"I'm a grown woman, Gran."
"You're a baby and you'll be a baby when you're forty. That's how it works." She kisses my cheek. "Happy birthday, darling."
Beth hugs me. Vera hugs me. The table expands, chairs are pulled up, menus are distributed. The quiet dinner for three becomes loud and warm and full, and I am so grateful for these people I can barely speak.
Then the door opens again. Will comes in first, wearing a jacket I haven't seen before—dark, buttoned properly, like he'd made an effort. His face is pale and there are shadows under his eyes that tell me today had been tough.
But he's here. It's the worst day of his year, and he came anyway.
Callahan is behind him, close, one hand near his father's back, guiding without quite touching. He's watching Will, tracking, checking. He carries the same exhaustion, like a man who has been holding things together for a very long time.
Will finds me across the room and his face changes. The weariness doesn't leave, but it rearranges, makes room for warmth.
I can't hold it together anymore. My eyes are already going because I can't help it, because this man has no business being here today and he came anyway.
"No, no, stop." Will reaches me and I pull him into a hug, holding on hard. "None of that. I heard it's an angel's birthday today and I wasn't going to miss it."
I break. The tears come hard and fast and ugly, the kind I can't swallow or blink away. I hold him because I don't know what else to do with the feeling.
"I'm so sorry," I manage against his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Will."
He shakes his head and pulls one hand free to cup the side of my face, his palm rough from decades of wood and work.
"Hey. Listen to me." His voice is steady even though his eyes are bright. "Today is for celebrating you. That's what my Anna would have loved. She would have been the first one through that door with a cake she baked herself and streamers in her purse." He holds my face like I'm precious to him. "My Anna would have loved you, my precious girl. Would have just adored you."
I press my face into his shoulder and he puts his arms around me, his hand rubbing slow circles on my back. He smells like sawdust and the aftershave Callahan wears. He must have borrowed it.
"Thank you for coming," I whisper into his jacket.
"Wouldn't have missed it." He wipes my cheeks with his thumbs the way a father would. "Now. Dry your eyes andpoint me at the menu. I was promised a steak and I intend to collect."
Gran is already shifting chairs to make room. Beth is dabbing her eyes with a napkin. Poppy has her hand over her mouth. Erin is holding Rome's arm, leaning into him, her face radiant.
And then there's Callahan. He stops in front of me and we just stand there for a second, neither of us saying anything.
When I reach for him he catches me, both arms wrapping around my waist, pulling me in, pulling me close.
"Happy birthday again, baby," he murmurs against my hair.
I cling to him. I don't have words for what this means, for what it took him to be here, for what it says that he came anyway. I let my tears soak into his collar, and he lets me, like he'd stand there all night if that's what I needed.
The table is full now, loud, alive. Will seems happy, looking more relaxed than I expected.
Rome sits at the end of the table with Erin beside him, his arm around her chair, watching.
We'd talked about it. Rome and I, alone, a conversation that lasted two hours and left us both raw. He'd been angry and told me he was worried and that Callahan was too old for me and that he'd trusted him and felt betrayed.
I told him I loved him and respected him, but that I was going to do this anyway. He hadn't liked that. He was still not liking it, visibly, from the end of the table. But he's here. He stayed.
Dinner is good. The food is rich and the wine keeps coming and the noise level climbs, and at one point,slowly, the table thins. Gran leaves first, with Beth and Vera. Will stands next, stopping in front of me one last time.
"Happy birthday, sweetheart."
"Thank you, Will. For being here. You have no idea."
"I have some idea." He smiles.
He leaves with Callahan, and I am not ready for the night to end.
