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“Thinking about what?” Aster asked, tilting his head and reaching out to wipe away one of her tears.
“He, Bentley, and Justine conspired to steal this and have it polished for tonight,” Molly said. “Though I think they mostly wanted me to stop being afraid to ask you about it.” She lifted her hand to show off the ring between them.
Aster laughed, pulling her into a tight embrace. His laughter vibrated from his chest to hers. “God, I love my friends.”
“I had a much different reaction,” Molly muttered.
“I’m sure you did,” he said, pulling away. He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I can’t say I mind their methods if this is the result.”
The ring might not have been magic itself, but there was still something magical in the promises it represented, in the friendships it testified for.
She kissed Aster. She kissed him without the weight of expecting to remember something she couldn’t. She kissed him without the fear that her mind minus six years wouldn’t be enough. She kissed him with a new and different hope blooming, one for the future, even without the past.
When Molly returned home from work that evening, the first thing she noticed was the bowl of taffies on the kitchen counter, full again.
Aster walked into the living room, fixing his cuff links into place. He followed her gaze.
“Package was on our doorstep when I got home from work,” he explained. “It always is. No note.”
Molly couldn’t tear her eyes from the bowl. She was glad for him, she realized, in an unselfish way, divorced from her own losses. It comforted her that he could still have his hopes, that he had glimmers of something to hold on to.
“If they arrive on my birthday, that makes them mine, right?”
Aster barked a short laugh and advanced on her. He dropped a familiar, casual kiss at her temple. “Not a chance,” he breathed into her skin. “How was lunch with Alannah and Roy?”
“Chaos,” Molly said, smiling fondly. “Seems like Jessa is dropping her last nap and Alannah is deep in mourning. But it meant she got to sing me happy birthday on my lunch break, so I had a great time.”
Aster chuckled, leaning casually against the wall opposite her. Then, as if realizing a bit of small talk had derailed them, he refocused.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I was hoping you’d wear your green dress tonight,” he said.
“The one I wore to that disastrous dinner?”
Aster made a thoughtful noise, throat humming so close to her ear that she felt it. “One miserable night can’t ruin how beautiful you look in it.” His hand skimmed her lower back, gently steering her toward the closet.
Slipping it on, she realized that for perhaps the first time since waking up in an unfamiliar version of her own body, her reflection looked like her.
It was a liberating, lovely feeling. She looked like herself and she liked what she saw: a bit of a plunging neckline, a fitted bodice, and a subtle flair of green fabric that came to rest slightly above her knees. She felt beautiful, desirable, and like she might get exactly what she wanted out of her birthday.
She emerged from the bedroom just as Aster announced their need to depart. She’d clearly caught him off guard, because she watched as he gaped, then grinned, then gripped her hips, pulling her close for a kiss and delaying them by several minutes.
“Why are we at Eli’s house?” Molly asked when she couldn’t ignore the all too familiar route they were driving. Aster’s hand on her leg squeezed, just enough to betray how pleased he was with himself.
“He’s loaning us a little something.”
“He’s already given us a precious family heirloom. I refuse to accept anything else from him.”
“Too late. He’s already had it fueled up and hired a pilot.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s a short flight.”
“That’s miles away from the point.”
“I feel like I have to be honest and tell you this is something you never get used to, or at least you haven’t yet. Wealthy lifelong friends have their benefits.”
She sighed. “It’s so much.”
