Page 110 of She Likes It, Hey Micah
Now Chad turns to me, his eyes soft. We all have blue eyes, a trait we share with our mom, but his eyes are darker than the rest of ours. I’ve always thought they gave him a depth that matches his life. His expression tells me he’s about to drop some truth on me in the way he always does, and I hold my breath, waiting.
“I’m glad you found someone who matches your enthusiasm for the good things in life,” he says quietly. “I hope he deserves you.”
“I hope so too,” Fischer replies, which is probably the best thing he could ever say to Chad.
He does deserve me. He’s been my rock for the last week, helping me stay strong every time Lila has called and begged me to come back to work for her. Apparently her events this last week have been terrible, and I’ve already received some calls from clients asking if I am working somewhere else so they can hire me. I also may have removed Ember’s access to my fancy calendar when I was feeling particularly annoyed by her half-hearted groveling, since I’m the one who set it all up; she stopped calling after that.
It has been a whirlwind week, and I wouldn’t have made it through without Fischer there to offer unwavering support.
The front door opens, and Brooklyn calls out a hello before gliding into the kitchen dressed as a ballerina. Leotard, tights, tutu, the works. And because this is not in any way a Brooklyn kind of costume—it shows off all her curves in a way she usually hides—something tells me she’s paying for the bet just like Houston. Which means…
Brooklyn catches my eye and grins. “Jordan and Hou are on their way,” she explains. “Houston needed a little help getting into his costume.”
“His costume,” I repeat, trying not to laugh. “As in his costume to match your costume?”
And when Brooklyn nods, eyes glittering, I grab my phone so I can take as many pictures as I possibly can to send to Kit. Tonight’s going to be fun, and I can’t help but think about how things are almost perfect. With Fischer beside me, I think life is going to feel that way for the rest of forever.
Epilogue
Micah
August 18
“If I die before weget there, tell my parents I love them.”
I roll my eyes at Fischer, which prompts him to grab hold of my face and turn it back to the road in front of us. “Would you relax?” I say, only my words are muffled and squished because his fingers press into my cheek.
“If you keep your hands on the steering wheel, maybe.”
I swat his hand away. “I’m a great driver, and you know it. I’m—oh!” I slam on the brakes as a bird flies in front of us.
Fischer lets out a string of curse words as he braces himself against the dash. “Micah! You can’t just stop in the middle of the road!”
I ease the car forward again. “But I was going to hit a bird.”
“Then you hit a bird. It’s fine.”
“That is not fine! What if she has a couple of little baby birds in her nest back home who might be wondering when their mama is coming home? What if they die because she died?”
“Circle of life,” he grumbles. “Sweetie, I love you, but please don’t be the cause of my untimely death.”
I turn onto a side street, making a point to use my blinker so Fischer knows I’m not a completely hopeless driver. “I didn’t pass my test by being a bad driver,” I tell him.
He gives me some impressive side eye. “Was the instructor a man?”
“Yeah. Why—hey!” I punch his arm, which accidentally makes me swerve a little. That’s not helping my case. “Are you trying to insinuate that the only reason I passed my test was because he was into me?”
When I pull up to the cemetery and park, Fischer lets out an audible sigh of relief. “I’m just saying, you have a habit of making people forget that there are rules to things. Remember back in May when you accidentally convinced that florist to give us the flowers for that wedding for free?”
I still don’t know what I specifically did to make that happen. I’d just called her up to let her know we wanted to add some calla lilies, and next thing I know she’s offering the whole batch free of charge.
“You can’t argue that she was hitting on me by giving me flowers,” I say, though as soon as the words are out of my mouth, I wince. That’s exactly what he’s arguing, and there’s a chance he’s right.
Fischer smirks. “You have a gift and a curse, Micah Taylor.” He looks ahead at the sprawling field of grass and headstones, his expression slowly sobering. Though we’ve been dating for almost ten months now, he hasn’t met my mom yet, and I know he’s nervous.
I grab his hand. “She’s going to love you, just like I do.”
He’s quiet as he lets me lead the way to her grave, which isn’t unusual for him. Though he’s opened up a lot since the day I met him, he’s still very much an introvert and prefers to take a backseat to things when he can. Outside of things with our company, when he steps in and negotiates contracts and prices, he tends to take a passive approach to life nowadays.
