Page 123 of Tell Me Something

“Thank you. That’s my favorite, too.”

Josh and Colby came back in with a couple trays of food, and Josh handed me a cool beer.

“Thanks.” I smiled.

“So what are you two talking about?” Colby questioned, nosy as ever.

“Wedding dresses,” Mrs. Singer replied.

Josh inhaled his drink wrong with that comment. His brother patted his back, looking amused.

“Excuse me?” Josh finally made out.

Rolling my eyes, I responded, “Easy, there. We were specifically talking about the vintage dress shoot for Catherine’s magazine. Your mom said she liked the wedding dress the best.”

She nodded and winked at me.

“Nice. Thanks, Mom,” Josh quipped.

“Come on, dear. I want grandchildren, and I’m not getting any younger.”

I met Josh’s eyes and knew instantly his mom was not aware of his vasectomy.

“Well, considering how irresponsible my little brother is, I’d be willing to bet there’s a grandchild out there somewhere,” Josh contended sarcastically.

Colby shrugged and played into it. “Not a problem as long as I don’t know about them, right?”

“Not funny. Sometimes, Haylee, it isn’t easy being a mother of two boys.” Patricia shook her head.

Her expression made me laugh. I could picture the Singer boys growing up and many a time Patricia saying exactly this.

My eyes met Josh’s, and I wondered what he was thinking. And why would he bother to introduce us now, I contemplated? Was he purposefully trying to make things harder to end? Or was he simply making the best of our time left? At the moment I didn’t want to analyze it because it felt too good to be enveloped in this family atmosphere and get to see a side of Josh I hadn’t seen before.

MY LAST WEEK in the office was bittersweet as I knew it would be. It was Thursday and both Nigel and David were taking me out for dinner. Tomorrow I was only coming in to turn over my laptop and finish up paperwork. After doing that, I planned to meet Will for lunch.

Since on Saturday I was leaving for Australia for two weeks, I wondered if Josh had anything planned for the Friday night before then. Our last night. Sure, I’d see him again before I moved out of the apartment, but by then I was convinced he’d have moved on. I tried not to think about the fact that he’d probably start dating again while I was in Australia. He’d never lack for company if he didn’t want to; that was for sure.

Josh left early for a meeting, and Nigel suggested we do the same.

“Why don’t we head out a little bit early? Josh won’t mind as he knows we’re taking you out tonight.”

I smiled, grateful for the fact that they wanted to spend time with me before I left. “Sounds good to me. Is David meeting us there?”

“Yes, we’ll see him there. You look lovely, by the way.”

I looked down at my mother’s black Tahari dress and realized it would be the last couple days I’d be wearing these clothes for quite a while. They definitely didn’t have a place at school.

“Thank you. And it’s so sweet of you two to do this for me.” I would miss my New York friends more than I’d ever imagined. I’d never before felt like people were going to miss me. My father’s business partner simply felt an obligation to look after me from afar. Although I loved my Aunt J, she’d never been around enough for me to miss her. No one I’d met here had an obligation toward me; they just seemed to genuinely want to be a part of my life.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, we were led upstairs and toward the back. As we entered the room, a resounding “SURPRISE” shouted out.

Holy shit. Everyone I knew from New York was there in that room, including Josh. He caught my eye and gave me a wink as both Sasha and Catherine rushed over.

“We wanted to give you a proper going-away party,” Sasha said.

“This is—it’s just wonderful. Thank you.”

I couldn’t believe everyone was there. Nigel and David, Mark, Brian, Will, and even Bart and Gina were giving me hugs.