Page 10 of The Forever Formula
“No. You did what you needed to do to be happy. Are you ... happy?”
The genuine tone in his voice made my heart melt. So selfless and considerate. That’s the Noah I once knew.
“I liked seeing new things. I had happy times, I suppose. But right now? No, not really. Being back home is helping, though,” I said. I had never been good at hiding my feelings from Noah.
“Dating anyone?” he asked suddenly as my cabin came into sight.
I couldn’t help but search his face in that moment. Moonlight danced over his skin, casting a shadow that fell over his square jawline. I wanted to reach out and touch him. My fingers twitched at my sides.
“Not anymore. You?”
We were almost to the door, and we stopped short and faced each other.
“No,” he said. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s not many women in this town.”
I laughed at that. “Plenty of men, though,” I said with a snarky tone.
“Yeah, but none my type,” he said lightly, making me laugh a little harder.
Then the moment got quiet again. The only sounds were chirping crickets and the gentle breeze ruffling through the evergreens.
“I’m sorry about your grandfather. We all loved him. He was a good man.”
“He was. And thank you.”
I frowned. Truth be told, since seeing Noah tonight, I hadn’t thought much about all the loss in my life, at least for a little while. I wasn’t ready to be reminded just yet. I wanted to rewind back to the moment when Noah’s gaze slid to my mouth, and he looked like he wanted to kiss me.
Instead, time moved forward, and he shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Good night, Rachel Tyson.”
“Good night, Noah Hart.”
5
TEMPERING EXPECTATIONS
Noah
Iknew taking Mom into town to shop would be a mistake. She loved to offer me life advice, and after seeing Rachel, I suspected she’d have some thoughts on the matter.
“Isn’t that Kim?” My mom pointed to the waitress across the diner as we sat and had a bite to eat.
“You know it is, Ma. You see her here every week.” I knew my mom’s games. She wasn’t that hard to figure out.
“Whatever happened with you two?” she asked.
I sipped my soda for a long time, hoping for a subject change, but she kept her gaze trained on me. “I didn’t like her.” I shrugged for emphasis.
Mom nodded in agreement. “That’s right, not like you liked Rachel.”
“Smooth, Ma,” I said with a groan.
“You’d have to be blind not to notice the way she looked when she asked about you. And for the record, she didn’t ask about your brothers.”
“Two burgers.” Kim cut in then, setting two plates down in front of us.
“Yeah, and how did she look when she asked about me, exactly?” I said, going for indifference before I took a big bite of the cheeseburger in front of me.
