53. Noelle
Chapter fifty-three
Noelle
One of the hardest parts of adulting was making plans with friends and getting them to match up on everyone’s calendar. Myles, Juliet, and I had been trying to line up our schedules to have dinner, and after several weeks, we’d managed it.
Their apartment was on the south side of downtown above the Bean There, Done That Café.
I couldn’t imagine living there, smelling coffee and baked goods all the time.
That was a level of self-control I hadn’t acquired yet because I’d be in there all the time to buy pastries.
Even if I couldn’t eat them. Talk about torture.
Flowers and a dish of millionaire shortbread in hand, I knocked on their apartment door.
Juliet opened it, phone pressed to her ear, and smiled. “Elle, come in! No, Liz, we have a friend over for dinner. Yes, I have friends besides just you guys, you goose.”
“Thanks for having me.” I chuckled at the exchange and stepped inside. The apartment was cozy but minimalist chic, decorated in white, black, and pops of pink.
“Of course, I’m glad it finally worked out.” She gave me a quick hug, then groaned into the phone. “Liz, we talked about this. We aren’t doing matching baby outfits.” Her phone pinged, and she pulled it from her ear. We both stared at the link to matching pumpkin baby outfits.
“Aww,” I said.
Juliet whimpered into the phone. “Okay, fine, it is pretty cute.”
Myles appeared as if by magic beside us, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. He chuckled apologetically. “Care to join me for a game of Mario Kart? Getting off the phone with Liz is a process. No Irish goodbyes there.”
“They’re not even born yet!” Juliet cried. “Save the matchmaking for, I don’t know, two decades from now?!” Another sigh. “Arranged marriage is different from marriage of convenience. How many times do I have to explain that?”
“Nothing fake about us, Elizabeth!” Myles called loudly enough for Liz to hear.
Juliet winked and held a hand over the speaker. “Sorry, just give me a few minutes and I’ll be back.”
“Who was that?” I asked as she disappeared down the hall.
“Liz Walker. One of her college friends. Practically a sister.” Myles chuckled. “And she’s a talker. Plus, she’s due just after Juliet, and they’re bonding. Now, are you prepared to be destroyed on the Rainbow Road?”
“Can’t wait.”
On our third trip around the Rainbow Road track, I finally found the words I needed. Myles was good about not pushing, and I appreciated that.
“I’m sorry. For everything.” I sounded like a broken record, doling out apologies left and right, but I meant it.
“I know.” He didn’t take his eyes off the screen. “Honestly? In a way, I almost envied you.”
The confession startled me, and I drove my Yoshi into a wall. Sorry, lil dude. “You what?”
Myles huffed mirthlessly. “You got out, Elle. No responsibility breathing down your neck, no more being the family glue, no more familial disappointment.” His Toad tossed a banana peel at me. “I wasn’t glad you were gone—that hurt—and I was tired of people leaving.”
Like his mom, even if she couldn’t help it. Like his dad checking out of parenting and faithfulness in his marriage.
Myles shot me a half smile. “I knew you weren’t okay, and if running was the only way to save you . . . I’m glad you did it.”
I swallowed hard. “I should have handled it differently. And you . . . you stayed. I should have too.”
“Not by choice,” he said, then amended. “Not at first anyway. I wanted out, but when I couldn’t run, I left in other ways.
I let my fear lock me in place. Stagnating, never moving forward.
And then . . . Well, this place has a way of keeping you.
” His gaze trailed back to where Juliet had been standing earlier.
I nudged his shoulder. “Will you forgive me?”
“Did a long time ago. And I’m glad you’re back. You round us out.”
“Glad to be of service.” And then I had to ask because it was killing me. “And the fake-marriage thing. Tell me that was a joke?”
Myles smirked. “Oh, I’m very much in love with my wife, but yes, it did start off as a marriage of convenience.”
“Unbelievable.”
“I still have the list of our marriage rules.”
“I knew it!” Juliet shuffled in, scowling, but there was no heat to it. “Where is it? I scoured the house before we moved here.”
“You know the magic words, Peach.” Myles winked at her.
She growled, cheeks pink, then she snapped her fingers. “You put it in my blackmail box, didn’t you?”
Myles visibly started.
“Ha!” she cried, and hurried away. “It’s under the bed.”
Myles sagged against the couch back. “That woman,” he murmured affectionately.
I wasn’t sure what fire to tackle first—the marriage of convenience, the marriage rules, the blackmail box, or the fact that Juliet was very much not on bedrest like she was supposed to be.
I settled on: “I’m glad you two worked out.”
“Yeah.” Myles’s grin was lovestruck. “She’s my favourite surprise.”
“Found it!” Juliet came back waving a torn sheet of notebook paper. She kissed her husband and tucked the paper in his button-up shirt pocket, patting his chest. “We’re talking about this later.”
He chuckled, hands settling on her hips, and he gave her a slightly longer kiss. “Can’t wait.”
Dinner was incredible. Myles had made chicken parmesan under Juliet’s supervision. Like her mother, Juliet was notoriously resistant to being told to slow down. But they were managing.
It didn’t take much convincing to get them to spill their love story, and all I could do was stare. Talk about a rom-com dream. It wasn’t what I expected from them, but honestly? They might be the only two people I knew who could have made it work.
It was nearly nine before I took my leave after coffee and dessert. I still had the last finishing touches to put on the Harvest Potluck for this weekend.
“Call me if you need anything, got it?” I told Juliet, giving her a squeeze.
“Y’all worry too much,” she groused, but returned the embrace.
“Elle?” Myles added as I stepped out into the hall. When I turned back, his eyes glowed with seriousness. “There were pink carnations on Mum’s grave all the time. It was you, wasn’t it?”
I nodded slowly. There was a floral service in Caldwell that delivered flowers to cemeteries. I couldn’t be there in person, but it was a small gesture to honour Aunt Sandy. “I loved her, too.”
“Thank you.” He tugged me into a hug. “I always hoped it was you. That you didn’t forget us.”
“Never,” I whispered fiercely.
And just like that, the last bridge mended.