“I was trying to find the right place. The ideal moment,” he says, searching my eyes.
“This is it,” I tell him. “It’s right now.”
“Okay.”
“No, wait,” I say, pulling the glasses from his face and cleaning off a smudge. I stand on my toes and set them back in place. “Okay, now.”
“We’re here to perform a closure ceremony.” He pauses, waiting for my comment.
“Closure ceremony. Got it.”
“You’re not going to hassle me?”
“Nope. Please go on.”
He eyes me with skepticism but says, “The idea is to do something to mark the end of one chapter in your life and the beginning of a new one—a symbolic act to memorialize your relationship with Nate.”
“I think we committed plenty of symbolic acts yesterday. I feel like that relationship is well and truly memorialized.”
“We don’t have to do this if it doesn’t feel right to you.”
I study George. This is important to him. “I can get into it,” I say. “Do you have something in mind?”
He nods and pulls a piece of paper from his pocket.
Even folded, I know exactly what it is. The robin’s-egg blue Darlington Manor stationery is singed into my retinas. I stare at it, waiting for everything that piece of paper represents to knock me over with a devastating blow. But none comes.
“I found it after you and your parents left,” George says. “I went back to your room to pack your things, and I didn’t want anyone else to see it. I thought about ripping it up. Ithought about burning it. But you should be the one to do it. It’s yours.”
I stare at him, my deeply thoughtful best friend.
“Are you angry that I had it all this time?” he asks.
“No. I’m glad it was with you. I’m glad you kept it safe.”
“I have your dress, too,” he says. “Or Mimi does. I didn’t want you to have to think about what to do with it. It’s waiting for you at the Big House.”
With a sob, I throw my arms around him, tackling him to the ground. I kiss him through my tears.
“I forgot about my dress. Ilovedthat dress.”
“It’s beautiful. I snuck a look.”
“Let’s leave it where it is. One of the Big House’s many secrets. A treasure for someone else to discover.”
“I like that,” George says, brushing my hair off my face. He looks like he’s considering saying more, but he pulls me to my feet.
We brush ourselves off, and then I hold out my hand. George places the letter in my palm along with a matchbook.
I open it and give it one last read.
And then I set it on fire.
• • •
George takes ascoop of sand for his collection, and we part with a kiss. I go back to the villa to begin packing while he swings by the gift shop to pick up trinkets for my family. When I unlock the door, I find a man standing in the living room, adjusting the ribbon on a box on the coffee table. For a second, I don’t realize it’s Kevin and I yelp. He jumps, then begins apologizing profusely.
“I’m so sorry,” he says again, stepping away from the present. “I thought you were out for a walk. I just wanted to make sure you had everything you needed for your last morning, and to drop off a little surprise. I’m sorry. So sorry.”
