Chapter 6
Nora
After getting Jordan to the air mattress in the living room so we can watch over him, Josie and I huddle in the kitchen with a bottle of wine and a box of chocolate chip cookies.
“He looks peaceful,” Josie whispers, her hands wrapped loosely around one of the cups she bought earlier in the day.
I turn to take in the sight of him sleeping in the soft light of the sunset. “Did the doctor say he could have more seizures?”
“Yeah, but there’s nothing we can do except help him through it…like you did. How did you know what to do?”
“My last job was at a rec center, and we were required to keep up various training: CPR, first aid, diabetes. Seizure care wasn’t one of them, but I completed every certification I could find. It’s probably what helped me get the job at VETS.”
“Well, I’m eternally grateful. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
With a grin, I pat her arm. “Glad to help. But you would have figured it out.”
“Maybe. I’m an artist. I don’t deal—” Her ringing phone cuts her off, and she checks the ID. “I need to take this.”
“Sure. I should go home, anyway.”
“No. Please stay,” she says quickly. “I’ll be just a minute.” She pushes the button to answer the call but waits for my answer before speaking.
With my nod, she rushes to the bedroom to take the call. Looking around, I survey their living conditions, grateful Josie accepted my offer. The apartment is a cold, empty shell. With nothing to make it a home, or even comfortable, for that matter. No photos, decorations, furniture, curtains. My mother’s stash should remedy that soon enough, or at least give them a head start.
Before I can grab my phone to open a game or social media app to keep me company, Josie tiptoe runs back into the room. She trips on the threshold separating the hardwood area from the kitchen linoleum, catching herself on the edge of the counter. She barrels on as if it never happened, her eyes staying on me as she grabs my arm and drags me outside.
“Oh, my goddess. Oh, my goddess.”
“Goddess?” The strange saying stopped me in my tracks, and she waves it off.
“I don’t know what to do. Help.”
“Help with what? Who called?” I ask, trying to understand the root of her panic.
“Grant.”
“Who’s Grant?”
Her face scrunches as she realizes she’s talking in riddles. “Sorry. He’s my best friend and agent. I got in.” She squeals, then slaps a hand over her mouth. Her eyes dart back and forth over the concrete as she processes what she learned from this Grant guy.
“That’s great. Got in where?”
“The annual art show for alumni at my university in New York. It’s a monumental event, and since I’m still a newbie in the art world, they stuck me on the alternate list in case someone drops out.” Pacing now, her hands flap in the air as she tries to calm her restless nerves. “I never expected to get a spot. No one serious about their career turns this one down.”
“That’s great, but I’m confused. Why did you say you don’t know what to do? You go, right?”
“The setup and opening event is next week. I’d have to leave in a few days.”
“Oh.”
“The good news is all my pieces are in storage in New York. The bad news…”
“Jordan.”
She spins around to face me, tears pooling on her eyelids.
“Curators for a major museum in Las Vegas will be there. Grant’s been shmoozing them for a feature exhibit for a year. They’re slow to take a chance on me, but once they see my work featured at this show, Grant thinks it will be a done deal. That exhibit would catapult my career, possibly opening doors in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta. All the big shows.”
“Why are you wavering? Jordan will tell you to go.”
“I know, but he needs constant care. Especially now that seizures have been added to the chaos.”
I take a deep breath, already regretting what I’m about to say. “I’ll stay with him.”
“Nora.” Her arms cross against the chill in the air, adrenaline no longer keeping her warm. “I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t.”
“Don’t you think you two living together will only make matters more complicated?”
“Absolutely, but what choice do we have?”
“Plenty.”
“Not from what I can see. You have a life-changing opportunity you can’t refuse, and he’ll never forgive himself if you do. He’s going to expect me to be around more, anyway. It’s the only answer that makes sense.”
I barely get the last word out before she launches herself into my arms.
“Thank you. I’m so grateful.” Peeling herself away, her hands linger on my arms. “I should only be gone for a week. Nothing can go wrong in a week, right?”
“Right. Piece of cake.”
Oh, goddess, please help me.
◆◆◆
We have four days to get ready. Together, we call Grant back and make arrangements. To get Josie to New York quicker, Grant will bring down her belongings, take her shopping, and help her pack. In addition to being her agent and friend, he’s also her self-appointed stylist.
Once he’s satisfied with her outfits for their expected appearances, she’ll ride back with him instead of taking the train. She’ll save money on a hotel by staying with him, an offer she couldn’t refuse.
Before I leave, I reluctantly call Emily to ask for more time off work—the last piece of the puzzle. I promise to check in with staff, and work when I can. I hate asking. I had just returned from a long weekend to deal with my mother’s latest drama, and now this.
Working at VETS is a dream, and I don’t want to jeopardize my position. Yet, in true Emily fashion, she agreed without hesitation. Not only is Jordan a friend of Jackson’s from their time in the Marines, both he and Emily are selfless souls, people who go above and beyond for everyone. She even offered to bring food or items for the apartment if needed.
