Page 24 of The Note

“Then they’ll trace the plate, Kelsey will haveto tell them about her little prank, and you won’t have anything to do with it. But there’s no need to call attention to it for now.” When May said nothing more, Lauren walked around the island and gave her a quick hug. “We’re on the same page?”

“Yeah,” May said, nodding in agreement.

“And I’m sorry for what I said about you being a DA and the police and all of that. It was a lot.”

“No, I appreciate when you share those things with me. It’s important.”

They were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. “We’re here!” There wasn’t a hint of tension in Kelsey’s voice, let alone any indication that she had run off with May’s keys and cell phone.

It had been almost eight years since May had last seen Nate, and she hadn’t been sure what to expect. As he stepped through the door, backpack slung over one shoulder, she noted the spray of gray at his temples and a few fine lines around his eyes, but those eyes were still dark and intense, and he had a jawline that could cut glass.

Now that she was seeing him again in person, the stark differences between Josh and Nate were even more obvious. The dark hair and medium build were about the only similarities. Where Josh’s energy was laid-back and goofy, Nate had always been a bit edgier—an adult version of the boy you’d cut class for to smoke cigarettes behind the gas station.

“You look good, Hanover.” She felt a tingle at the nape of her neck as he pulled her into a hug, and hoped no one could see the flush of her skin.Damn it.What was wrong with her? “So what have you birds been up to so far?”

May was quiet as Kelsey and Lauren walked Nate through their weekend. Friday-night dinner in Montauk. Saturday at Main Beach, followed by takeout from La Fondita. Sunday-morning shopping, pool day, then 1770 House. The weekend had gone so fast.

While Lauren was asking Nate about the train ride, Kelsey pulled May into the living room. “I’m sorry I ran out like that, but—”

May held up a hand to stop her. “I already talked to Lauren. You guys were right. Let’s just let it go, okay?”

“Oh my god, thank you, May. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And I really am sorry for taking your stuff. I totally panicked.”

“Yeah, that was pretty bitchy.”

“Love you?” Kelsey said, wrinkling her nose.

“Love you too.”

“And I saw the way you and Nate were looking at each other. You sure there’s not something still there?”

“I’m happily engaged, Kelsey.” She held up her left hand, ring forward, for emphasis.

“I believe that’s what the lawyers would call nonresponsive.”

“Stop being a shit-stirrer.”

“Well, that’s no fun. For what it’s worth, I think he was flirting with you.”

As May led the way back to the kitchen, she realized she was smiling.

*

She sent a quick text to Josh before starting the engine.Heading out now. ETA 5:17.

Drive fast. The apartment’s quiet without you.

Any hope of driving quickly was dashed when she reached 27 and found it stacked with an endless line of cars whose drivers had the same idea of waiting until Monday to make the trip back to the city. During the stops of all the stop-and-go traffic, she scrolled through her list of podcasts and eventually settled on the latest episode of a true-crime series about the unsolved murder of a Chinese American lawyer in Washington, DC. May had been obsessed with the case for years.

She realized she already knew all the facts being presented in the episode, and found her thoughts wandering. It had been so hard to say goodbye when they all walked her out to her car. She gave them each one last hug, holding on tight to Kelsey and Lauren as they agreed they had to find a way to see each other again soon. The hug with Nate had been quick, and she had avoided looking at him afterward.

She would never cheat on Josh—not now. Thelockdown had locked her down as well, first with the move-in and then with the engagement. But she never told Josh there was a possibility she’d be seeing an ex-boyfriend today. And then her own body betrayed her when he gave her that initial hug.You look good, Hanover.After all these years. One throwaway compliment and her head was already wrecked, thinking about how things used to be.

*

May was forbidden by her mother from dating in high school—boys were a distraction from schoolwork and the piano, she insisted, and May didn’t have the judgment or (ironically) the experience to keep them from taking advantage of her. May suspected that her father’s decision to leave her mother when she got pregnant might have had something to do with her mother’s views, but a prohibition was a prohibition.

As a result, Kelsey was always at least one step ahead of her when it came to boys. She had already let her seventh-grade boyfriend under her bra while May was still trying to figure out tongue kissing. May remembered feeling scared but excited when Kelsey demonstrated how the feeling of a boy’s fingertips tickling her rib cage while his arm was wrapped around her waist was enough to make her tingle “down there.”Matt Lenox is the one who did that. I got so out of my mind,I let him grind on top of me until he … well, you know. But he’s way too stupid to be my first. So now I know I can just lead a guy’s hand to that spot and let him figure out how much I like it.She was a one-girl sex advice column for teenagers.

---