He’d said he recognized her, or felt he should. She clung to that.
“Did I bully you in high school or something?” Will asked. “If I did, it was an accident. I mean… I don’t think I ever bullied anyone. Not on purpose anyway. Victor and I go back. He can vouch for me.”
“You didn’t bully me,” Emmy managed.
“Oh. Good.” He knelt down to gather her things. “I’m just gonna clean this stuff up. Least I can—” He stopped midsentence. Her purse was still in his hand. He’d already put her keys and wallet back in it. His eyes were fixed on the tiny flashlight. Slowly, he picked it up, lifted it for a better look. “You have a flashlight keychain.”
“Yes.”
A new thought occurred to her. Didhehave a flashlight keychain? It was suddenly vitally important to her that he have one. If he did… and if it was named Gordon…
He was still kneeling on the floor. Emmy wondered vaguely if he was aware that it looked like he was proposing to her, down on one knee, holding a flashlight up to her like an offering. It would be funny later, she promised herself. One day, she would look back on this moment and laugh.
“I also have a flashlight keychain,” Will said slowly, finally pushing himself up to stand.
Emmy’s heart skipped a beat. She stopped herself before she could ask its name. He didn’t know her. She reminded herself that, to him, they were meeting for the first time.
Trying for surprise, she said, “Really? That’s a freaky coincidence. But I bet you didn’t name yours.”
“You… named your flashlight?”
“Yep. Barry. Don’t judge me.”
“You named your flashlight,” Will repeated. His hand took another quick journey through his hair. If he keptdoing that, he was going to look like he’d taken a break from dinner to go skydiving. “Why Barry? I guess it doesn’t matter, but…” His face lit up when realization hit. “Barry Allen. The Flash.”
“You got it.”
Somehow this conversation was far more surreal than any she had had with him when they were both literally living inside a novel. She felt detached from herself, like she was having the conversation but also observing the conversation from afar. A defense mechanism, she supposed. If she let herself be a hundred percent present, she would probably start crying. Or begging.
Not happening.
Will took a deep breath, then reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “My flashlight is Gordon.”
Emmy’s heart leaped with joy at the sight of the familiar little gadget. It really was him. This was real-world Will.
“No way! LikeFlash Gordon?”
“Yeah.” He paused. “What’s going on here?”
That was a tough question to answer. She couldn’t very well tell him the truth.
Emmy shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. You said I looked familiar. Maybe it’s just… fate?”
He studied her for a moment. “If you’d suggested something like that before I saw Barry, then I would have told you I don’t believe in fate.”
“And now?”
“Now? I think we gotta at least grab a cup of coffee or something.”
She wanted to ask him so many things. He didn’t remember her, so he wasn’t the Will from the book. But he had aflashlight named Gordon, so hewasWill. Did he still have a friend named Jared? Was he a nurse? What about his cousin?
No, a wedding was not a good time to ask if he had lost a cousin to cancer.
He’d suggested coffee. That was good. That was a start. She would have time to ask her questions. She needed to stay calm, take everything one step at a time.
How long had she been gone from the reception? She couldn’t linger here any longer, no matter how much she wanted to stay with him, talk to him, figure out this version of him. She’d promised May, and herself, that she would be there for May’s wedding. She wasn’t opposed to getting to know this Will, to seeing if that spark was there, but her sister came first. This was May’s night.
For now, it was enough to know that Lucy had been right. Will was here. There was hope.
