Page 134 of How to Walk Away

Kit wiggled her eyebrows at me. “I can.”

The engines were whirring into action. Our seats faced each other. I leaned forward. “How?”

She met my mother’s eyes and gave her a little nod, like they shared a yummy secret. My mom fished around in her carry-on and pulled out a little wrapped box that I recognized instantly. It was Ian’s birthday present to me.

“Hey,” I said. “I threw that in the kitchen trash.”

“I fished it back out,” my mom said.

I stared at it.

“Do you want it?” she finally asked.

The captain was making final announcements over the loudspeaker. I nodded.

She handed it over, and I peeled off the paper and the tape. Then I lifted the lid off the box. Inside was a necklace—a delicate silver chain attached to each end of a small silver bar, and stamped into the bar, in tiny typewriter-like letters, was one word: Courage.

“What is it?” Kit asked.

“A necklace.”

“What does it say?” my mom asked.

“Courage.”

Kit and my mom looked at each other. “Well,” my mom said, “aren’t we glad I rescued it?”

As I fastened it behind my neck and felt the cool pressure of the silver bar against my breastbone, the plane started to back away from the gate.

I felt a surge of fear.

“I’ve got another distraction for you,” Kit said, watching me. “A better one.”

“What?”

“The address Rob got you for Ian is wrong.”

Okay. That was distracting. “Wrong?”

She nodded. “That’s his parents’ address in Edinburgh, but he doesn’t live there.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

She gave me a mysteriousI’ve got so much to tell yousmile. “We’re in touch.”

I felt an anxious jolt ofWhere is this going?What could she possibly tell me that was that juicy? Without permission, my brain jumped to a worst-case scenario. “Please don’t tell me you are dating Ian,” I said.

“What? No! Gross! I’m back with Fat Benjamin.”

“Why on earth would you be in touch with Ian?”

That smile again. “He found me online. He wanted to know how you were doing.”

The plane stopped a second, then started rolling forward. “He did? When was this?”

“A few weeks after I went back. He asked if he could check in with me from time to time.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

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