Page 15

“Well, I won’t,” I laugh. “But who knows what he’s going to learn from Thorin.”

“Thorin won’t be a problem.” I’m about to ask her what she means by that, but she continues. “So, can I expect a limo at the airport, or your Big Red?”

“Big Red,” I laugh. “Just send me your flight details.”

“Will do, sweets. Now stop cleaning, and go to bed. You shouldn’t be awake at such an ungodly hour when you have a newborn.”

My brows furrow. “How’d you—”

“I know you, Reese. When you’re stressed out, you clean. Stop.”

“Fine,” I acquiesce, throwing my scrubbing brush into the bucket next to me. “I’ll find something else to do until my mind decides to switch off.” And until I’m not thinking about how it feels to have Thorin back in my life.

“Good, and I’ll send you my flight details so you know when to pick me up.”

“Okay. Love you, Mya.”

“Love you, babe. Chat to you soon.”

I end the call, and can’t help but smile. For the first time since Mel and Ryan died, dread and grief are replaced with anticipation. I don’t want to grieve forever, and having Mya here will ease the process of getting back to work, and balancing a new schedule that now includes a baby. Thorin and I still have to work out the logistics, since I don’t know what his long-term plans are, but we can put that on hold until Maggie goes home. For now, we’ll just have to figure it out as we go, and I think Thorin still needs time to process everything. When he’s ready, we’ll talk about how things will work with Eli. I put the cleaning supplies away, check on Eli, who’s still sleeping rather soundly, and walk into my bedroom. Mya’s insistence that I start writing songs again niggles at me, and before I realize it, I’m moving into my carpeted walk-in closet and reach for the box tucked away on the very top shelf. I blow the dust off the lid, and make myself comfortable on the floor. The box contains photographs, some of me with Ryan and Thorin, some of me with just Thorin and some with Maggie and Eli Sr. There’s one or two of me alone, smiling shyly at the camera because Thorin was the one taking the picture. There’s none of me with my parents, I burnt any family photographs I might have kept the day I graduated high school. And amidst all those memories, I find the tattered and bent notebook filled with the lyrics I wrote years ago. Some are my songs, and some I wrote with Thorin. That was before things changed, and the feel of it in my hands makes something shift painfully in my chest. I realize it’s a memory of my 17th birthday. The very first Thorin forgot about.

I’m sitting in the mom-and-pop diner in town, waiting for Thorin. I want to believe he remembered what today is, but the longer I wait, the more deflated I become. My parents made no fanfare of my birthday, but every year Thorin and I come to the diner, just the two of us, and he’d have the staff singing happy birthday while we shared an ice-cream sundae. It’s the only thing he’s managed to right since things went to shit, and like always, it gave me hope that he’d change. But he never does, and here I am, like an idiot, waiting for him. Again.

The waitress stops by my table. “You sure I can’t get you something, hon?” She’s polite enough not to point out how long I’ve been waiting.

“I’m fine, thank you. I’m meeting someone.”

Pity flashes in her eyes, and she’s probably thinking the same thing I am. I’ve been stood up.

“Just shout if you need anything, okay?”

I nod, and watch her walk away, my gaze traveling to the door. It’s quiet tonight, with one or two families enjoying a meal, but I keep looking out the window in the hopes of seeing Thorin’s truck pull in. After waiting another thirty minutes, I’m finally ready to call it a night and go home. Chances are, Thorin is at a party with Jessica and his friends, and I’m not foolish enough to keep waiting. I should have known better. I’m about to slip out of the booth when the bell above the door chimes. I look up, and see Ryan strolling towards my booth.

“Thought I’d find you here.” He smiles, and takes a seat, his big frame filling the space. “How’d you know?” My cheeks flush from embarrassment.

“Call it a hunch.” He winks, and signals for the waitress. “Can we get a sundae to share, extra whipped cream?”

“Comin’ right up.”

When she’s gone, I start tearing the napkin in my hand apart. Nervous habit. “I thought he’d remember.”

Ryan sighs, and scoots over until he can rest his arm around my shoulders. “I had a feeling this would happen, so I left campus early this morning, and decided I’d surprise you this year.”

“So, you came out of pity?” God, I’m so pathetic, pinning my hopes on a boy who’s done nothing but let me down for the last year and a half. Why I expected him to show up is beyond me.

“Absolutely not,” Ryan replies, his brows furrowed. “I came because this is the last birthday you’ll have before you graduate, and I actually didn’t want to miss it. I know you and Thorin have your little tradition, but I didn’t want you to think this birthday wasn’t just as important as the ones before it.” Ryan knew my birthday was just another day in my house, even Maggie and Eli made a bigger deal about it than my own parents ever did.

“I appreciate it, Ry, but you can’t keep saving me from disappointment, ya know.”

“I know, but I sure as hell won’t contribute to it, either. You know I love you, Reese, and I know Thorin has been a dick.”

I shrug. “Guess he’s just outgrown me.” Ryan opens his mouth, but we’re interrupted by the waitress. Thank God, because the last thing I want is for Ryan to defend Thorin’s actions or deny that he has, in fact, outgrown our friendship. It’s bad enough that I find myself making up excuses for his dickish ways. Old habits, and all that. The waitress smiles, and pulls a sparkler from her apron.

Without a word, she smiles, and lights it. “A little bird called and said it was your birthday, sweetheart.”

I look at Ryan. “You didn’t.”

“I sure did, Reese Pie.”