Chapter Thirty-Seven
Beckett
“To Keeley!” we cheer as we hold our glasses up and clink them together.
“Thank you so much, you guys,” she says, smiling.
Cash has a beer, Keeley and Nori have wine, but tonight, I’m sticking with Coke, because I want to be entirely lucid for our date.
Well, double date. But at least I’ll get Keeley alone at the fair later.
I smile at the memory of her sleeping on my chest earlier, making little snuffling sounds as she dreamt, and I etch it into my mind so I can remember it forever.
I’m beyond proud of her for getting the job—I knew she would—but it also hits me viscerally. I knew the end was coming, but the confirmation that she has the job in Boston makes me realize our time is running out.
When she came running into my— Mr. Prenchenko’s —apartment to tell me that she’d just gotten off the phone with her current boss and new boss-to-be, I gathered her in my arms and swung her around before kissing her forehead and telling her she’s amazing and I’m beyond happy for her.
It was a half truth. I am happy for her. But I’m also sad for us .
I felt like a scumbag, a total hypocrite, for having those mixed emotions over something so important to her. I guess maybe a part of me thought that we could keep pretending summer would last forever.
But it won’t.
So we can’t.
Despite my hidden mixed emotions, dinner goes well. The pizza is incredible. Cash and Nori are a really fun couple. And Keeley and I hold hands under the table like we’re teenagers on a first date.
A pretty perfect evening, once I successfully redirect my mind and focus on the here and now.
Roisin and I never really had couple friends. We hung out with Aoife and her husband Declan a few times over the years, but Aoife’s (admittedly) slightly abrasive personality bugged Roisin.
As Cash tells me about the kids’ baseball camp he’s starting, I find myself thinking about how Keeley would probably love Aoife. Find her rough edges funny and appreciate how real she is.
“That sounds incredible,” I tell Cash honestly. “If I were staying longer, I’d totally offer to help out.”
Cash smirks. “At coaching baseball?”
I blanch. “Hell, no. But I’d make a mean administrator, I’m sure.”
The girls laugh at this, and I squeeze Keeley’s hand under the table.
“If someone had told me a few months ago that I’d be on a double date with Nori and Keeley and Keeley’s new man, I would’ve laughed in their face,” Cash says as he takes a swig of his beer.
Keeley wrinkles her nose at him. “Why’s that so hard to believe?”
Cash smiles and slings an arm around his girlfriend. “Because a relationship was the last thing I was looking for, but then, I found the woman of my dreams.”
“Hush!” Nori swats his arm playfully, but it’s impossible to miss the pleased glow that flushes over her cheeks. “And found isn’t the word I’d use,” she says with a giggle.
“How did you two get together?” I ask.
Nori’s eyes swipe across to Keeley and she props her elbows on the table. “You know what’s crazy?”
“How Cash is so obsessed with you that he’d probably buy you a unicorn if you asked, but you’re still settling for pizza?” Keeley fires back with a grin.
Nori pokes her tongue out at her. “My unicorn is in the mail, I’ll have you know. And no, what I was going to say was that I’ve never told you the entire story, Keeley.”
“Oh?” Keeley tilts her head.
“I thought you’d think I was crazy, at the time. Man, I thought I was going crazy at first, too. But now that you’re with Beckett, I think you’ll understand.”
“Understand what?” she asks.
“You know when I was going on all those dates from that dating app? Well, when I got back to The Serendipity after every date, I’d see myself in the mirror holding hands with Cash. At first, I thought I was seeing things because I was so stressed with buying Serendipi-Tea at the time.” Nori shakes her head in wonder, her eyes a little glazed. “But actually, it was like the building was telling me I should be with him. Like it knew, somehow.”
Under the table, Keeley suddenly squeezes my hand. Tight.
I swallow, squeezing back.
Meanwhile, Nori looks from Keeley, to me, and back to Keeley again. “I was going to tell you, but I thought you’d take me to the doctor to get my head examined.”
Keeley laughs, and to most people, it might sound genuine, but I sense the strained note to her laughter. “You’re right. I probably would have.”
Nori gives her a quizzical look. “But you and Beckett got locked in the elevator together and on the fire escape together this summer…”
“Not to mention the library,” I say.
Cash grins. “Hey, we didn’t know about that one.”
And we certainly won’t be telling you about when the building locked us outside in the rain, I think with a smile.
“Maybe the building was telling you guys something, too,” Nori says, her voice tinged with something akin to hope.
