The house has a green lawn and palm trees in the front yard. The backyard is fenced, the roof has red shingles, and there’s a closed garage, so if Naomi is here, I won’t be able to see her car. The real estate agent’s sign is still in front of the house, marked with the word ‘SOLD’ in big red letters.
I stop my car in front of the house across the street and get out. I’m thinking about going up to the front door and knocking when I notice something taped to the mailbox. I step across the street and approach the mailbox. It’s a white envelope with my name on it. I take it off the mailbox, then open it and unfold the small sheet of paper inside.
Dear Luca,
One of my favorite things about ‘us’ has always been going outside to check the mail and wondering if I had a new letter from you. I lived each week in anticipation of what ridiculous thing you would say next. You were always on my mind in one way or another. Usually, I was thinking up what I would write to you. Over the last two years, I mostly wondered where you went and why you weren’t writing back. I don’t want to lose contact again. This is my new address. I hope that you have a nice life. Maybe you can still write to me once in a while.
Love,
Naomi
I stare at the letter in my hand, completely dumfounded about why she would make me play this game and go through all this trouble just to tell me to have a nice life and we can write to each other. I had thought that things were getting better and that she had forgiven me, but this letter has me realizing I was wrong. I guess writing letters to her is better than nothing, but I hoped that this wasn’t going to be all there ever was. I don’t know if I’ll be able to bring myself to write to her, knowing what it’s like to have so much more than this, and also what it feels like to lose it.
ChapterThirty-Nine
WRITE TO ME
Naomi
He’s standing by my new mailbox, reading the letter I wrote for him as I approach from the corner of my house. I wait until I’m sure he’s finished reading it before I speak up.
“Or we could stop wasting time and you can come inside with me.” He turns around to look at me, eyes wide, and I know for sure that he didn’t know I was behind him. “We don’t have to move fast. You can come visit me, and maybe eventually you can move out of your apartment, and we can leave notes on the refrigerator and write letters to each other from opposite ends of the couch.”
He stares at me for a moment, clutching the letter in his hand. When he doesn’t move, I begin to wonder if I got it wrong. Maybe this isn’t what he wanted after all. Maybe last night meant more to me than it did to him. I’ve never put myself out there like this before, and now that I have, it terrifies me that he isn’t responding.
“I love you,” I tell him.
Those three words seem to snap him out of his daze, and he steps toward me and lifts me off my feet as his lips meet mine.
When we separate, he sets me back down on the sidewalk and looks at me with a frown.
“This letter,” he says, holding it up. “I thought…”
He doesn’t finish his sentence, just shakes his head. I know that it was mean to write a letter like that, but then again, our letters have never been nice. I think that means I won this round.
Then he laughs, and I wonder if he realizes it too. He kisses me again, and when he pulls away, he says, “You can’t keep adopting every single animal that I foster.”
I think this means he’s coming with me.
Epilogue
TWO YEARS LATER
Dear Naomi,
I feel like I should give you a heads up that there isn’t an expensive bracelet inside this little box. I just don’t want you to be disappointed, especially because what’s inside is so much more important than any piece of jewelry. Before you open it, you should know that contrary to what you claim, adjusting your pillows has had absolutely no effect on the volume and intensity of your snoring. I’ll give you a hint: it’s a box of nose strips.
Oh, shit. I just gave it away, didn’t I? I am terrible at surprises. I hope you still like my gift. I’ll even help you put it on because I’m a gentleman.
Can you pick up cat food on your way home from work tomorrow? We’re almost out, and you know how Roland gets when his bowl is half empty. Thank you so much. XOXOXO
Love,
Your Husband
Ilook up from the letter at Luca, who is watching me with a big smile on his face. He loves seeing my reaction as I read his letters, especially when he’s done something to annoy me.
“You expect me to buy the cat food after you make fun of my snoring? Really?”
