When August Ends
Today was a sucky day—as all my birthdays had been since Opal died. I’d stayed in my room most of the morning, sipping tea and reading. This message definitely changed my outlook.
After slipping on my favorite black bikini, I flew out the front door and ran toward the lake, still wondering why Noah wanted me to meet him there.
When I saw him, he waved frantically to me from the waist-deep water. Then he started dancing.
What the?
He swayed his hips and pumped his fists, and it was the most ridiculous yet adorable thing I’d ever seen a man of his size do. He was totally mocking my water aerobics, but it was hysterical.
As I approached, I noticed he was holding a bottle of champagne.
“Why are you dancing?” I shouted.
He stopped moving and lifted the bottle into the air. “We’re celebrating your birthday.”
What? How does he know? “Who told you?”
“Never mind. I have my ways.” He waved. “Get over here.”
His demanding tone made my pulse speed up as I trudged through the water to get to him.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were turning twenty-one today,” he said.
“There’s a reason I don’t—”
“I know.”
He knows? “Did my mother tell you?”
“Yeah. She did. So you don’t need to explain any of it. Today is not gonna be about sad stuff.” He handed me the two glasses he’d been holding. “Take these.” He unwrapped the foil covering on the bottle. I smiled when he stuck the trash in the waistband of his shorts rather than litter.
“It’s your twenty-first fucking birthday, Heather. It’s not okay to let this day pass you by. You only have one twenty-first birthday in your entire life.”
Without further ado, Noah popped open the bottle of champagne, which sort of exploded onto his bare chest. “Well, that didn’t exactly go as planned.”
We both got a good laugh, and then he licked some off of his arm. He looked so sexy as he flashed a crooked smile with champagne dripping down his body. I so badly wanted to lick that champagne off of his chest and abs. And that was just for starters…
He took the flutes back and poured me a glass, then poured himself one as well.
“This feels surreal. You’re serving me alcohol.”
“Well, you’re legal now.” He winked.
“Wow. I really am, aren’t I?”
“Cheers.” He smiled.
We clinked our glasses together, and I took a sip of the bubbly. It was ice cold and delicious.
I looked over at a boat in the distance, and when I turned back to Noah, he moved his eyes quickly away. I’d caught him red-handed looking down at my breasts. That made me feel damn good. Nice work, black bikini.
“Were you really gonna pretend this was just another day?” he asked.
“Yes. I was,” I said.
I specifically didn’t make plans, specifically didn’t want to celebrate my life when my sister had lost hers on this day.
“Well, not anymore. Not this year.”
“Is this what I have to do to get you in the water? Turn another year older?”
“Pretty much. Otherwise I only jump in when I have to save people from their own bad dancing.”
“You were so mad at me that day. Talk about getting off on the wrong foot. I’m glad that happened, though.”
His brow lifted. “Yeah?”
“Yes, because if it wasn’t for that, we might never have had that conversation. It might have taken weeks before we interacted, if ever. Life is made up of little moments that don’t seem that important at the time, but in retrospect they’re what get you to where you are.”
“So we can thank Kris Kross for the fact that we’re standing in this water drinking champagne.”
“Yeah.” I smiled. “Timing is everything.”
At that moment, the sky opened up, dropping rain on us.
“Speaking of timing…” Noah laughed. “You okay with staying out here, or do you want to go inside?”
“I’m not gonna let a little rain ruin my very first surprise birthday champagne party.”
“Good.”
Noah smiled at me, but more than that, his eyes were smiling. It was genuine happiness that made me realize he was just as glad to be hanging out here with me as I was to be with him. It was the kind of smile that gave me a false hope about where things stood with us.
We stayed in the lake for a while, sipping champagne in the rain. After a few minutes, the sun peeked out again while it was still raining. Sun showers were always so cool, so rare. So were moments like this.
The alcohol was definitely going to my head.
“I’d better slow down. I’m starting to feel it.”
“That’s the point.”
“Yeah…but I have to work tonight.”
He emptied his glass and shook his head. “Huh-uh. No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do. What do you mean?”
“I had lunch over at Jack Foley’s Pub today. Spoke to your friend there—Marlene, is it? She’s gonna get someone to cover for you tonight.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“What are we doing?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just go home and get dressed. Nothing too fancy. I’ll pick you up in a couple of hours.”
***
Noah wouldn’t tell me where we were going. We rode with the windows down, and the warm summer evening air blew my hair around. It felt amazing to be next to him in his truck. I stole glances over at his profile and wondered if this feeling of wanting him would ever subside. I wished he would touch me again, even just my face. There wasn’t much I wouldn’t give for a taste of something more with him.
Finally, we pulled up to Tito’s Cantina, a popular Mexican place. Noah had taken a roundabout way to get here. It was almost like he’d driven in a circle.
“Tito’s! How did you know I love this place?”
“You told me once Mexican is your favorite. This is supposed to be the best place in town, so…”
“You’re good. You listen.” I grinned.
As we walked into the restaurant, he placed his hand on the small of my back, which practically lit my insides on fire.
The feeling was quickly replaced by shock, which then transformed into pure joy.
My heart filled up fast as I spotted my mother, Chrissy, and Marlene sitting at a table surrounded by balloons.
My mother is here?
They were all wearing sombreros.
“Surprise!” Chrissy shouted.
The real surprise was seeing my mother out and about. I couldn’t remember the last time she’d left the house other than to go to a doctor’s appointment.
“Mom?”
She smiled. “Hi, honey. Happy birthday.”
I turned to Noah. “Now I know why you drove around for a while. How on Earth did you get her out of the house?”
“She loves you. It didn’t take much.”
“Happy birthday, my beautiful daughter.”
I bent down to kiss my mother before moving over to hug Chrissy.
“You took tonight off?” I asked.
Nurse Chrissy was supposed to be working a twelve-hour shift starting at seven.
“Yup. Got someone to cover for me. I couldn’t miss your birthday.”
“And who’s covering for me?” I asked Marlene.
“Are you kidding? When they found out it was your twenty-first birthday, Kel and Leah were fighting over who got to fill in. I can’t believe I didn’t know. Thanks to Noah, I can celebrate with you.”
After we sat down, I leaned into him. “I can’t believe you pulled this off.”
Noah winked and grabbed a sombrero, placing it on my head. “Happy birthday, beautiful.”
A rush of heat ran through me. I wouldn’t read into it, but it felt damn good to hear him say that.
Dinner was everything I could have wanted. My mother laughed at Marlene’s stories. Noah was by my side. As far as I was concerned, everyone at this table was family to me—Noah included. I didn’t know how else to characterize him. He was a friend, for sure, but also a big brother figure, and someone I still had a massive crush on no matter how hard I tried to deny it.
It was very emotional to be sitting here with the four people who mattered most to me, especially knowing how many changes were on the horizon. I shook those thoughts from my mind, because tonight wasn’t supposed to be about that. I needed to enjoy this moment with the people I cared about.
We all stuffed ourselves. And after polishing off two margaritas, I felt completely tipsy.
Chrissy ended up taking Mom home early, and after Marlene left, it was just Noah and me at the table. His eyes lingered on my lips as I licked the remaining salt off the rim of my glass.
I took my hat off and placed it on his head. “It’s a good thing you’re driving, señor.”
“That was always part of the plan.”
Moving my straw around, I smiled. “Thank you again for doing this.”
Noah grinned mischievously. “I might have one more surprise up my sleeve.”
“You’re just full of them tonight, huh?” My cheeks hurt from smiling. “What is it?”
“It’s back at the boathouse. Wanna get going?”