“Got it.” I rub her back. Kennedy’s sweet honeysuckle perfume comforts me. “Did Keith leave it in a happy place?”
“No. He didn’t. He found someone else.” Tears fall fast and loose. “I guess that’s the funny thing about relationships, people always think they’re with the right person until they find out they’re not.” She gives a hard sniff. “Anyway, enough about me.” She takes a breath. “As for your dad, have a nice sit down with him, too, and explain to him that Warren just isn’t the one. I mean, it’s not like you didn’t try. Sometimes when love taps you on the shoulder, you don’t always find who you expect on the other side. That’s one of the nice surprises life has to offer. Warren will still be a part of the family.”
A clatter comes from the kitchen.
“That’s Dad,” I whisper. My heart races like a prisoner who just climbed over the barbed wire. “I’ve got something to ask him, but I think I’ll hold off on the Warren speech until I can process it a little more.”
I go to get up, and she catches me by the wrist.
“It’s okay to have your excuses, Reese.” Her eyes spear right through me. “Just know you may not always have them. The sooner the better. Life has a way of unleashing the truth in the most inconvenient way. I should know. The more I learn about Keith and Joanna, the more I’m figuring out it wasn’t a one-time deal.”
“I’m so sorry.” I pull her into a hug and hold her like that for a long time. Kennedy is right, the sooner I tell my dad about Warren the better. Then maybe I can tell him how I feel about Ace. If my father approved, it would mean everything.
“Get out of here.” She pushes me up. “We’ll talk tomorrow before the real fireworks go off.”
The real fireworks. Just the thought of being with Ace buoys me with excitement, and I bump into Dad as I fly into the kitchen.
“Um…” Crap. “I was thinking about baking something for tomorrow. Do you think I can have Mom’sspecial recipes?”
Dad raises his brows. “Sure. I thought you’d never ask. You know, it’s the only letter I don’t keep in the safety deposit box at the bank.” He heads back to his bedroom, and I follow. “Of course, I had the teller make a copy of each letter and put them in separate locations in the event the bank disappeared overnight in an act of God. I promised your mother I’d keep them private just between you and her. I’ve never read them, but I’m hoping one day you’ll have mercy on me and show me one or two.” His features sag a moment, and I can see the grief prickling on the edges. “I do miss her.” He pulls me in by the shoulder and presses a kiss over my head.
We walk over to his bedroom, but I linger by the door. I find it creepy to be in the room he shares with Beverly knowing the things they might do in here, although I doubt it’s anything like what happened with Ace and me the other night. That was downright dirty magic.
He returns from his closet with another envelope that matches the ones I have upstairs. My mother’s loopy handwriting greets me across the front.
“Special recipes,”he chimes.
“Great.” I fan myself with it a moment before kissing my father on the cheek. It’ll most likely be the last kiss from his little girl. I bring the envelope to my lips and take in its warm scent as if it were my mother.
I’m on my way to becoming a woman. And, now, I’ll have my mother’s words of wisdom to guide me.
My thumb and forefinger create small circles over the envelope for a long time. The paper warms beneath me until it’s hot to the touch.
I can’t do it.
Instead, I tuck it away with the rest of her letters and swear to myself that I’ll read it in the morning. If it is my last night as a girl, I may as well save my mother’s life-changing advice for my life-changing day. Tomorrow a whole new world opens up for me, and I might as well start the day off with a word of advice from my mother.
Around nine-thirty, after Ace has a chance to shower and wash all his woodcutting efforts from Sherman County off his body, he meets me down by the gnarled oak at the base of my house.
It’s dark out, the moon is hardly a sideways sliver, but those are the best nights in Loveless because you can see the stars spray out like pinholes, trying desperately to expose the glory of heaven. Beverly once said it reminded her of a shattered crystal vase, and that pretty much solidified the fact that Beverly could see the negative in just about anything.
I run over to Ace and wrap my entire body around him, and he spins me while landing a dizzying kiss over my lips.
“I missed you like crazy,” he whispers hot in my ear. He smells good and clean like spices and mint, a slight woodsy scent mingles in the background.
“You did?” I give a playful tug at his ear. “I missed you way more than you could ever miss me.”
“Doubtful.” He swoops in and picks me up.
“So”—I draw a soft circle over his chest as he carries me over the dirt trail—“are you as excited about tomorrow night as I am?” I gaze up at him. He’s so stunning. He presses against the night sky with his dark hair catching the light of the moon, picking up blue highlights. His dimples go off, and he’s trying to withhold a smile but it breaks free anyway.
“More than you’ll ever know.”
“What’s the plan for tonight?”
“I thought maybe we’d hang out—be the awesome Ace and Reese for one last time.” He bears into me with a slight hint of sadness as if he missed the old us already.
“Hey”—I swat him gently over the shoulder, and my heart ticks a notch at how muscular he is, how rock solid he is in all the right places—“won’t we be awesome after tomorrow?”
