Chapter Twenty-One #2
Pulse pounding, he stared at Noelle’s mouth as she stared back at him.
Had she kissed him because people were watching?
He glanced at his mom, but she, Robin, and Mrs. Davis, were talking among themselves again, no longer looking at him and Noelle.
And the girls had already lost interest in the flowers and were going over their routine.
Unlike last night, no one had witnessed their kiss, but Noelle had kissed him anyway. His heart filled with hope.
“Uncle Miah, can you stop talking to Noelle so that we can keep practicing, please?” Harper asked, her hands on her hips as she came to stand in between him and Noelle.
“Yeah, she’s our official talent show team coordinator now,” Ashley added.
Jeremiah laughed and looked at Noelle. “Wait, really?”
Noelle nodded. “I’m taking over for Robin. She should be resting.”
“And I’m treating her to a spa day soon as a thank-you!” Robin called.
Noelle smiled at Robin and turned back to Jeremiah.
“You know you don’t have to do this, right?” he said, lowering his voice. “Amara or Mrs. Davis could do it. Shit, I could do it.”
“It’s okay,” Noelle whispered back. “I want to. Now, thank you for the flowers. I love them. But your nieces are right. I should practice with them a few more times before we leave.”
Jeremiah sighed, sporting a fake frown. “Can’t I help?”
Noelle laughed and shook her head. “Probably not.”
“You’re distracting her, Uncle Miah,” Ashley said, pushing Jeremiah away.
“Yeah, you have to go.” Harper helped her sister push. “Sorry!”
“Y’all are kicking me out?” Jeremiah said, laughing as Zoe and Ciara joined in. All four girls collectively shoved him away. “That’s crazy! Okay, okay, I’m leaving!”
He sat down next to Celeste, who was deep in conversation with Mrs. Davis about the renovations that she and her husband planned to make on their house during the winter.
Jeremiah was busy watching Noelle, who kept hold of her new bouquet as she coached the girls.
Every few minutes, she smiled and brought the flowers to her nose and gave them a sniff. He felt himself grin.
When he glanced over at Celeste again, he found that she was smiling softly at him. Like she was happy to see him happy.
They left Heart Beach in the early evening and hit a shit ton of traffic on the way back to north Jersey. By the time they reached Brickton, the sun was setting, and it was almost eight p.m.
“Thank you again for the flowers,” Noelle said. She brushed her fingers against the bouquet that she held lovingly on her lap. She looked at him and bit her lip. “I guess I’ll see you next weekend?”
Slowly, she reached for the door handle.
Jeremiah experienced a brief moment of distress at the realization that he’d have to go another week without seeing her.
When they’d extended their agreement, he’d asked her for four more weekends.
Once this weekend ended, they had only two more weekends left.
He did a quick calculation, glancing from the flowers in her hand, to her gown that was zipped up in a garment bag, hanging on the hook in the back seat, and he thought of her suitcase in the trunk.
“I’ll help you carry your stuff,” he said, opening his door too.
He walked around the car to get her suitcase as Noelle grabbed her dress from the back seat.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “I can figure out how to carry it all up myself.”
“I’m sure you could. But you don’t have to worry about that because I’m here, and I’m not going to sit by and let you carry everything without any help.”
He smirked and gestured for her to hand him the gown.
She looked at him, then glanced at her apartment building. She seemed to take a second to think something over. Finally, she said, “Okay.”
They walked through her complex. Kids were running around, shooting at each other with water guns. A few of them called out to Noelle, and she smiled and waved back.
Jeremiah followed her up a flight of stairs to the second floor. They reached her apartment and Noelle unlocked the door. After they stepped inside, Jeremiah closed the door behind them.
Her apartment was small, but cozy. There was a shoe rack by the door, and a comfy-looking dark brown couch and matching love seat were set up in the living room.
Magazines were scattered across the coffee table in front of the couch.
The kitchen was to their right, and there was enough space for a small rectangular table by the window.
The living room television was turned on. Someone had been in the middle of watching an episode of Living Single.
“Tati always forgets to turn off the TV before she leaves,” Noelle said, clicking off the television.
She crossed over into the kitchen area and pulled a clear vase from beneath the sink. She filled the vase with water before placing it in the center of the table.
“Where is she now?” Jeremiah asked, admiring Noelle as she added the flowers inside the vase and arranged them with deft movements. “Tati?”
