That was when I saw her.
Claire.
She stood near the edge of the food court with Sophie, her head tilted as she listened to something Sophie was saying. For a split second, I couldn’t believe my luck and the fact that I could have spotted her in this crowd.
Like something in me had been tuned to her frequency my whole life, and no amount of time or distance had changed that.
I noticed her eyes before I registered what she was wearing. Before I registered anything else.
Then my brain caught up, and ruined my life.
She looked different than she usually did at school. Her hair was down, falling around her shoulders in a way I rarely saw anymore, catching the light as she laughed at something Sophie said. She wore a very pretty dress and it made her look graceful. Not in a way that pulled me backward, not like the girl she’d been, but an absolutely devastating women.
I swallowed.
Of course she was here. There was only one mall. Everyone ended up here eventually. It wasn’t fate laughing at my expense. It was just coincidence.
But it still felt like someone up there was having a laugh.
Sophie spotted us first. Her face lit up. “Hey!”
Claire turned.
Our eyes met.
For a heartbeat, the noise of the food court faded. I was suddenly aware of the straw between my fingers, the way my heart stuttered once before settling into a faster rhythm.
She smiled warmly.
“Hi,” she said, walking over.
“Hi,” I answered, too aware of how flat my voice sounded.
Sophie slid into a chair across from me without ceremony. “You guys, shopping?”
“Shoes,” Mom said as she returned, Lily bouncing in her seat.
Claire’s gaze dropped immediately. “Oh my God, Lily, those shoes are adorable.”
Lily beamed. “They’re very fast.”
“I can tell,” Claire said seriously. “You look so cool.”
Lily giggled, then glanced at me, then at Claire and Sophie. I saw the idea form before she spoke.
“Uncle Ethan?” she said. “Can Aunt Claire and Sophie sit with us?”
I looked down at her, surprised, not by the request, but by the way she had come to me. Like of course I was the one to ask.
Mom noticed too.
I saw it in the way her eyes softened, the proud smile that curved her mouth as she watched Lily look to me for permission. That look wrapped around me and warmed me straight through.
“Of course,” I said, keeping my voice steady despite the tightness in my throat. “If they want to.”
Claire glanced at Sophie. Sophie grinned. “We want to.”
They pulled their chairs closer.
