Page 115 of First Comes Forever

“It was this, or Quinn was going to give you a boring website job at her uppity company.”

“Excuse me,” Quinn says, standing in the doorway. Her arms are crossed and she’s tapping her foot. “My company is not uppity.”

I smirk at her. I’ve visited her at Sabin Tech many times. “It’s a little uppity, Quinny.”

She rolls her eyes. “So you said yes?” Quinn asks.

I look at Joel and shrug one shoulder. “I think I did.”

“Fine,” Quinn huffs out. “But my job would’ve involved sushi lunches with me each week, and I bet my offer was double what he’s offering. I would’ve been a way better boss.”

“Are you my boss now?” I ask Joel.

He rises. “Technically, your boss’s boss. But you get to work from home, and I can certainly send you sushi on Fridays, no uppity office necessary.”

“Sorry. Joel wins,” I say to Quinn.

“It’s fine,” she replies. “As long as we get to keep you. The job is in Denver, right?”

Joel faces me. “Amani, the job will certainly involve travel, but otherwise, you can work from wherever you call home.”

“Then, yes,” I say, looking at Quinn beaming at me. “The job’s in Denver.”

* * *

“Are you sure you’re not too tired to drive?” I ask Noa who tries to hide her yawn. She flips on the turn signal, taking our familiar path back home. It’s a forty-minute drive from Addie’s penthouse back to her estate with Chase.

“I’m fine.” She pats my knee. “Maybe a conversation to keep me up though.”

I’d offer to drive but I had two glasses of celebration champagne about fifteen minutes ago. I’m still feeling a little warm and fuzzy.

“What do you want to talk about?” I ask, turning down the music.

She glances at me quickly, like she’s trying to gauge my mood. “What did Adam call about?”

“Oh, nothing. He’s just selling his condo. The place I was living for the past eight months or so.”

“Is that a good thing or bad?”

I stare out the window, watching the cars zip by on the other side of the highway. “Good, I think. It’s full of memories he probably doesn’t want to keep.”

Memories of me and the baby.

Noa lets out a heavy sigh. “I guarantee you that’s not true. I didn’t tell you but a couple months ago, he called me…about you.”

I snap my gaze to the side of Noa’s face. “About what?”

“It was right after you guys went to the ER. He was so worried. He said you needed us more than you needed him. Adam made me promise when you got home I’d take care of you.”

And Noa did. When I first moved home, she hovered. We ate every meal together and she cooked all my favorite Hawaiian dishes. She made me Huli Huli chicken and rice at least three times a week. She mothered me the way my own mother didn’t have the strength to. We watched movies and painted each other’s nails. We had sleepovers in the guesthouse. I know she was scared to leave me. I hate that I did that to her. It’s why I never wanted people to see me sad.It consumes them.

“Well, that was sweet of him,” I murmur, thinking about Adam alone with Jess in the condo. She really is a pretty girl, and sweet and bubbly…and probably not battling depression. Adam deserves someone who can lift him up, not someone he has to worry about all the time.

“Amani, he loves you. What’s keeping you apart?”

“Noa, you know I would rather not dwell on it.”

She changes lanes, dutifully checking her blind spot first. “I understand, but you said you’d keep me awake and now I want the juicy details.”

---