Rafe flicks the power on the camera and begins to toggle through the photos. He can’t help smiling a little as he scrolls past a few, and I wish I could see what he is looking at. I get a thrill at having taken photos he likes. Finally, he stops his scroll.
“My one regret is not taking the camera from you and taking more photos ofyou,” he says. “But this one”—he stares at the image for a moment—“is my favorite from the whole weekend. And it just happens to be the only one that you’re in.”
I really don’t remember taking any photos of myself.
“Let me see.” I hold my hands out for the camera. Rafe turns it around and hands it to me.
Immediately, I recognize the picture. I stare down at the image of Rafe and Orly. Then I close my eyes, remembering the moment in my mind, reliving what I’d been thinking when I took the shot.
I’d been thinking how lucky Orly is to have such a loving and adoring father and family, and how beautiful and perfect the two of them are together, despite the bumps and bruises along the way, the imperfect circumstances and tragedies that got them here. And it was like the rainbow after the storm. Pure joy. That was what I had been feeling, basking in their glow.
Also, if I was being honest with myself, love. I was feeling my own pure, unadulterated love for both of them. Even if they weren’t mine. I loved them, and I loved getting to be a part of their day.
“But this is just a picture of you and Orly,” I say, not seeing myself anywhere in the photo. What is he talking about?
“Zoom in!” Lorelei makes a second pass with the coffeepot as a prop.
Is there even any coffee in that pot?
Rafe reaches out and pushes the button with the tiny + sign on it, zooming in closer, centering on his sunglasses. And that’s when I see what Rafe is looking at in the photo. I see what’s putting that incredible smile onhisface.
I see myself.
Orly leans across and glances at the photo, too. She points. “Lee Lee and Lie Lie.” She hugs me quickly and goes back to dipping her pancakes in the strawberry sauce, leaving a trail of sweet, sticky blobs on the table.
“We’re making a mess,” I whisper, feeling the tears starting to fill my eyes.
“A sweet, sweet, mess.” Rafe slips out of his side of the booth and slides in next to me on mine.
“I wish you would keep the camera, but more importantly, I wish you would keep us.” He glances sideways at Orly, who is wiping a hand on his shirt. “It’s a sticky situation, but we’re kind of a package deal. I love you, Kenna Papadopoulos,” Rafe says, and then in front of his mom, my sister, the uncles, and everyone else in the diner, he kisses me.
epilogue: lorelei
“Is this the same yurt that Dean Riley and Chelsea Porter stayed in?” I ask Noah, turning down the latest episode of theLit Lovers’podcast. Noah and I are sitting on the front porch outside a cozy, tan, canvas yurt, nestled in the mountains outside of Ephron, eating chocolate-covered strawberries provided by the Airbnb host. It’s just dreamy.
I’ve got two days off, and Noah and I are holing up here, kicking back, planning our trip to the Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan, and generally, relaxing. He pops a strawberry in my mouth and kisses me, rocking me back in my rocking chair. I nearly topple over.
“Noah Greenberg,” I say. “You rock my world!”
“Mmmm,” Noah says, reaching over to turn the podcast back on. “Hang on. I want to hear Jackson’s big announcement.”
“Congratulations, Jackson!” Emily is saying. “This is huge news!”
“Damn,” I say. “Rewind a minute?”
Noah rewinds the podcast and repositions the tiny, portable speaker a little closer.
“... So, at first we were just going to sponsor the show with my matchmaking app, but then the producers asked me if I wanted to be on the show.”
“As a member of the cast?” Alexis asks. “Like they are going to set you up with people?”
“No,” Jackson says. “Don’t be ridiculous. I would never.”
“Then what? As a host?” Emily asks.
“No, not that, either,” Chelsea chimes in. “They have some Italian stud hosting. Apparently, he’s a real hottie who’s on loads of book covers. Marco something.”
“OMG!” Emily says. “I think I know that guy!”