On my way home, I ask Sydney to meet me out at a restaurant. It’s late, and she has a son to think about, but I need a strong drink to soothe the nerves and my best friend to tell me I made the right decision.
◆◆◆
“Where’s your sweet boy?” I ask as Sydney slides into the booth at an Irish pub. I already ordered her favorite wine and began nursing a bourbon and Coke.
“Jackson took him fishing today, and he’s sleeping over. With winter coming, he wanted to take one more outing on the boat.”
“Damn. I’m sorry. Did I interrupt date night?”
“Maybe, but you would have dropped anything for me, as you have multiple times. I was happy to return the favor.”
I smile, knowing we will always be available to one another. Our friendship is like a vine, deeply rooted, durable, and endless.
While we sip on our drinks, I fill her in on everything that happened since our lunch earlier that day.
“When I said to go make friends with Josie, I didn’t mean take over as Jordan’s caregiver,” she says in disbelief. “It was incredibly thoughtful of you, but Nora…”
“I know, I know. What was I thinking?”
“Not about yourself, that’s for sure.”
I let out a sigh and gulp half my beverage. It burns on the way down, but losing control because I drank too much sounds better than losing it over decisions I made stone-cold sober.
“What made you do it?”
“I like her. She’s strong and funny, and she needs me.”
“And this has nothing to do with Jordan?” Sydney presses.
“I didn’t say that.”
“No. You didn’t mention him at all. How’d he react to seeing you?”
“Shocked, grateful, sweet. He thinks he still loves me.”
“He probably never stopped.”
“There’s no way.”
Sydney shakes her head in disagreement. “I saw the way he looked at you at the wedding. Love like that doesn’t vanish because of an argument.”
I finish the drink and jingle the ice in my empty glass at our waiter standing nearby. The mention of what happened between us at Jackson and Emily’s wedding ten months ago kicks my anxiety up a notch. “You don’t know the entire story,” my alcohol-loose brain makes me say, and Sydney slumps back in her seat.
“I’m your best friend. How can I not know?”
“I was too embarrassed to tell you.”
Silence fills the space between us, despite the rowdy scene happening in the rest of the bar, and it’s deafening. My secrets, hurt her, too, and if I could go back in time to handle it all differently, I would. Not only with Sydney, but also with Jordan.
“What happened?” she finally asks.
The waiter sets my second drink on the table, and I clutch it like it’s a lifeline. “He proposed.”
“Oh.” She lets the news sink in, then leans her elbows on the table. “Obviously, you said no.”
“Obviously.”
“I wondered why the fire you two ignited that night fizzled out.”
“There was no slow fizzling going on. It snuffed out the second that ring appeared. And it wasn’t the first time.”
She picks up her glass, then sets it back down without taking a sip. “He proposed before the wedding, and you didn’t tell me then either?”
“It was before you moved back to Richmond, and we reconnected. I’m sorry, but I hated thinking about it then, even more than I do now.”
“So, that’s why you were so short and evasive when he showed up at our girls’ night last fall.”
“Yeah.” I look down at the dark liquid in my glass and the taste no longer appeals to me. “That was the first time I saw him since his first proposal. He wanted to talk about it. I didn’t.”
“What if he asks again during all this? You will be spending a lot of time together, and he doesn’t remember either refusal.”
With a sigh, I push the drink aside. Getting drunk won’t fix any of my problems. “It’s my biggest fear. Strike that,” I say, waving a hand. “Second biggest fear. I’m terrified of the day he finally remembers and realizes we’ve been lying to him. That I’ve been pretending.”
“What if you develop feelings for him or accept the ones you already have before then? What will you do?”
“I don’t have feelings for him,” I say for the umpteenth time.
“You can keep telling yourself that, my friend. You’re the only one who believes it.”
“I hate you,” I say jokingly. “And by the way, Josie believes me. Keep this up, and I might revoke your best friend title and give it to her.”
She gasps and adds a dramatic slap of her hand to her chest. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Watch me,” I warn and stare her down until we both burst into laughter.
As we catch our breath, she reaches across the table for my hand. I take it, grateful to have a friend I can count on to always have my back, forgive me when I’m wrong, and laugh about it afterward.
“And I’m proud of you for what you’re doing. It will be hardest on you, but despite knowing that, you’re doing it anyway. No matter what’s happened in your life, no matter your reasons for your decisions, you are a beautiful, noble, and compassionate person. And you deserve to be happy, too.”
Annoying tears prickle my eyes, and I blink them away, shocked by their unwelcome appearance yet again.
“Thank you,” I say, recovering. “And thank you for dropping everything to come here tonight.”
“Isn’t that what best friends are for?” She pats my hand and sits back, all smug in her title.
“Yeah, yeah.”