The-Lucky-List-Rachael-Lippincott

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“You want some water?” I call behind me as we round the corner into the living room.“Yeah, sure.”We head into the kitchen, and I swing open the fridge door, grabbing the water pitcher o the topshelf, the cool air feeling nice after being outside.“So,” she says, sliding onto the marble kitchen counter as I take two cups out of the cabinet andstart pouring out the Brita. “Why don’t you want to move?”I’m so surprised, I nearly dump all the water onto the counter.“Who said I don’t want to move?” I ask, quickly pulling myself together and handing her one of thecups.“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe just the look of disgust you gave the for-sale sign five minutes ago,” shesays, pausing, the glass halfway to her mouth. “Or maybe it was the look you gave the pile of boxes inthe back of the truck.”She raises her dark eyebrows at me and takes a long, slow, calculating sip.“Jeez, Blake,” I say with a laugh. “You didn’t have to call me out like that.”I’m surprised to find, though, that I like the honesty. It’s refreshing. It’s been three years and I stillfind people tiptoeing around me, bullshitting.It makes me want to be honest too. To not tiptoe around the things my dad wouldn’t want to hear.“Because,” I say, taking a deep breath, “all of this just feels like I’m getting farther and farther awayfrom my mom. The move. Cleaning out her closet. All of it.”Blake is quiet for a moment. oughtful. She pulls her hair slowly into a bun, and I try to focus onthe cup of water I’m drinking from instead of the way her face looks when her hair is pulled back. It’snot fair for anyone to be that pretty.Finally, once her hair is tucked away, she starts talking again. “Back in Hawaii, I used to go rockclimbing at my mom’s favorite spot. When my dad first showed it to me, he told me she liked it themost because when you get to the very top, everything else looks small. e people down at the beach.e cars. e trees, even.” She puts her cup down on the counter. “She used to say that when you’rethat high up, even your problems can look smaller.”I nod. I like the idea of that. ough I’d probably need to be on the moon to make all my problemslook small.“You know I never met my mom, but whenever I wanted to feel close to her, I would go rockclimbing at that spot because it made me feel like she wasn’t that far away,” she says, pausing for amoment to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. “Anyway…” She shis her position, her eyes meeting mine,like she can sense I’m wondering where she’s going with this beyond commiserating about our jointmembership in the Dead Moms Club. “What I’m trying to say here is that you should do something tofeel close to her. In a new way. New memories to substitute for that house-shaped void you’re feeling.”She grins and points at my pocket, the outline of the folded list pressing through the fabric.“Actually, you could even do that bucket list. I mean, what’ve you got to lose?”I laugh at that, but her words stick with me. rough our conversation about our shared love ofSchitt’s Creek, through our dads coming back from Goodwill, through the Carters leaving to go walktheir golden retriever named Winston, through a quiet dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with my dad.Not just something to feel close to her. Twelve somethings I never even knew she did before.
Could I do them too?
Page 3 and 4: This one’s for you, Mom. I love y
Page 5 and 6: moving back into town after twenty
Page 7 and 8: of those babies,” my dad whispers
Page 9 and 10: It’s her eyes, though, that start
Page 11 and 12: “Not so much anymore,” I say.an
Page 13 and 14: same words hundreds of times. I alw
Page 15 and 16: I smile at him, nudging him right b
Page 17 and 18: distance just in front of me, HUCKA
Page 19 and 20: apron and my pink Nina’s Bakery h
Page 21 and 22: resident gay of Huckabee.”Blake l
Page 23 and 24: 4A few hours later I push open the
Page 25 and 26: chance.Blake appears in the closet
Page 27 and 28: “Do you hate it?”She’s the fi
Page 29 and 30: “I can’t believe your dad was s
Page 31: She stops dead and looks back, our
Page 35 and 36: “I spent my morning slaving away
Page 37 and 38: I have to do it myself.I picture it
Page 39 and 40: Until now. If I can stop chickening
Page 41 and 42: I sigh, shutting the water off and
Page 43 and 44: My name will come up. Matt will get
Page 45 and 46: words become clearer, the block let
Page 47 and 48: out what the whole quote was. I cou
Page 49 and 50: She grins and shakes her head at me
Page 51 and 52: fiction books, and World War II his
Page 53 and 54: “Au milieu de l’hiver, j’appr
Page 55 and 56: “I’d hate to have to take the t
Page 57 and 58: calculus class she was probably the
Page 59 and 60: thinking they already know.”It fe
Page 61 and 62: “Okay. Fine. It has to be a small
Page 63 and 64: 11I usually don’t work on Sundays
Page 65 and 66: I’m honestly not sure we’d be f
Page 67 and 68: dust behind us.I glance out the win
Page 69 and 70: much just be hiding out in my house
Page 71 and 72: 13I sit on the steps of my house, s
Page 73 and 74: My eyes widen, and I give her a “
Page 75 and 76: now that she’s on the other end o
Page 77 and 78: to set, sending a shower of deep or
Page 79 and 80: She’s the first person I feel lik
Page 81 and 82: the cat dragged in.”“Nice to se
Page 83 and 84:
15I meet up with Blake aer work on
Page 85 and 86:
check off “3. Go on a picnic” a
Page 87 and 88:
“Blake! I swear to God, don’t l
Page 89 and 90:
17I spend most of the next day hidi
Page 91 and 92:
afternoons. But I also think about
Page 93 and 94:
pumps are older than dirt.”“No
Page 95 and 96:
Claire in Kauai over spring break,
Page 97 and 98:
wrist. “Your mom gave it to my da
Page 99 and 100:
I’d needed someone more than anyt
Page 101 and 102:
We’re planning on camping out in
Page 103 and 104:
Blake’s silent, leaving a space f
Page 105 and 106:
20The first thing I feel when I wak
Page 107 and 108:
“Valid point.” She nods, pausin
Page 109 and 110:
needles and all that.Even though I
Page 111 and 112:
21When we pull up to my house, I’
Page 113 and 114:
A new start.I push it away, whirlin
Page 115 and 116:
e story had gone viral aer a local
Page 117 and 118:
23The second Nina pulls into the pa
Page 119 and 120:
“Yeah.” He nods. “Okay.”Rel
Page 121 and 122:
My voice trails o and I hold up the
Page 123 and 124:
25The next forty-eight hours pass i
Page 125 and 126:
She turns around to look at me, her
Page 127 and 128:
Blake’s shoulder brushes against
Page 129 and 130:
27This is exhilarating.My adrenalin
Page 131 and 132:
really wants. Except for this.”It
Page 133 and 134:
look down at Matt. For a moment I w
Page 135 and 136:
e thought pushes me out of the room
Page 137 and 138:
I drop my bag in the entryway, my v
Page 139 and 140:
29The second I walk into Nina’s t
Page 141 and 142:
wanted,” I say. “All the years
Page 143 and 144:
I think about all the years we’ve
Page 145 and 146:
carefully uproot a sunflower to rep
Page 147 and 148:
his arm around me. “Hey! I still
Page 149 and 150:
And if my mom taught me anything th
Page 151 and 152:
A new chance, just like the one I h
Page 153 and 154:
boyfriend a girl could ask for.en J
Page 155 and 156:
More from the AuthorAll This TimeFi
Page 157 and 158:
Also coauthored by Rachael Lippinco
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The-Lucky-List-Rachael-Lippincott

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