“Wow. No hesitation.”
I smiled, watching Max ahead of us, weaving in and out of a family dressed as pirates and princesses. “None. He’s my everything, Levi. I’m so lucky to have him.”
“But what about everything else? College? Your life? Didn’t you give that all up for him?”
I thought about his questions as Max did his Halloween thing, living his very best life. “Yes and no. I am disappointed about college, to be honest. And there are other things. I hate living with my mom. I’m worried about raising Max in this town, around these people. This is not how I planned for my life to go. But… at the same time, it’s so much better than I ever imagined. Max makes up for all the things that feel disappointing. Yes, we have to live with my mom in that park, but Max also gets the best of her. She’s the worst, nobody knows that more than me. But not with him. She’s kind and thoughtful, she takes him places and to do fun things. She’s delightful around him and that’s something I never thought I would see. And you know how much I hate this town, but the school system is great. He’s getting a good education and I like the class sizes and somehow he’s made friends with kids that seem to come from good families.”
“What about college?”
I chewed over the one thing I missed most about my imaginary life before Max. “There’s still time for that,” I finally admitted. “Right now, Max is the greatest thing I can do. He’s a worthy pursuit. He’s my big adventure. And he’s going to leave to have his own one day. Like, he just keeps growing up, no matter how much I try to convince him to stop.” I smiled at my words, gazing after my son with an intense mix of longing and hope. “I can do college then. My idea of life was this linear, logical plan that fit nicely in the careful box I’d crafted for it. But this messy, wild, unpredictable version is so much better, so much worthier of living.”
We were making good progress around the square, almost back to Rosie’s. Max ran back to show me his new loot every stop, but he was too excited about the evening to care what Levi and I were talking about.
Levi was silent for a long time. “You make it seem easy, Ruby.”
I tugged his jacket tighter around me and folded my arms over my chest. “It has never been easy. There hasn’t been a single day that was easy. I don’t think good things ever are. The hard things make the victory and the success so much better, so much more beautiful.”
He turned to face me, stilling me with a hand on my forearm. “Is that our story?”
My heart kicked in my chest just like it had seven years ago at Kristen March’s party.I like you, Ruby, he whispered graduation night. I’ve always liked you.
I should have told him we didn’t have a story, but the words got stuck in my throat, refusing to surface. It wasn’t true anyway.
It might not be a love story, but Levi and I definitely told a tale.
“There you are!” Coco greeted from a few feet away. Levi and I jumped apart like someone had started a fire between us.
Or maybe it was in us.
“I’ve been looking for you,” she said, panting a little like she’d been running laps around the square.
“Did you text?” I asked.
She cocked her head. “Yeah, like ten times. I even called you. Which you know was traumatizing for me. I’m post voice calls.”
I rolled my eyes at my ridiculous, hipster friend. “Sorry, Co, I was watching Max.”
“Uh, huh.”
I was thankful for the dark night because it hid my telltale blush.
“Hey, Levi,” Coco finally acknowledged him. “What are you doing here?”
Max threw his arms around Coco’s legs. “He’s trick-or-treating with us!”
Her eyebrows jumped to her hairline. “Why?”
It was Levi’s turn to shift uncomfortably. “I like hanging out with Max,” he explained. “He reminds me of Logan.”
The world screeched to a halt as I noticed Levi searching Coco’s face for answers. Her expression twisted all right, but not with guilt. She stared at him like that was the strangest thing he could have possibly ever said.
“Okaaaay,” she dragged out, holding Max protectively against her thighs. “Weird.”
A puff of laughter escaped me before I could reign in my reaction. If Levi thought he could super sleuth my friends, he underestimated how deeply buried I kept this secret hidden.
No pun intended.
Ack, that was a terrible joke. I immediately felt guilty, even though it had only happened in my head.
