Taylor sighed again. “There’s an inscription on the inside.”
Lucy lifted out the bracelet and held it to the light so she could read the words inside. “It says Little Sister.”
Taylor held up her wrist, showing off an identical bracelet. “Mine say Big Sister.”
The ribbons, paper and jeweler’s box fell to the floor when Lucy stood to wrap her arms around her sister.
“What if—” Lucy couldn’t even bring herself to say it.
“I was giving it to you no matter what.”
Yeah, hereallyshould have brought tissues.
Everybody laughed, though, when Mattie took her gift from Willow to hand it off to Lucy. “I hate to follow these two, but this is from Sasha and me. And Billy, too, I guess. I’ll tell you right up front, you’re not going to cry.”
Lucy pushed the bracelet from Taylor onto her wrist and took the present from Mattie. Inside was a frosted glass with the logo for the Uneven Keel etched into it—the same logo that was on the sign and the aprons.
“I’ve never seen one of these,” Lucy said, holding it up so everybody could see.
“Those were the original glasses, but Billy went to generic, plain glasses sometime when Sasha was a teenager because those were too expensive to replace when they got broken. But he’s got a couple of boxes tucked away, and sometimes we’ll give one to somebody who’s pretty special.”
Lucy held the glass to her face, and Nick could tell by the sniffling and the way her shoulders shook that she was crying again.
“Crap,” Mattie said. “Why is there so much crying at this party?”
Everybody laughed, including Lucy, but Nick knew. Six weeks or so ago, Lucy felt alone in the world. Hell, shewasalone in the world, except for a grandmother she hadn’t seen in a decade and a half. And now here she was, surrounded by friends and a sister who obviously cared about her.
Then Willow handed Lucy the gift from him, and on one hand, he hoped she wasn’t going to cry again. But on the other, he knew there was a chance he might feel bad if his was the only gift thatdidn’tmake her cry.
She smiled at him before she opened it, the wetness of her eyes doing nothing to dim the sparkle. And she looked so damn happy, he couldn’t help but smile back at her. Their gazes were locked, and he could have looked into her blue eyes all night, if somebody—probably Willow—hadn’t given a dreamy sigh.
“I’m feeling some pressure here,” he told her and was rewarded with her laugh.
She tore the paper from his gift, flinging it away. And then she went still, looking at the notebook he’d chosen for her for a few moments before flipping through the pages to the middle. Then she ran her hand over the paper, feeling the creamy blank pages for sketching cocktails and notes. It had a soft cover, in graduated hues from tan at the bottom to beige to light blue to a darker blue, like sand, sea and sky.
“This is beautiful,” she whispered.
“I was watching you write in yours recently and it looked almost full. And the cover looks like the shots you made for that party, which is what you really want in life.”
Tears trickled down her cheeks as she skimmed her fingers over the cover. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
“Happy birthday, Lucy.”
The other guests started moving around, picking up wrapping paper and gathering the cake plates, but because Nick was still watching Lucy, he saw her open the notebook and run her hand over the creamy paper again and smile.
She was going to fill that notebook with ideas that would make her dreams come true. And he was going to be happy for her, even if it killed him.
Chapter Fifteen
It’s the last week of school! The library and town hall both have a list of fun—and free—things to do this summer. And if you need a little help with lunches, message me to be put on the brown bag list. Your community is here for you!
—Wayward Harbor Online Community Group
By the time they got home from the party, Lucy’s stomach hurt from laughing, her throat was already sore from so much talking, and the sugar was coursing through her body like an energy drink.
But she didn’t care. “That was the best birthday party I’ve ever had.”
Nick set the Scuttlebutt bag with her presents in it on the table and put the box of leftover cake in the fridge. “I’m glad you had a good time.”
