At the end of the program, you were required to write a thesis, do a presentation, as well as turn in all of our notes taken during the time. They wanted you to find a spark in creativity and inspiration. Many people blew it off and just followed their parents around, or close family friends, so they didn’t have to go to classes for the last half of the days during April of that year. Knowing Lake, her thesis would be an actual collegiate work, and she would blow everybody out of the water.
I smiled. “You want to take them by storm.”
“Damn straight I am.”
“Language, Lake,” my mom admonished.
Lake just gave me a look, and we both tried not to laugh.
Sierra Montgomery cursed as much if not more than some of the rougher people in our family, but Lake was under eighteen, and there were rules in public. Especially since there was a little old lady busybody frowning at us.
“Anyway, I didn’t know you were going to be down here,” Mom said as she patted my arm.
I swallowed hard and looked at my phone, realizing that I was running out of time.
“I’m just meeting a friend at Taboo,” I said quickly.
Mom leaned forward. “Which friend? Do I know them? Is it a girl?”
My cheeks heated, even as my mom clapped, and Lake whistled. “It’s not like that. I mean, I don’t know.”
“Then what is it?” Mom asked. I looked between two of the most important women in my life and realized that maybe I should just tell them. They would have advice. They always had advice—even if I didn’t want it.
“I met a girl in Paris.”
My mom’s eyes widened, as Lake began to clap.
“What’s her name? How did you meet? Oh my God. Is she here?” Lake looked around as if a girl in a beret and holding a baguette was suddenly going to bike along Market Street and introduce herself.
The image brought a smile to my face, and my mom’s hand squeezed on my arm. “Leif. What’s her name?”
I cleared my throat. For some reason I wanted to keep Brooke’s name to myself. Though I knew the real reason. If she wasn’t there and my heart shattered into a million pieces, the fewer people who knew of her, the better. Right? “We met in Paris but she’s from here. And we promised we would meet today at Taboo.”
“Is she there now? Is she waiting for you?” Lake asked, eyes wide.
A cool breeze whiffed through us, and I looked up at the bright blue sky, past the city buildings to the mountainous peaks behind in the horizon, and swallowed hard.
“I don’t know if she’s there or not. We promised ourselves we wouldn’t text or call. We would meet today in twenty minutes and figure out what it all means.”
My mom gave me a weird look. “Because you want to know if it’s real? Or just a spring fling?” Mom asked, and I knew she spoke of my favorite cake on purpose.
My stomach tightened as nerves threatened to overtake me. “I don’t know. I think we both wanted it to be romantic. Or something. But we both have questions, so if she’s not there, I know she doesn’t want to pursue this, and I won’t bother her.” I shrugged, putting my hands in my pockets. “After all, things are a little different when you’re not home.”
“But you’re going to go, right?” Lake persisted. “You’re going to meet her there? You’re not going to stand in the window and watch and wait for her to finally leave because you’ve given up? Don’t be like that person in the movies. Don’t have her waiting with a rose on her lapel.”
I blinked at her and then gave my mom a look. Mom’s lips twitched but she didn’t say anything.
“We know what the other looks like, so we’re not going to play You’ve Got Mail. Or even Sleepless in Seattle.” I paused. “She’s not Meg Ryan.”
“Are you going to decide which movie hero you’re going to be then?” my mom asked wisely.
I wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of this conversation, but I couldn’t. “I don’t know. I don’t know if she even wants this to be something. She’s going to school soon in California. And I have the internship here and then in New Orleans. It’s so complicated, and I want to make it work. I know we just met but I…I don’t know. This could be something and I don’t want to walk away. I just don’t know how to make it happen without one of us broken or losing out in the end.”
Lake’s eyes widened, and my mom just smiled, her eyes going soft. “That does sound complicated. But don’t you think you should go anyway? Walking away without closure would be painful. And I don’t want you to be in pain baby boy.”
“And let me live romance through you,” Lake teased.
I narrowed my gaze. “You better not be having any romance.”
