Dad’s deep chuckle filled my ear. “It’s very okay with me, son. I’m thrilled to give it to you. Congratulations and happy birthday, kiddo.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“I love you, Landon. And do something for me this year. Just be happy, and don’t waste any more time. Julie’s yours. She always was.”
“Yes, she was. She is. And I love you too.”
After I ended the call, I made my way over to the Fulton Street train station and pulled out my phone before heading down the stairs.
Me:I love you.
Julie:You’re home already? You’re early.
Me:Tell me again how you have nothing planned for today…
Julie:Sorry for trying to do something special for my husband. Geez.
Julie:And I love you too. Are you okay?
Me:Very okay. I’ll be home soon. Unless I need to linger somewhere so I don’t walk in early on whatever you’re not doing for me today.
Julie:Very funny. See you soon, doll. xoxo
I rushed down the flight of stairs to the subway platform. Now that I’d figured out the rest of my life, I wanted to start it as soon as possible.
23
JULIE
“Istill can’t believe you talked me into this,” I told Karen as I stared at the framed eleven by fourteen photo on my kitchen counter.
“Landon’s heart is healthy under all that muscle, right?” She laughed as she leaned against the sink. “Because that may be enough to—”
“Stop it,” I said, a flush burning my cheeks a bit as I slid a large gift bag over it. “His heart is fine. I hope. But I don’t know where he’s going to keep this, and I don’t know why I chose such a big size to frame. I blame the Fireball shots.”
“I told you to take the shots they offered you. Jeannine said you were a natural.”
“She did?” I crinkled my nose as I shoved Landon’s birthday cake into the refrigerator. “I felt a little silly with all those poses she put me in.”
“That’s the whole point. To let go. She said once she got you talking about Landon and you had a buzz, you were very fun to work with.”
“That’s nice of her. It was weird. I went there as a gift for Landon, but it ended up sort of being for me.” I peeked inside the gift bag.
“It’s oddly empowering, right?”
“Absolutely,” I said as I angled my head inside for another glance at the photo. Jeannine was a magical genius because I seemed to look good from every angle. “What made you do it?”
Her smile faded for a moment.
“After my hysterectomy, I fell into a spiral. I had a kid in college, so I wasn’t looking to use my uterus again, but I had a big scar across my stomach and my entire body changed. Oliver was great throughout the whole thing, but it was my perceptions that were fucked up, you know what I mean?”
“Oh yeah,” I breathed out. “When you look in the mirror and morph into someone you don’t recognize, and the old you doesn’t come back.”
“Exactly.” She pointed a finger at me. “I knew Jeannine from when our kids went to school together, and she told me about her new business and asked if I knew anyone who’d be interested, and I said why not?”
She bunched her shoulders in a shrug.
“I thought that we could laugh about it later, but, to my shock, I loved every shot.” Her grin was wistful as she came over to the counter. “Instead of making fun of my body, I was honoring it for all it went through. Maybe you could understand that, too.”
