“Yes,” Kari says.
“Perfect. Please head through those doors and Shera will get you all set up.”
We turn to go, but stop as she speaks again. “Which one of you is Jada?”
“Me,” I say, my eyebrows pulling together. “Is something wrong?”
“No, not at all.” She smiles sweetly at me. “I have this for you.”
In her hand lies another pink envelope. It’s identical to the one Kari gave me earlier. I take it and look at Kari. “Another one? What is this? Some sort of bingo?”
She laughs as I open it. I pull out another pink card. This time “Want” is typed out across the center.
“I want”—I grin—“a lot of things. But the first thing is to know what this is all about.”
Kari shrugs and heads through the doors, leaving me standing alone with the card in my hand.
FIFTY-EIGHT
Cane
I takea sip of my coffee. Max is sprawled out on the couch on the other side of the room, flipping through a newspaper.
“What do we need to do today?” I ask him.
“I got everything done you asked me to do, plus about a hundred other things I know you’d never think of. So nothin’, I don’t guess.”
“I’ve never done this before, asshole.”
He sets the newspaper down. “And I have?”
“No, but you’re better at this than me. Yougetthis shit.”
He laughs and sits up. “Well, I intend to take credit for all this after the fact.”
“The hell you are.”
“I am. Without Kari and me, you’d be fucked.”
“What else is new?” I mutter, standing up and refilling my cup. “The pink notes were a good call by you. I’ll give you credit for that.”
“Did she get them yet?”
I smile. “Yeah, Kari texted me that she’s got two so far.”
“Hey, we do need to pick up a few things today. Wanna get dressed, and then we can get it out of the way?”
I take a deep breath, feeling the excitement start to creep in. I’ve been trying to fight it, keep it at bay, so I stay in control. But the closer we get, the harder it is not to feel antsy. It reminds me of lying in bed on Christmas Eve when I was a little boy. Just knowing that in a matter of a few hours, my dreams will come true. The anticipation is almost too much.
“Getting nervous?” Max smirks.
I consider his question. It’s a fair one. I’m anxious as fuck, but I have zero second thoughts. Not one. Not an inkling of one.
“You know what? I’m not. I’m not at all, actually.”
He chuckles and stands, swiping his black cap off the couch and putting it on backward. “My life just gets more bizarre.”
“Why’s that?”
