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“So, you’ll be in Riviera soon?”
“I should.”
“Oh.” After a beat, she added, “Good.”
“It is?”
“Yeah.” One syllable, but he had hope again.
“Is Chris staying overnight, too?”
“He is, but there’s nothing … nothing.”
“Hope, if there’s any—”
“Jordan! Did you know that my sister and I are going trick-or-treating twice?” Hannah, bless her, burst in on them excitedly.“Not once. Twice! First with our mom at home, and then Grandma will take us to trick or treat in Nevada!”
He couldn’t help but chuckle, although his fate was still hanging. “That’s amazing. I’ve never heard of anyone who got to treat or treat in two states. That has to be some world record.”
“I read the Guinness World Record book of last year and 1999. That’s old!”
“It is very old.” He smiled then bent a little toward her. “Hannah, thank you so much for that invitation letter. I had a blast. Even Gandhi would have had fun here.”
Her laughter rolled. “Mom, take a picture of us.”
Hope bit her lip, tapped her phone, and directed it at them. “Ready?”
He wrapped an arm around Hannah’s shoulders as she leaned her head against his side.
“Cheese!” Hannah called, holding her silver medal in front of her.
He smiled, and Hope snapped the picture.
“I’ll send it to you,” she said.
“I have to get going,” he said, looking at the time on his phone.
“Thanks, Jordan.” Hope sucked in her lips and bit them, and he was pretty sure she wanted to say something else.
“Bye, Jordan,” Hannah said. “When you visit us again, I’ll show you my new Lego Friends.”
“Deal,” he said, smiling, though he felt like a fucking liar.
“Bye, Jordan,” Hannah said again in that easy manner only kids are capable of.
“Bye,” he said to both.
Hannah ran to join a bunch of kids that stood close by. This was her crowd. She seemed to thrive among them.
He turned to leave and took one step. But he couldn’t. Not like that.
He turned on his heels, and Hope was still there, looking at him. He wrapped his arms around her, nestled her against him, and buried his face in her hair. He didn’t care if people recognized him, didn’t care about making a scene. He wasn’t even aware there was anyone else there. She was all that he could see, all that he wanted to smell, touch, feel.
She clung to him, her arms around his shoulders, her face buried in his chest.
He had no idea how long it lasted, no idea who was watching. When she took a step back, he let go of her. His heart was too full to allow her to say something that might tear it apart. He just rubbed his palm over her arm, turned, and left, leaving unspoken words hanging between them.
