An angel who dressed in pearls and linen like a real southern woman.
Nate let go of my fingers and I flew into her arms, fighting the knot of emotion that clogged my throat.
How could I express to my gram everything that I’d felt and experienced this summer? How could I tell her that I think she saved me? That she and Nathan had pretty much kept the crazy out of my head so that I could heal?
“You take care of yourself, you hear?” Gram hugged me fiercely. “I love you so much, my little girl.”
“I know.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, pulling away.
“What for?” I was barely able to get the words out.
“For being strong enough to let me in.” She tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear and whispered, for my ears only. “And for catching Nathan.”
“Monroe, we’ve got to board.”
I nodded at my mother and watched my dad shake Nathan’s hand. The two of them moved off a few paces, and I waited for Nathan to come to me.
“So,” he said huskily, “I guess this is it.”
I nodded. I couldn’t speak because I was too afraid that if I tried to, I would burst into tears and things would get messy real fast.
He gathered me into a hug, his mouth next to my ear. “We’ll talk every day.”
Again I nodded.
“Skype will be our best friend, right?”
I sniffled. And nodded.
“And when Trevor gets better, I’m bringing him to New York to meet you.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
“Monroe, we have to go.” My mom looked like she was going to cry, and I kissed Nathan, a soft, quick brush of my lips.
“I love you,” I said with a smile, my eyes watery and on the verge of leaking like Niagara Falls.
Nate blew out a long breath and gave me one final hug. Then he whispered, “See you soon.”
I didn’t look back at him as I followed my parents to the boarding desk. I didn’t even look back before heading down the tunnel that took us onto our plane.
I didn’t want to remember him standing in the airport lounge with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans and his long, sun-kissed hair touching the tops of his shoulders.
That, back there, was good-bye, and good-bye was no longer an option. Not in my world. I grinned. Not in my universe.
Nope. Good-bye didn’t exist.
A week before Christmas…
December is a crazy month.
School winds down. Parties seem to take up every weekend. Hanukkah. Christmas. Birthdays.
Mine falls on the 20th, which was today, and I was glad my parents had let it go without a big deal. I really hated big deals. Besides, who had time for birthdays when there was still so much to do for the holidays?
It was the Saturday before Christmas, and I’d spent most of it shopping with my best friend, Kate. We’d spent a small fortune on each other—it’s so much easier to do when we can pick out our own presents—and I had to search for the perfect gift for Gram.
She was arriving in two days, and I couldn’t wait to see her.
“Okay, I have, like, three bags of potato chips, cheese popcorn, and Skor chocolate. What do you want first?” Kate asked.
I tossed a pillow at Kate and made a face. “And you wonder why you’ve got zits popping up on your chin.”
“Junk food has nothing to do with it,” Kate grinned. “It’s called hormones.” She shoved a piece of chocolate in her mouth. “Speaking of hormones, when is Mr. Gorgeous Skyping this week?”
My frown deepened. “He’s working late for his uncle on some big project. So maybe later tonight.”
“Huh,” she said and flopped down beside me. “I have Love Actually or The Notebook.”
I glanced over her shoulder. “Why don’t we do both?”
The doorbell went and I yelled, “Mom, the McGills are here.”
My parents were going to a Christmas party, so Kate and I had the night ahead of us, and we intended to eat ourselves into a stupor, high on chocolate and popcorn, and watch our favorite movies.
The doorbell went again and I shoved off from the sofa. “Put the movie in, Kate. I’ll be right back.”
We lived in a large, comfortable brownstone, but our living space went up, not out. This meant that the family/TV room was on the third floor, and by the time I got to the main level, I was breathing a little harder than I’d like.
“Mom,” I yelled over my shoulder one more time before opening the door and standing back. It was cold out and snowy. I shivered and then froze. Like really froze. Like my entire body was as still as a deer in the headlights.
I think that maybe my world tilted a little off center. Or the earth moved.
Or maybe my reality had just fallen in on itself and I was in a different dimension. A dimension where my boyfriend—my hot, sweet, amazing boyfriend—was standing on the front stoop with huge, feathery snowflakes glistening in his hair.
“Oh,” was all I managed to say.
I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want to be that girl who falls apart at the mere sight of the boy she loves.
But holy hell, I was that girl.
The tears started before I could stop them, and then his arms were around me. We were laughing and kissing and crying, and I didn’t want to open my eyes because I was so scared that it was all a dream.
“Hey,” he said softly, his lips nuzzling my ear.
I wriggled out of his arms. “What are you doing here? Oh my God, Nathan. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
I glanced down in horror at my old sweats and the faded, gray T-shirt that used to be white. I had on my bunny slippers, my hair was in a ponytail, and—my hands flew to my chin—there, where I knew he could see the white zit paste.
The white zit paste that was smeared all over his cheek.
“Jesus, Monroe. You weren’t kidding. He’s hot.”
Kate came up behind me, and I heard my parents shuffling behind her. I glanced back and saw that they weren’t dressed to go out. In fact, Dad had on his comfy pants, the ones where the zipper was forever falling down.
“Nathan?”
God, I wished we were alone. He looked so handsome in his dark jeans, boots, and heavy jean jacket. His beanie hung off the back of his head, and I loved that there was a bit of stubble on his chin.
My heart squeezed.
“I brought someone to meet you.”
He moved aside and I saw a guy standing behind him. He was tall and thin, but his grin was wide and his eyes were so blue they looked like they had the sky in them.
“Trevor?” I asked hesitantly.
He’d come out of his coma a few weeks into September. From what Nathan had said, he had some problems, most of them to do with his memory, but he’d made a slow and steady recovery.
He nodded. “The one and…only. Good…to finally meet you. I’ve always wanted to come to New York so…I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, I…” My tongue was so tied up I could barely talk. Oh my God, I sounded like an idiot.
“Okay, this is nice, boys, but I’m not used to this kind of cold. Do you mind moving so an old woman can get to the heat?”
Trevor moved and Gram pushed past, kissing me quickly and touching my cheek as she strode by. Again with the surprises. I wasn’t expecting her for two more days. “Happy birthday, Monroe. You’re looking good. Living in the moment suits you.”
Nathan grabbed my hand again, and his touch zinged through my entire body. I wasn’t just alive. I was on fire. I was where I wanted to be, with the people I wanted to be with.
Life, such as it was, was as perfect as it ever was going to get.
Gram was right.
But then, Gram was always right.
Acknowledgments