Page 44 of The Luck of Finding You
“You’re right. I do. Most of the time anyway. I sent a picture, and I really am fine. Now, tell me why you think Tally is Nora.”
I don’t check my phone to see the picture. I’ll look at it when we’re done talking. “So, she asked me why I kissed her all those years ago, and we talked about her. Then I confessed that I have feelings for her and then we kissed and it was just as incredible as I remembered, but when she admitted to liking me, she said that there’s also this other guy who she’s only talked to online. She said they met because of her blog and that they were planning to meet in real life at Simone Sorrows’s book event next week. All exactly how things happened with me and Nora, and we’re planning to meet next week at Simone Sorrows’s event.”
“Interesting.”
“Really? That’s all you’ve got? Interesting?” I’m trying to stay calm. I don’t really know what I’ll do if Tally and Nora are the same person. I mean, on one hand, it makes things a lot easier since I tried to distract myself from Tally by asking Nora to meet me, but my heart didn’t get the memo because it still fell for Tally anyway.
“I mean, either that’s a lot of coincidences or she’s Nora,” Annie finally says.
“Right?” I ask. There isn’t another explanation. It’s too weird.
“Has Tally ever mentioned her blog before?”
“No, last night was the first time. From the way she’s talked about social media for the shop, I didn’t think she was online much.”
“Gotcha.” Annie pauses. “You could just ask her, clear the air. Then you’d know for sure.”
Icouldask Tally if she’s Nora. “I can’t.”
“Why not? Seems like a simple thing to do, the grown-up thing to do. Communicate.” Annie is right, but I can’t do it.
“I can’t ask her, because after we kissed, everything went south, so I don’t think coming clean right now is a good idea. I should have just asked her when she mentioned it.”
“You definitely should have asked her,” Annie says. “But since you didn’t, now is the moment. Isn’t that what you and Sam decided anyway? To live in the moment and share your truth with the people around you? You’ve only got one life, or whatever you guys are always saying?”
I frown. “We’re not always saying that.”
“You should just tell her. Otherwise, she’s going to keep ignoring you as Noah, not because she knows who you are online but because of whatever happened last night.”
“I think she’s already started doing what she can to avoid me. She texted me this morning telling me that Olivia, that’s the other woman who works at the shop with us, is working today and that I didn’t need to come in.”
“You need to figure out how to fix this, and the easiest way will be to tell her what you realized, that you’ve been talking online with her too,” Annie says, but I still don’t like it. “Look, I’ve got to go. Mitch just got home from picking up a late breakfast. You’ll tell her the truth?”
I bite my tongue as not to share my real feelings that I have about her boyfriend, Mitch. I haven’t liked him since day one.
“I will.” And I will. Maybe not today though. Now that I know, I want to figure out the right way to tell her. I’m not one for keeping secrets or lying outright, but Tally’s embarrassed and I’m embarrassed that I didn’t just ask yesterday if she was Nora. Plus I need to figure out a good way to get back on her good side before I ask her.
And maybe I can talk to Nora and see if she can give me any clues.
“Talk to you later,” Annie says.
“Bye.” I hang up and look down at Mo. “What am I going to do?”
It would be so easy to go down and talk to her right now. We decided last week that we’d take turns working every other Saturday for a half day, and she’s down in the shop right now. But the thought makes me anxious. I’m not ready to confront her yet. If Tally really is Nora, what will that mean? That I happened to fall for the same woman twice? I’ve never had that kind of luck. Maybe someone would call it fate or the universe. I don’t know what to call it.
* * *
Tally getsoff work at 3:00, so I message Nora at 2:45. I’ve been waiting all day, trying to craft the right thing to say.
What do I come up with?
MoReads:Hey. How are you doing this afternoon?
I really feel like Tally is Nora, not only from what she said last night but also because I sent Nora several messages just before Tally showed up the night we kissed and never got a response.
Mo and I go for a walk, walking across the main road and over to the park, where there is more grass than on our street. Someday I’ll buy a house with a nice yard so that Mo can go out and play.
I left my phone at home so that I can’t pull it out every five seconds to see if Nora has responded. But I do grab it from off the counter the second we’re in the door.
