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Something had shifted between them. Palmer couldn’t put her finger on it, but she felt like they were more than friends. Kent wasn’t pretending to be her boyfriend. He caught her staring at him and smirked a bit. It was sexy and Palmer liked it.
He leaned into her and whispered in her ear, “How are you doing?”
His cool breath along her skin made her spine shiver. Kent was everything she’d wished for years ago. He’d showed, in the time they’d been together traveling, and in one night surrounded by his friends, what life would have been like with him. If only she wasn’t out of time.
“I’m . . .” She paused. What was she? Happy, yes. Sad, yes. Angry, pissed off, disgusted, all yeses. But she was happy because of Kent, and he needed to know that. “I’m happy because I’m with you.”
Palmer was certain she heard him growl; if not, there was a coyote, or whatever type of wild dog spent time in the woods, lurking. She could feel his intense gaze on her and was thankful for the darkness.
Kent leaned in again, but this time he kissed her cheek and then near her earlobe. “There isn’t any other place I’d rather be,” he whispered as his hand tightened around hers.
Palmer wanted Kent, in every way imaginable, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to say the words out of fear. Every day, she felt herself slipping further away, getting closer to death. Kent would be hurt. That was something he hadn’t taken into consideration when he’d asked to take her on this trip. If he had, he hadn’t mentioned it. Each time she brought dying up, he’d change the subject.
Kent was the reason she wrote notes in her journal. She wanted the daily reminders of where she was, why she was there, and everything Kent meant to her. He was the one aspect of her life she didn’t want to forget. She didn’t care about the job she’d left or the people. Palmer only cared about Kent.
Palmer looked around at everyone and saw how happy they were. The gathering was a normal night for them. They didn’t need the excuse of Kent and Palmer visiting to be a family. This was all she’d ever wanted, and Kent had given it to her. She turned toward him and said, “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked in a hushed tone. Kent tilted his head and watched her. Palmer caressed his cheek, and he kissed her palm.
“For showing me what it’s like to have a family. Even if it’s for one night, I’ll never forget this moment.”
“You’re welcome. I’m just sorry we didn’t do this sooner.”
“If we had, I wouldn’t have wanted to leave, and then you wouldn’t have all those magnets.”
“My refrigerator thanks you,” he said with a quiet laugh. “You’ll tell me when you’re ready for bed?”
Palmer nodded. She wanted to stay up all night but knew that would never happen. She tired easily and often, and unfortunately she’d slept through most of their driving. She wasn’t a great passenger at the moment.
“So, what’s next on your trip?” Raúl asked.
Kent cleared his throat and looked at Palmer. “I’m not really sure.”
“Are we far from Las Vegas?”
“Seven hours,” Raúl’s mom yelled. Everyone went silent and looked at her. “What?” She shrugged. “I like the casinos there.”
Palmer glanced at Kent expectantly. “We can definitely go, and we’ll be able to knock the roller coaster off your list. The New York–New York Hotel has an arcade and coaster.”
“I’d like that.”
“We’ll leave in the morning.”
She smiled at Kent and felt a surge of love flow through them, well, at least from her to him. A man like Kent would never fall for someone like Palmer—that was what she reminded herself of each time she forgot she had an octopus sucking the life out of her. He was her friend. Best friend. Nothing more.
“Uncle Kent, have you seen your Instagram?” Julia asked as she came over with her phone. “You guys are, like, mega viral.”
“There’s one of those words again,” Palmer chuckled.
Kent fished his phone out of his pocket, and his eyes widened. His thumb moved up the screen, and hundreds of notifications flew by. He finally cleared the screen and went to the app. “Holy shit,” he said as he held the phone out for Palmer to see. “Our followers have skyrocketed.”
“Uncle Kent, you have a trending hashtag.”
Kent clicked on #Palmersbeforeigobucketlist and saw that there were over two hundred thousand people posting with their hashtag. He clicked on a video and turned up the volume so Palmer could hear. She covered her mouth as her coworker Shaunie started talking.
“To all you people out there following Palmer’s journey, let me just tell you how selfless this woman is. Instead of breaking our hearts with her diagnosis, she told us she was moving, so naturally we gave her a going-away party. She walked out the door with her head held high and with a smile on her face, and we were happy. She didn’t want to see us cry for her. Well, Palmer, if you’re watching this, we love you.”
