Tyler arrives, and he's going to take one look at the situation, and he's going to know that too. He's not slow. He’s never been slow. He's going to know about me and Faloninside of ten minutes, and the promise I made him at seventeen is going to explode between us like a time bomb.
She comes around the doorway.
I straighten up fast. She waves me off, squinting in the kitchen light.
"Couldn't sleep," she says.
"I know. Me either."
She crosses to the counter and leans against it next to me, shoulder to shoulder. Rowdy drops to the tile with a groan.
"The backsplash is going to drive me insane," she says.
"I can finish it."
She looks at the wall, then at me. "You don't have to?—"
"I know ."
She bumps my shoulder with hers. It's a small thing. And I know she is thanking me.
I put my arm around her and pull her in close. She fits so perfectly there, like she was made for it.
I rest my chin on top of her head.
She says, "He's really okay."
"He is."
"We should do something. Before he gets here."
"July fourth is coming."
"I know."
"Town does it big."
"I know that too." She tips her head up and looks at me. Her eyes are tired. She's still the best thing in any room.
“He might be home then, Mom said, a few days to a week or so before he can come home.”
I look at her.
There's a whole conversation in that look.
I can see by the look on her face what she’s thinking. Her eyes are glossy, and the crinkle between her brows tellsme we're thinking the same thing. Will Tyler’s coming home destroy everything we’ve done, and if I choose her over my friendship with Tyler, the honest answer is, Tyler will be mad as a hornet, but I love Falon more.
"I think it's going to be complicated," I say. "And I think we’ll be okay, but let’s cross that bridge when we get there. Fretting never did anyone any good." If only I could follow my own advice.
"Okay," she says. "We’re crossing bridges later; today we're grouting.”
We stand there in her kitchen, in the two a.m. quiet, with her house half-finished around us, with a hope and a wish that Tyler accepts it.
I just need?—
My phone buzzes on the counter.
One vibration. Screen up.
