“ShehatesAstronauticals.” AJ still couldn’t believe it.
Noah’s brow furrowed. “She doesn’t, deep down,” he said. “She just wants Ezell to be remembered for winning the Pulitzer forThe Cone Cycleand for his civil rights activism. She’s incredibly protective over his legacy. She won’t even letmereadFire & Water.”
“What’s that?” asked AJ.
“The play he was writing when he died,” said Noah, taking another bite of his sandwich.
This was easier than AJ had thought it would be. Sitting with him. Talking to him. “I’ve never done anything like that before,” she heard herself say. “Acting, I mean.”
Noah eyed her as he swallowed. “Really?”
AJ nodded.
He studied her. “Are you considering Eudora’s offer?”
AJ scoffed. “That wasn’t a real offer,” she said. “She just thinks I…I don’t know.”
“No, you don’t,” said Noah. His eyes seemed to draw in the Junesunlight, changing to an almost honey gold. It was…not ugly. “Trust me. My aunt never does anything that’s not in her own self-interest. She wouldn’t waste her time if she didn’t think you had talent.”
AJ surveyed him. “Why aren’t you in the family business? You clearly have…talent.”
Noah grimaced. “Because I don’t want to end up like the rest of my family. Hollywood is soulless…it’s just a bunch of terrible people behaving terribly in really expensive houses.”
AJ stared at him. “Noah, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you kind of live in a mansion.”
“That is not my house,” said Noah hotly. “I’m only there because—”
Noah looked at his sandwich as if it had gone stale. AJ watched him rewrap it as he contemplated his next remark. At last, he said, “My mom is sick. That’s why I’m back.”
Suddenly, imposing, terrifying Noah Drew seemed about twelve years old.
“I’m so sorry,” said AJ. “How is she doing?”
“Not great,” he said. “We’ve got her at Simmons trying to figure out what’s wrong. At first they thought she’d had a stroke because she can’t talk and her mobility is shit, but they ruled that out. She’s basically being shuttled between a blood lab and an MRI machine.”
“Noah, that’s—”
Simmons was a full-time-care facility two towns over, geared toward patients with chronic conditions. Those who went in rarely came out. What AJ wanted to say washorrible, horrifying.
Instead, she said, “Expensive.” Then quickly, “Not that…I’m sure you can afford—”
“My auntcan,” said Noah. “To be clear, I wouldnevertake her money. Hence how I became your favorite coworker. But for my mom’s sake—” He chewed his lip. “My dad split when I was nine. I’m basically all she has.” He looked down at the sandwich in his hands. “I’m grateful for Eudora’s help, don’t get me wrong. But if it were up to her, the doctors would just pump my mom full of drugs, keep her out of sight and out of mind. That’s why I need to be here—she needs an advocate.”
AJ noticed Eudora was no longer Dorie for this conversation. “Youdon’t seem to like your aunt that much,” she said carefully. “Why stay with her?”
Noah winced. “I can’t go home.” His eyes were guarded, but he didn’t look away. “It’s been a brutal couple of months, AJ,” he said with difficulty. “Watching my mom go through this is…heartbreaking. And coming from West Point…I’d rather deal with Eudora than be alone.”
He creased the sandwich paper in a neat line. “Cadets commit to serving in the army before their junior year. That was supposed to be me this summer,” he said in a low voice. “All the guys in my unit went for it. And instead, I’m just…here. Stuck.”
AJ’s chest ached. “I know how you feel,” she said, and without warning, she was telling him about her injury and what it meant for her college prospects. She found herself in tears as she described the Powerpuff Girls, which was embarrassing in light of everything he had shared.
But Noah didn’t seem fazed by it. He listened intently, absorbing it all, and as she spoke, AJ felt the oddest sense that nothing she could say to him would ever be wrong. That she was safe.
When she finished, he sat back, draping an arm over the back of the bench. “You really should consider my aunt’s offer,” he said after a beat.
“What happened to ‘Eudora never does anything that’s not in her own self-interest’?”
An adorable pink tinge swept across Noah’s cheekbones. “That doesn’t mean your interests can’t align—just don’t get swept up in her bullshit,” he said. “A rec from her would open doors. And there’s a lot she could teach you, as an artist.”
