AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know, we FaceTimed, remember?” He wondered exactly how much champagne the girls had drunk over the afternoon. Leah didn’t seem tipsy, but she was definitely … relaxed.
“Of course I do.” She rolled her eyes at him. “But I wanted to make sure you knew.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I guess the next big get-together will be for you.”
“Why?”
“Hello? Fourth of July in a couple of weeks, it’s your birthday.”
“Oh. That.” She hitched a shoulder, turned her gaze back out to sea.
“Not ‘Oh, that.’ It’s your birthday.”
She looked back at him, looking faintly surprised, as though she didn’t quite know why he was mentioning it. “It’s not a big deal. It’s not like I’m turning thirty. Not yet.”
“Still, it’s your birthday. Don’t you want a party?” Leah and Faith had always loved their birthdays when they’d been teens. There’d been plenty of parties. And excitement about presents. And endless teen-girl talk about what to wear and who to invite. Birthdays had definitely been big. And Sal and Caterina had loved throwing parties for their kids. In the Santelli household, birthdays were definitely not something to be shrugged off. So what had happened? Had Joey Nelson somehow destroyed Leah’s love of birthdays? Or was this a weird post-divorce thing? Screw that shit if it was. Leah deserved to be spoiled a little. Maybe he should ask Faith what was going on.
“I’ll have a family lunch. It’s Fourth of July. Everyone’s busy with tourists that weekend and it’s too much trouble to organize something. Plus there’s pre-CloudFest craziness and the wedding as well this year. I only do parties for the big numbers.”
“So, what, you haven’t had a party since your twenty-first birthday?” That was just sad.
“Not a big one, no. Get-togethers with friends a few times. No big deal.”
“And what if I want to spoil you?” he said.
“You can take me to watch the fireworks down at the harbor.”
“I have a better idea,” he said. “How about we take advantage of the fact that everyone else will be down there, and you come here and let me make you dinner. We could have a picnic. I’m sure Mina will be working at search and rescue and Faith and Caleb will go down to the harbor. We can have the place to ourselves. We could surf maybe—go ’round to Shane’s maybe—then come back here for dinner.”
“Will there be cake?”
“As much as you like.”
“Surf and cake and you,” she said, smiling at him. “It’s a date.”
“You want to throw Leah a surprise party?” Faith stared at Zach like he’d announced he just wanted to fly to the moon.
“Yes,” he said. “I do.” He’d been thinking about it all weekend. Couldn’t quite shake the idea that something was off about Leah’s lack of enthusiasm for her birthday. He’d even climbed out of bed early on a Monday morning to come talk to Faith at the Harper Inc. offices to talk about it.
Faith got up, came around her desk, and closed the office door. Leaned against it, still looking confused. “Leah said that you and she were just a short-term thing.”
The bluntness of it stung a little. Faith didn’t sound mad about it, just matter of fact. Like it was obvious that he could never be a long-term prospect. He squared his shoulders. “Don’t see how that’s got anything to do with throwing her a birthday party.”
Faith came back to her desk and sat. “Throwing someone a party is a very boyfriend kind of thing to do.”
“Leah and I are friends. We’ve known each other a long time.”
Faith leaned back in her chair. “Does she even want a party?”
“She deserves one,” Zach said. “I asked her what she was doing for her birthday and she kind of shrugged it off. Like she thought it wasn’t a big deal. She used to love her birthday. What gives?”
For a moment he thought Faith wasn’t going to answer, but then she leaned forward again. She reached for a pen, twirled it between her fingers. “She’s been quieter the last couple of years, I’ll admit.”
“Since her divorce?”
“Since Joey left, yes.”
“And when exactly did he leave?”
