I shook my head. His brown eyes were so beautiful. All of him, really. And way too close for comfort. “Back to your side of the Mystery Machine, Fred.”
He slowly retreated, watching me carefully. “I’m so sorry. About all of it.”
“I know. And I get why you did it. I get why Britta did what she did. And even Curt and Elena to some extent. But I don’t care about my job, or any of them the way I care about you. Noah, you lied to me. Not with words, but with your actions. What you did broke my trust in you, and I need some time to get back to the way things were, or maybe to get to a new normal between us. Whatever that is. You know?”
He nodded, looking somber. “I’ll accept whatever you decide, even if what you decide on isn’t me. Or that you only want to be friends.”
“Giving up so soon?”
His eyes widened. “No. Not at all. Please don’t say you only want to be friends.”
“We’ll see.” I was only half teasing. The fear that had held me back from ever revealing my crush on him had morphed into a fear that he wouldn’t stay interested now that he’d told me everything. Noah was goal oriented, maybe more than even he realized. Things had been set to rights, well, as much as they could be. The only thing left to figure out was us. But if I gave him my heart, would he want to keep it?
Chapter 31 – Noah
I had always wondered if Jenny ever read the messages I’d left for her inside the flaps of the origami creations I’d left on her desk on the day I brought her lunch, but I got my answer one morning when I reached my desk in my brand new office and unzipped my backpack. A very simple, but carefully folded crane was inside.
On the underside of the wing were the words:You’re my fourth favorite person.
I would have been a lot more insulted if I wasn’t so giddy about her reaching out at all. Not that we never talked, but it was always friendly and never without Dan and Sadie as a buffer.
I pulled out my phone and quickly texted her.
Noah: Okay, who beat me out?
Jenny: Um, my parents. And Lauren. I finally told her about us and what happened. She’s threatened to beat you up for me.
Noah: There’s an us!?!
It was important to focus on the positive.
Jenny: You wish.
Noah: I do wish.
At least I’d beat out Sadie and Dan. Jenny liked me more than them. More than her cousin with the Jane Austen memes. More than the guy in her office she often referred to as her right-hand man. Keebler. No, Keegan. That was the guy.
She even liked me more than Denver. Even though it was warm enough that she was swimming in his pool almost daily, and making dinner for him, and all the other details Sadie loved to torture me with while Jenny told her to cut it out. They had eight more days at his house, and then they were moving into their own apartment. Hallelujah day, as Sadie referred to it.
After the crane, there was a new origami figure in my backpack every morning, and after I read the message on it, I would immediately text her. Just to say thank you and ask how her day was going. Just to tentatively reach out at the pace she’d set.
At first, our text messages were surface-level, sometimes polite, sometimes teasing. But soon we were back to texting the way we used to. Where I told her everything I was thinking, and it seemed like she did the same.
I helped her and Sadie move into their own apartment, with no underwear incidents, and no Clarissa getting in the way this time. Lauren did not beat me up. In fact, I think she and her husband liked me and were secretly rooting for me.
My days were so busy at work that I could almost forget, if just for a little while, about Jenny’s distance, and not wish for the millionth time that today was the day I’d go out to meet everyone for carpool, and she would greet me by launching herself straight at me. I’d even Googled: How to catch someone who throws themselves at you. All figurative answers. No instruction videos at all for arm and leg placement. It was very disappointing.
These days, I never had a real lunch hour, but it was for the best. Jenny wanted space, and the only way I could show her I loved her, since I wasn’t allowed to tell her, was to give her the space and time she’d asked for.
My official position at Uncharted Treasures was now Digital Marketing Director. And it came just as offers were trickling in from the other places I’d interviewed with. Such is life. But staying put was an easy decision, and I didn’t regret it. I liked the openness of Unchartered Treasures. Along with their drive to succeed and willingness to pivot away from old habits that had been holding them back. It felt like something I should do, and I had a few ideas.
When I had a lull, I pulled up the text thread with all my brothers that we hadn’t used since our last dumb bet and asked for some help.
Noah: Who wants to come with me to trade in the Chilivan and my truck? It’s time for something new.
Trace: You’re selling your truck? Why???
Clark: Are you having money problems?
