“What?”
“She won’t tell me.”
“Lily wants me to help her make something else.”
He turned the phone toward me.
Lily had sent a photograph of a piece of blue fabric and a single crooked pocket.
Underneath, she’d written:
Don’t tell your mom what this is for yet.
“He turned the phone toward me.”
Ethan looked at me.
“Am I allowed to keep this secret?”
I handed him the spatula.
“Depends. Is anybody’s parent going to get called to school?”
He laughed.
“Probably not.”
“Am I allowed to keep this secret?”
“Then finish your pancakes.”
But I couldn’t stop wondering what Lily was making.
Two weeks later, Jacob called me.
“I wanted to apologize,” he said.
“For what?”
“I wanted to apologize.”
“The way I handled that meeting. I was frightened, but Ethan didn’t deserve to be treated like a criminal.”
“He still shouldn’t have helped Lily keep secrets.”
“I know.” Jacob hesitated. “She’s staying with stage crew. We’ve worked out a schedule with her care team.”
