Page 14 of If Tomorrow Never Comes

May: “I love escape rooms. Best modern entertainment idea of all time.”

Jamie: “I started drinking coffee when I was ten, because my grandpa was a navy man who drank it with every meal and I thought he was a total badass. I didn’t actuallylikecoffee until I was sixteen.”

May: “If a song has an acoustic or stripped version, that one will one hundred percent be my favorite.”

Jamie: “My favorite word is petrichor, because it sounds cool and there’s nothing better than the way the earth smells after it rains.”

May: “Before tonight, I hadn’t kissed a guy in more than two years.”

She’d tilted up her face when she said that one, her head still resting on his shoulder, and after wondering what the fuck was wrong with men in Lincoln, he’d acted on impulse. He leaned down and kissed her, soft and slow and deep, careful not to get carried away.

At some point he’d pulled her into his arms as she dozed against his chest, her palm resting on his stomach. After the bars across the street closed and the lights shut off, Jamie held her, trying to force his body to stay awake and soak up every second of this woman that he possibly could.

The last time he checked his watch was at 2:17 in the morning, and when he woke up with a start at 3:02, he found himself slouched against the wall of the Embassy Suites hotel.

Alone.

Chapter Five

Elliott

One year later

“I miss you already.”

Elliott laughed and flipped on her turn signal. “It’s been two days.”

Yuka’s gasp echoed through the car speakers.

“Correction: I miss you, too.”

“Better,” Yuka said. “How’s your new place?”

“So great. Tiffany was right—it’s perfect.”

“Perfectly close to the downtown nightlife?”

“Apparently, which is why it’s a miracle there was a unit available. You know that’s not why I wanted to be here, though.” The only thing Elliott cared about was the complex’s proximity to Nebraska Medicine’s hospital.

It was probably a little scary for anyone to live on their own for the first time, but Elliott’s fears went well beyond the usual hang-ups, and she wanted to be near the hospital in case something went wrong. Tiffany, her transplant-nurse-turned-friend who’d kept in touch after Elliott was discharged, lived in the complex to be close to work. Evidently the place was almost always fully rented, but Tiffany had beenon a few dates with a girl who worked in the office and had gotten a heads-up when someone was moving out.

“You say that now, but I’m banking on you coming out of your shell. I give it three, four weeks, tops, before you’re the life of the Omaha party scene.”

“You hear yourself, right?”

“I gotta send Tiffany a fruit basket or something. I already loved her for taking such good care of you last year, but getting you an apartment? Actually, a fruit basket isn’t enough. Monthly wine subscription? Stripper?”

Good Lord. “I already promised to take her to dinner tomorrow. I’ll make sure she knows how grateful I am.”

“Lemme know if you change your mind.” Before Elliott could say anything, Yuka barreled on. “So Saturday, right?”

Elliott turned into her apartment entrance and nodded. “Saturday.”

Three o’clock. Green Tree Coffee Shop. Elliott would meet Carly, the woman who’d donated the stem cells that had saved her life.

Elliott had learned during the transplant process that her donor lived in the same state, but that was it. She hadn’t asked for additional details until after—until she was on the other side of the riskiest first few months, post-transplant. During the first one hundred days, things still could have gone very, very wrong.

But she’d finally felt comfortable enough to ask, and in a twist of fate, it turned out Tiffany knew the donor. When Elliott asked what her options were if she ever wanted to get in contact, Tiffany was primed and ready with Carly’s email address.

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