“In the DR with her boyfriend, André,” Noelle said. “They’re on vacation.”
She was smiling as she spoke, but there was a hint of sadness in her voice too.
He thought of how she’d said that she missed her mom, who lived in South Carolina now. And how her dad lived in Texas, along with her stepsiblings whom she wasn’t very close with. Tati was the closest thing to family for Noelle here in New Jersey.
“Do you miss her?” he asked.
She looked up at him. Realizing he still held her garment bag and suitcase, she walked over to take them.
“I do,” she said. “I’m happy for her. She and André are so adorable, and they’re in love, so I absolutely understand why they spend as much time together as they can. But yeah, I miss her sometimes.”
She put the garment bag over her shoulder and rolled her suitcase across the living room to the hallway, where he assumed the bedrooms were located.
He walked farther into the living room and glanced at a framed photograph of Noelle and Tati on the wall.
They were teenagers dressed in graduation robes, looking at each other mid-laugh.
“I’ve been with you most weekends lately, though,” Noelle said as she returned to the living room. “So I think I’ve been preoccupied with that.”
She stood in front of him and lifted her shoulders in a shrug.
“So, this is our apartment,” she said. “It’s not much. But it’s home.”
“I love it.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You do?”
“Yeah. I can feel the love between you and Tati here, like it’s a real home.”
She smiled at him, pleased. “Thanks.”
He’d helped her carry her things upstairs. There was no reason for him to stay. But he was reluctant to part from her. From the way she stood there, watching him, he wondered if she was reluctant for him to leave as well.
“Do you want to grab something to eat?” he asked.
“I’m kind of tired and don’t want to go out again,” she said, and his stomach sank. “But I was planning to cook. Do…you want to stay for dinner?”
“Yeah,” he hastened to say. “Of course.”
He followed her into the kitchen. She opened the cabinets and pulled out a large skillet and some olive oil and seasonings. Then she opened the fridge and pulled out ground beef and bell peppers.
“What are you cooking?” he asked.
“Tacos. One of my few specialties.”
Noelle was always doing so much for other people. She was helping him by being his pretend girlfriend and now she was volunteering to help his nieces with their dance routine. Even her other jobs required her to be in service to others. She deserved to relax and have someone else help her.
He took the seasonings from her hands. “I’ll cook.”
“You can cook?” She blinked at him.
“I can do a little something something.”
She smirked, quirking a disbelieving eyebrow. “A little something something like what?”
“Like…picking up the phone to order delivery or putting something in the air fryer.”
She barked out a laugh. “Very impressive.”
“Nah for real, though. I can cook breakfast foods. Bacon. Eggs. Pancakes. French toast. Whatever. I don’t cook a lot, but I’m a fast learner. Just tell me what to do.”
She tilted her head and looked at him with a soft smile. “Okay. You can start by chopping up the peppers.” She put a knife and cutting board on the counter in front of him. “Please don’t slice off your finger.”
“Damn, girl, give me a little more credit than that,” he said, and she laughed as she sat at the table.
He sliced the peppers. Then Noelle directed him to season the ground beef and add it to a pan on the stove.
“Looking good so far,” she said as he used the spatula to break up the ground beef. She took the peppers he’d sliced and added them to another skillet, seasoning them too.
“You’re supposed to be sitting down, ma’am,” he said, taking her by the shoulders and ushering her back to the table. “I got this. You’re insulting me by helping.”
She laughed as she sat down again. “Okay, sorry.”
When he was finished with the peppers, she directed him to get the head of lettuce and tomatoes to chop those as well.
As Jeremiah opened the fridge, he glanced at a picture of Noelle and her mom.
It must have been taken on her mom’s birthday a few years ago because they were standing in front of Texas Roadhouse and her mom was holding a birthday balloon.
He then glanced at another picture of Noelle that looked more recent.
She was standing in an aisle at Hidden Gems Books, holding a stack of old paperbacks, smiling at whoever had snapped the photo.
Being here with her in her kitchen, cooking her dinner while looking at her photographs, felt intimate. Real.
“Excuse me, Mr. I Can Do a Little Something, Something,” Noelle said, bringing him back to attention. “You’re supposed to be chopping the lettuce and tomatoes.”
“Yes, Chef!”
She laughed as he grabbed the vegetables from the fridge.