Page 76 of The Luck of Finding You
“I’m glad.” I look at her, taking in everything from her curled blonde hair to her black heels. “You really do deserve the best, Tally.”
Tally’s quiet a minute. “I’m going to meet Mo tonight.”
“Oh.” I expected her to bring it up. It doesn’t surprise or hurt like it did over the weekend. “That’s good?”
“I think so. I hope so.” She picks at a stray string at the bottom of her sweater. “I really want some closure. A face to the name. Maybe an apology face-to-face. I don’t know. It’s probably a bad idea.”
“Want me to come with you? Scope him out before you meet him?” I ask her. If she takes me up on the offer, that could make things a bit more complicated, but I’ll make it work.
“What! Of course not! I’ve already got a nosy older sister who acts like a momma bear all the time. I don’t need an older brother.”
“So you think of me as a brother now?” I really hope she says no.
“What? No. That’s not what I meant.” Tally shakes her head, her cheeks turning red. “Thank you for the offer, but I’ll be just fine.”
“Okay,” I tell her. “The offer still stands though, if you change your mind.”
“If he doesn’t show again, I’d rather be humiliated all on my own, thank you very much.” Tally frowns.
“I hope he shows,” I tell her.
“Why?” she asks, surprising me. “I mean, if he doesn’t, I’ll know for sure he’s a jerk and wasn’t the guy I thought he was. And then you and I will have a talk about what we are, and I’ll feel guilty that you think you’re just my second choice…”
I look at her expectantly when she trails off.
“You were going give me a chance?”
“Ugh. I cannot seem to talk around you today. I’m not going to answer that question. We just decided to be friends. I can do friends. I’ve got to stop putting my foot in my mouth.” Tally’s face is a deep red that I hope she’ll always have, even when we’re old and gray and have been together for sixty years.
“I sure like it,” I tell her. “What other things shouldn’t you be saying that you might accidentally blurt out while we’re sitting here? We could have a conversation to determine our relationship right now.”
That comment earns me a glare.
“I’m going to go shelve some of the books we got last week,” Tally says, standing.
“I’ll see you out there later.” Because even though I do want to hang out with her, Olivia will be back here soon, and I’ve got a few more bills to pay.
Tally nods and heads out into the store. I hear her singing along to the radio a few times. The unease I felt this morning when I woke up is mostly gone. Now I’m just full of nerves. I really want tonight to go well. It needs to go well.
She likes me, I can tell, but I don’t know what to expect when she shows up and finds me, NoahandMo, waiting for her.
29
TALLY
Noah left several hours ago, but I keep glancing down the back hallway, willing him to reappear. It’s a quarter to seven, and Olivia is closing tonight so I can go meet Mo. I want Noah to come back down so I can ask him to come with me because suddenly I’m nervous about going alone.
I could always text him, I think to myself as I grab my jacket. Instead, I find myself taking the stairs two at a time and knocking on the door at the top of the stairs. It’s silent. No TV sounds or dog barking.
“He must be walking the dog.” The words taste like ash in my mouth. I’m wishing that I was brave. Instead, I just keep remembering how it felt to stand waiting in the entrance on Saturday night. Waiting and waiting for a guy who never came. “You can do this,” I tell myself as I make my way back down the stairs and through the shop, where I wave to Olivia.
“Good luck!” she calls out to me as I step outside. “It’s going to be great!” She’s already given me three pep talks today. I’ll have to send her flowers as a thank you, because I am freaking out right now and have been all day.
I take another deep breath, which is supposed to calm me, but it does little to do that.
It’s officially cooler—the sun is setting, and now that it’s October, there already seems to be a hint of what is to come.
I’m not ready for fall to be over. It always goes to fast. It sneaks up on you. At least that’s how I feel. One day all the trees are green, and the next day there’s nothing but yellow and red leaves covering the ground.
