seat while the girl jabbered on and on.
About Noah. “OMG! I followed your guys’ love story and bawled my eyes out when he had his stroke and then to think you only had a few more days with him . . . I had to take a week off school. I’m still not over it.” She sniffled. “Your love story is so beautiful!”
“Thank you.” Keaton suddenly looked uncomfortable as she took a picture with the young girl and thanked her again.
“Oh, one more thing!” The girl smiled. “Do you plan to do anything for Noah’s birthday this year? You know, like you did last year with the cake? It would be a really cool way to memorialize him, and I know your fans would love it.”
Keaton looked ready to barf. “Um, maybe, it just depends. This is all still very difficult for me, and I’m writing his book right now.”
“Ohhhh.” The girl pressed her hands to her chest like she was going to cry. “That’s so wonderful! So this must be a business meeting, I’m so sorry!”
Now I was uncomfortable as I looked from Bridge to Izzy, both of whom had frozen smiles on their faces like they were thinking, Get this girl out of here before Julian pops a blood vessel in his forehead from smiling too forcefully.
I was seconds away from that actually happening when the girl finally left and Keaton sat back down.
The entire table was silent, and then she said in a small voice, “Sometimes I wonder if they’ll punish me for moving on.”
Izzy spoke first. “It’s not their call to make, Keaton.”
“Kinda feels like it, though.” She sighed and then frowned down at the menu. “Sorry,” she said in a tight voice. “Sorry—I’ll be right back.” She shoved her chair away from the table and rushed toward the restrooms.
Shit.
She was getting sick again.
“Sorry, guys. She hasn’t been feeling well.” I pushed my chair back and followed after her as she vanished into the ladies’ room. It was hell waiting outside the door, but she returned around six minutes later—yes, I timed it. “I need a toothbrush, gum, something . . .”
I smiled. “Fresh out of all of the above, but you could always swish whiskey around your mouth. Isn’t that what alcohol does? Disinfect? Kill?”
She swiped under her eyes and laughed. “Good to know that we have the same beliefs about whiskey, though I don’t think doctors use it on wounds anymore.”
“Not true. They do use alcohol to disinfect,” I pointed out, pulling her in for a small hug. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think it’s just this trigger now. Every time it feels like too much, my body just reacts, you know?”
“Yeah.” I kissed the top of her head. “Let’s go get some bread into you.”
We rounded the corner, nearly bumping into the same girl from before. She eyed me up and down and then Keaton.
We both smiled at her but her eyes were narrowed into tiny slits like she was doing really hard math in her head.
I ignored the feeling in my stomach that said something was off and took Keaton back to our seats.
The rest of the dinner was nice, quiet, no interruptions, and once Keaton ate she was totally fine.
I was suddenly thankful I had taken the chance on the dress.
Thankful that I listened to my mom even after her death, even when it hurt, and thankful that the girl sitting next to me had actually joined us.
If only I could hold her hand and shout it to the world, that she was mine and I wasn’t letting her go.
“So how is the book coming along?” Izzy asked once the dinner plates were cleared and dessert menus were distributed.
I let Keaton answer; it was her book. I was just helping her get it off her chest, sharing the emotional load, and learning about her every day, because his story was also hers.
“Well . . .” Keaton eyed the menu, then looked up. “I think we’re almost done. Julian’s been a typing machine. I don’t know why but it’s just easier talking out loud than typing it. Typing it feels so . . . final to me, and I get stuck, but talking about it just feels like a conversation, keeping the memory alive.” She smiled over at me. “He’s saved my entire book deal.”
“Well, that’s what Julian does.” Bridge shrugged like it was normal. “He saves people.”
“True,” Izzy joined in. “When Bridge was struggling with his mom and they had absolutely no