Page 74 of The Luck of Finding You
That is not what I was expecting. He hands me the daisies. My favorite.
“I did get this signed,” Noah says, holding the book out to me. “I didn’t even know you’d left the hotel already, but I knew you weren’t at the signing, so I told her your name.”
I let out a small gasp as I flip open to the signed page, where it’s signed to me. “Thank you, Noah.”
I give him a quick hug, not trusting my own emotions.
“I do have one more surprise for you.” He tilts his head to the back of the shop. “Trust me?”
28
NOAH
Tally follows me up the metal stairs that lead to my apartment. I can tell she’s dying to know why I’m bringing her up here, but I stay silent as I unlock the door.
“Surprise!!” the book club ladies, Olivia included, all yell as Tally steps inside. I’m nervous about how she’ll respond, especially knowing that she hates surprises. But I thought she could use some friends after the weekend she had.
To my delight, she starts to laugh.
“You did this?” she asks me as she steps forward to hug Donna and Collene.
“He did all this.” Olivia smiles at Tally, and the two share a look that I wish I could interpret.
“Did you guys kiss yet?” Pam shouts from across the room. She’s sitting on the couch and Mo is curled up in her lap.
“Oh! Give him a kiss now!” Shirley grins at both of us. Tally laughs uncomfortably.
“How about we eat?” I suggest instead.
“I guess food is fine,” Gracie grumbles. “If we don’t get a show, we should be able to eat all that food we’ve been smelling for the past half hour.”
“Noah made you wait?” Tally asks the ladies.
“It was fine,” Olivia assures her. “He told us you could use some friends and invited us over for breakfast.”
“Did he tell you anything else?” Tally glances at me with wide, worried eyes.
“No.” Now Shirley’s grumbling. We really need to get some food into these women. “He didn’t tell us a single thing.”
“Food is in the kitchen,” I call out, and the women move together in that direction. Tally stays back, and when the women are in the kitchen, she faces me.
“Thank you, for everything.” She ducks her head shyly.
I reach out, lifting her chin. “You’re welcome.”
Tally offers me a small smile, then steps back and heads toward the kitchen to get herself a plate of food.
* * *
While the bookclub ladies and Tally are eating in the family room, I sneak away for a minute to send a message. The last message I ever plan on sending as Mo. This morning was just phase one—tonight, I’m telling her everything.
MoReads:Hey, so this might be a little weird, I’m going to be in Provo this evening. Would you meet me at Nielson’s Grove Park at seven tonight? I know I didn’t show last time, but I promise I will this time. I’d really like to meet you in person and explain what happened on Saturday. If not, I understand, but I hope you say yes. I’ll be standing by the reflecting pool holding a bouquet of flowers.
I stick my phone back in my pocket and come out of the kitchen with a tray of orange juice. “Who needs a drink?” I ask and every woman raises her hand.
Tally has perked up a bit. I knew that having her come in early would be risky since she hates mornings. And I remember our stay at the hotel when she slept until almost ten and still needed an hour to get going. But now she’s laughing and talking, and I hope that means that all is going well.
Maybe my plan might actually work.