Keeley screws up her eyes for a second before she smiles. “A few months ago, I would have told you that you were crazy, you’re right about that. But honestly, I’ve opened myself up to the idea of something bigger than us playing a part in shaping our lives. Maybe the building, maybe fate, I don’t know… all I know is that it gave Becks and me the best summer together.” She looks at me, her blue eyes luminous as she adds, “It was life-changing.”
Life-changing, indeed.
Because there’s no denying that I’ve fallen head-over-heels in love with this incredible woman who has changed my life.
My mind suddenly jumps back to something Cash said after the baseball game last week—how being in Serendipity Springs and falling for Nori changed him.
I get it.
For way too long, I’ve used the job security of a career that doesn’t inspire me as a crutch, a security blanket I relied on because I refused to acknowledge how I really felt, what I really wanted.
But being here this summer has changed me, too. Made me think about how I can take control and change my life, like Cash did.
Like Keeley’s currently doing by taking this new position.
In many ways, I can see myself staying here. A fantasy part of my mind has already quit my job back home and asked Ezra to take on full-time lessons. Has started apartment hunting. Has told Keeley how I really feel about her and has asked her to be my girlfriend and is planning trips to visit her in Boston…
I shake my head, pushing the fantasy away as a waitress deposits what appears to be an entire pan’s worth of tiramisu in front of me.
I will never get used to the portion sizes in this country.
“Thank you,” I tell her, staring at the seven pounds of dessert.
“Yum!” Keeley says, unfazed as she digs her spoon straight into the Everest of whipped cream.
I can literally feel my eyes soften as I look at her. I never considered staying here in Serendipity Springs as a potential option before, and I find that the thought is still turning over in my head, marinating there, as Cash and I split the bill and we all walk outside.
It’s a pleasant night. Cool and crisp and with a hint of lingering warmth from the day. Keeley and I walked to the restaurant together earlier, her happily chattering about the logistics of moving and renting a U-Haul and apartment hunting, and me watching her as she spoke, soaking her in.
When we get to Cash’s vehicle, he gestures towards it. “You sure you guys don’t want us to drop you off at the fairgrounds?”
“No, thanks,” I say at the exact same time as Keeley says, “Nope! We’re good.”
We smile at each other. I get the feeling she wants to be alone with me almost as much as I want to be alone with her.
Nori hugs Keeley as Cash and I shake hands, and then Nori gives me a hug, too.
“You make her happy. Remember that,” she says softly in my ear as she pulls away.
The words wash over me.
Keeley makes me happy, too. Beyond compare. So much so that I’m considering literally changing my life for her. And the thought doesn’t scare me.
As Cash and Nori jump in his vehicle and drive off, I take Keeley into my arms. Kiss the top of her head. Finally alone together.
“Ready?” I ask, my hand reaching for hers.
“Born ready.”
We walk down the darkened street, hand in hand. A sprinkling of stars glow above us, and though the night is warm, she shivers.
I quickly shrug off my jacket and drape it over her shoulders, putting my arm around her and pulling her close in an attempt to share my body heat. “If you’re cold, I can order us a rideshare."
“No, I’m fine. Just thinking.”
She’s smiling, but she really is uncharacteristically quiet right now, so I ask, “Penny for your thoughts?”
She hesitates for a moment. “Don’t you think it’s weird what Nori said, about the building kind of… bringing her and Cash together?”
“Not really.”
The Serendipity threw Keeley and me into numerous moments of forced proximity that ultimately led to love. It helped us discover that our grandparents had been brought together by the building, too.
I smile at her teasingly. “I mean, you did just write an article about how that kind of lore surrounds the building, and that it’s steeped in legends about love… right?”
“Right.” She nods, her expression slightly frustrated, like she’s struggling to articulate her thoughts. I give her space, and after a beat she adds, “After writing the article and all the exploration on the legend we’ve done this summer, it’s undeniable that there’s some kind of truth to it. The building somehow plays some kind of role, helping fate or meddling in matchmaking or whatever. I just mean…” she stops. Swallows. Winces.
For a moment, I think she’s going to leave her thought unfinished.
But then, in a voice so small, I can barely make it out, she says, “I just mean, I’m sad that what the building did for us was temporary.”
I look at her, really look at her, soaking in her earnest blue eyes and messy black hair and flushed cheeks. The wrinkle in her brow and downturn to her lips.
And the only thought that jumps to the forefront of my mind as my eyes meet hers is: what if it didn’t have to be?