She thought he might have taken a breath, a big one, and then he said, “I picked them up, all the ones you’d thrown.” He brought his half-full container in front of him, held it cupped in his hands.
“Like this,” he said, and then he crossed the yard, moved to stand right by Donny’s—his—balcony.
Nora moved, too, peeking over from a different spot.
“I stood right here, so I’d be closer, so I could try to see you better. I was going to say, Hey, did you drop something?”
Below, she heard the distinct sound of a door sliding open, and then an unfamiliar voice said, “Listen, could you keep it down?”
Will’s head turned to his own balcony and he said, “In a minute,” with a flat, inarguable seriousness that was nearly as heart-thumping as this entire scene.
“I sleep during the day, so . . .”
“I’m your landlord,” said Will, and Nora thought she might’ve heard Benny’s laugh from somewhere beneath her.
Will looked back at Nora. “Funny he should interrupt,” he called up, the smile on his lips carrying a hint of sadness, and she knew it wasn’t going to be funny at all.
“So I was going to say, Hey, did you drop something? And I know I didn’t tell you this part before, Nora, but I think I ought to tell you now.”
“Okay,” she said, and she hoped he could hear her, hoped the softness in her voice wasn’t too soft.
“And I could hear my mom and Donny talking, and that’s how I found out my dad was sick. It’s how I found out that my mom wanted to leave me here—”
“Will,” she called down, shocked into speech by this admission—out here in public, with everyone home. “You don’t have to—”
“I don’t mind if they know.” He paused, lowered his head to look toward Marian and Emily’s balcony. “Nora told me last night how you all ended up here. I know why this place matters to all of you, so you might as well know why it matters to me, too.”
Nora thought she could hear Mrs. Salas’s voice from somewhere, too, though the words were indistinct. Still, Will must’ve caught it, because he smiled before he looked back up at Nora.
“It’s also how I found out what Donny thought of my mom, and my dad, and me, really. Rash, reckless, selfish. That’s what he said about us. Like we were all of a piece.”
“Will,” she said again, tears dripping from her chin now. She wiped them away hastily. “Let me come down. Just wait, and I’ll come down.”
“Not yet.”
She nodded, but she had to grip the balcony railing to stop herself.
“I think the thing is, Donny was probably right about that. I think I probably was kind of a reckless kid, back then. After all, I fell in love with a girl on a balcony just from hearing her laugh.”
That was definitely Mrs. Salas. A big, swoony sigh.
“And I think if I would’ve gotten left here with Donny that day, I probably would have been so selfish with you. I probably would’ve messed up your life in all kinds of ways.”
“Don’t say that,” she said, but it was hard not to think of how it really would have been—Will, angry and alone and intense; Nora, timid and immature and inexperienced. It probably would have been a mess.
“I left here that day and I tried to become someone else, someone more focused and in control, someone more responsible. And I thought I’d done fine out there in the world on my own, but I know now a part of me was missing you the whole time. I know it because sixteen years later I came back here and saw you up on that balcony and I was terrified I hadn’t changed at all.”
“Nora!” Mrs. Salas called from somewhere below. Will lowered his head and smiled, and Nora realized Mrs. Salas must be on Emily and Marian’s balcony, too. “This is so good! I’m sorry; I had to say it!”
Nora nodded even though Mrs. Salas couldn’t see her. She kept her eyes on Will.
“I’m almost there, Mrs. Salas,” he said, and then he looked back up.
“Nora Clarke, I loved you from the first time I didn’t see you, but I don’t think that matters half as much as the fact that I love you now. I don’t think it matters as much as the way I know I’m going to love you forever.”