Page 63 of The Now in Forever
Anh sighs. “You’re right. But I really did read one of the books this time.I read the whole thing on our little trip while Hattie was…” Anh arches an eyebrow and hides behind her drink.
Robin claps. “I knew you two would get along.”
Anh swats at my shoulder lightly. “Tell her the crazy part.”
Robin sets down her drink and rubs her hands together. “Oooh, there’s a crazy part?”
I take a sip, suddenly feeling very on the spot. “So, you remember that guy I met at the bookstore?”
“The guy from the perfect day?”
“Yeah.” I take another sip, buying time. “It’s Ed. Ed’s the guy.”
Robin’s mouth is hanging open. “No.”
I nod. “Yes.”
“You’ve got to be joking.”
“I’m not.”
“Nathan, why didn’t you tell me Ed worked at Neighborhood Books?”
Nathan doesn’t respond, and I notice he has ear pods in. Robin gets up, takes one out, and repeats her question.
Nathan looks at her with a lot of love and a lot of confusion. “I didn’t know. We lost touch when we were in high school. I moved to Portland. We just reconnected since we’ve lived there. You know that, babe.”
“Right.” She gives him a kiss on the cheek and puts his ear bud back in. Then she makes her way back to the table and takes a long swig of spiked lemonade. “That’s crazy. Why didn’t he show up six months later like he said he would?”
“He had to be with his mom.” I don’t want to say more.
“Okay… This is so nuts. And now you two are an item?”
“Uh…”
Anh jumps in. “Stop giving her the third degree. You’d think you were the lawyer.”
We all eat burgers—veggie for me, beef for them—and drink more of the delicious lemonade. It is so sweet and tart, you can hardly taste the bite of alcohol, but my cheeks are warm, and my worries are pleasantly blurred.
I check my email idly as the others chit chat around me. Right there at the top is one from Chad. Quickly reading, I stand.
“Oh my God. You guys! We sold the house.”
Everyone cheers and pours more drinks, and for the first time in a long time, my shoulders relax.
As the sun starts to wane, we make our way down to the beach. Nathan rolls a large cooler, Anh has a blanket in her hands, and Robin is carrying a bag of snacks. Ed still hasn’t emerged from his room, but I’m not as worried as before the three spiked lemonades.
Kyle is a little ways up the beach with a big group. He waves, and I wave back.
After setting everything up, Anh, Robin, and I take off our shoes and run to the water. The icy froth of waves licks my toes like an overexcited puppy. It’s exhilarating.
It may have something to do with the lemonades, or the house sale, or Ed, but my heart is full, and this place feels so right. “I love it here.”
Robin smiles, lacing her fingers with mine. “I do too.”
Anh just nods, holding Robin’s other hand.
We break apart, and I wade into the water up to my calves. It’s amazing, given how hot the summer has been, how cold this water stays. It must be because of its magnitude. I look out to the horizon, and the water has no end. The sheer size of it overwhelms me. I stare out at the rhythmic crash after crash of waves and get lost in thoughts of my book.
