Page 67

An hour later, Nora has switched to beer, but her eyes have lost focus and Dex has finally told her she's done drinking for the night. She tries to stand, sways almost immediately and her eyes roll back.

I catch her on instinct.

She falls against my chest, and for a second I'm hit by the strange combination of coconut and whiskey.

Dex hands me her keys. “Get her home.”

“I can walk,” she mumbles.

“No.”

I carry her out to my truck, settle her into the passenger seat and buckle her in.

Somewhere between Midnight Rodeo and home, her head falls gently against the passenger window. A photograph is sticking out of her pocket, and when I pull it free, I swallow.

I recognize the picture.

A teenage Damiano standing beside his Vespa with a younger Nora tucked against him, both smiling, but D isn't looking at the camera.

He's looking at her.

He'd emailed it to me years ago, when we were still in high school.

She took this picture of us today.

I remember smiling at my computer screen.

She makes me feel... I don't know, J. Alive. Like life is easy and there isn't anything I can't do when I'm with her.

I knew he was falling in love with her right there.

I put the picture in Nora’s purse.

How do you come out of this kind of loss?

I park in front of the house and turn off the engine.

She doesn't move.

“Nora.”

Nothing.

I try again, but she's still asleep.

For a moment I just sit there. Having Nora here feels like Damiano brought a whole part of his life back to Lander with her, a part of him I never got to know.

I get out, walk around the truck, open her door and carefully lift her into my arms.

She's so light it catches me off guard, and what she said at the bar comes back to me.

I can't taste anything anymore.

I make a mental note to bring her some groceries in the morning.

The front door isn't locked, so I push it open with my shoulder.

The smell of old wood wraps around me instantly.