Page 114 of Falling for You
I wrinkle my nose as he pulls open the brown paper bag and I see a squat, white circular baked good.
‘Nope,’ I say. ‘Never heard of it.’
He starts sawing it in two with his plastic knife. ‘God. You’re going back to New York and you’ve barely done anything British. Did you have fish and chips?’
‘Nope.’
‘Pie and mash?’
I shake my head.
‘A roast dinner?’
I snap my fingers. ‘That I have had.’
‘Where?’
‘At the pub with Remy.’
Stevie seems to accept this. He pulls out his phone and my eyes flit back up to the announcement board.
Our flight is in four hours. Stevie insisted on us getting here early so he could ‘comfortably’ make his way through the airport. He said he wanted a coffee and a giraffe in peace, which I later found out was a fast-food restaurant.
‘Ah,’ Stevie says, leaning back into his seat and flicking his sunglasses onto his face, ‘I’m looking forward to a holiday.’
‘You do remember what New York is like this time of year, don’t you?’ I raise an eyebrow at him.
Stevie ignores me. ‘Do you think Mom will recreate a thanksgiving dinner for us?’
I shrug. ‘Probably.’
‘And I’d like to go to Target. Oh, and Pottery Barn!’
I give him a look. ‘Target?’
‘You miss these things when you’re away for a long time,’ he says. I turn my phone in my hands.
‘How are you feeling?’ I ask.
‘Tired,’ Stevie says at once. ‘But hopefully I’ll perk up after this.’ He holds up his coffee and takes a sip.
‘No,’ I press on. ‘How are you feeling about going home?’
I keep looking at Stevie, waiting for him to push me aside or pull out his phone in a defensive huff, but he doesn’t. Since our chat last week, he finally seems willing to talk to me. It’s a miracle really.
‘I feel … okay,’ he says. ‘I’ve actually been doing some research.’
He unzips his carry-on bag and waves a bunch of Post-it notes in my face.
‘What are they for?’
‘To help!’ he says happily. ‘I read a great blog about a woman with dementia and how she decided that it wasn’t going to define her. She was just going to live with it. And that’s how I think Mom feels about it.’
I nod, taking a sip of my coffee. ‘I agree.’
‘She had loads of tips on there, and one of them was sticking Post-it notes with reminders of appointments, tasks, that sort of thing. I thought it could be something we do together this week.’
‘That’s a great idea.’ I put my hand on his shoulder and give it a shake.
