Minnie: Jokes aside, Mom, this is incredible. I can’t wait to celebrate with you!
I hope you know how amazing you are.
Claire: Love you, Min.
Minnie: See you soon!
Chapter 35
A knock at my door.
A jolt of electricity.
Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt like this.
It’s a date. It’s a date with a guy. It’s a date with a guy I like. And he likes me too.
I pull the door open and find him standing there, looking as handsome as ever. “Hi.”
He smiles. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks. I think I tried on everything in my closet before I landed on this.” I glance down at the long, flowy skirt that took me an hour to settle on. “It’s hard to plan for a night out when you don’t know where you’re going.”
“You chose well.” He gives me an approving nod. “But you’ll probably need a jacket.”
“Still not going to tell me what the plan is?”
“And ruin the surprise?” He pulls a face. “No way.”
I grab a jacket and my bag, then join him outside in the courtyard. Lorraine is sitting at one of the tables with two other older women. When she sees us, she stands and rushes over. “Claire, congratulations on your big success today! You must be so happy.”
I reach for her hands and squeeze them both in my own. “Thank you so much for everything, Lorraine. I know people showed up because you told them to. And also because they wanted to meet you. Did I see you signing autographs?”
She chuckles a little. “Yes, for a sweet little thing named Ruby.”
“Right...” Miles puts a finger to his temple, searching the airlike he’s trying to remember something. “You told her a man who makes you guess isn’t mysterious—”
“He’s immature!” Lorraine says, in unison with Miles. She laughs, then inches back. “Wait a minute. Are you two going on a date?”
“We are,” Miles says.
She blows out a breath. “Well, it’s about time!” She turns back toward the table. “These are the two I told you about.” She starts walking away. “I guess they finally figured it out—we don’t have to intervene after all.”
I look at Miles, and we both laugh. “She’s the best. I can’t believe how happy she was to help me.”
“That’s what she does,” he says. “When I moved in, I was kind of a wreck. She brought me dinner every single night after work. I mean, she dished it up with a side of snark, but she’s a big part of the reason I survived all that.”
“I hate that you went through what you went through,” I say.
“I hate that you went through what you went through too.” He glances at me. “But isn’t it interesting that those disasters led us both here?”
I smile at that, because a year ago, I couldn’t have imagined feeling happy again. And now I can’t imagine feeling sad. I suppose that’s how life goes, though. It’s not all peaks and it’s not all valleys. Not all joy or sadness. It’s everything all at once, sometimes in drips and sometimes in waves.
We reach the sidewalk, and I expect him to walk over to where his car is parked, but he turns in the opposite direction.
“We’re not driving?”
He pauses and looks at me. “You like to walk.”
