got an adventure ahead We’ll chat with Cade whenever we can It won’t be the same I’d grumbled as I stared out the window like it Just give it a chance Mom had said You’ll 5
