Ignoring the way my heart flutters at the sight of her, I take the offered cup. “It’s after ten. Is coffee a good idea?”
“It’s decaf, and trust me, it’s impossible to watchGilmore Girlsand not want coffee,” she says with a shrug before leaning in and pressing a kiss so fast and light to my lips, it’s over before I realize what’s happening. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I repeat, and she grins at me, closing my front door behind her and making her way to my couch.
“How did you make it to forty-six without seeingGilmore Girls?” she asks, scratching Croissant behind the ears and sitting beside him. He graces her with one single cracked eye before going back to sleep.
“Forty-seven,” I say, sounding only a little bitter about my new age. “And like I said on the phone, I pretty much watched whatever Philippe wanted.”
I sit beside her, and she turns to me, frowning.
“Forty-seven? Since when?”
Shit. “Um. Since midnight?”
Noelle’s eyes widen. “Midnight… like today?” I nod, and she immediately whacks me in the arm. “What the hell? Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday?”
I chuckle, capturing the hand that whacked me with mine, twining our fingers together. “I’m not a big birthday person.”
“Hmm. Well, happy birthday, sweetheart,” she says, her expression softening. She puts her coffee cup down on the table and leans in to kiss me. This one is longer, slower, and quitepossibly the best birthday present I’ve ever had. She tastes rich like coffee, and decaf or not, she wakes me up.
“Is that why you went to visit Nico today? For your birthday?”
I nod, wondering how much to tell her, how much to open up. Noelle has met every vulnerability I’ve given her with empathy and understanding, and I feel like I’d be doing her a disservice if I didn’t trust her with this one.
“Today’s not just our birthday. It’s the anniversary of the accident.”
Sympathy floods her eyes, her hand tightening around mine. “Oh my god, Shay. I’m so sorry. How are you holding up?”
I lift one shoulder in a shrug. “It’s been twenty-two years, and in some ways, it feels like it was yesterday. But in others, it’s like it was a lifetime ago. It was, I suppose.”
I toy with my locket, and Noelle reaches out, tracing the G with her pinky.
“What do you think she would have been like at forty-seven?” she asks, once again surprising me with her willingness,eagernessto talk about something most people shy away from.
SomethingI’veshied away from for too long.
“Georgie was the kind of person who, when she wanted something, she made it happen. She always wanted to be a mom, so I guess she’d have a few kids running around, and she wanted a horse, even though she knew nothing about horses.” I smile at the memory of Georgie flicking through the equestrian catalog she found god knows where, talking about all the things she’d buy for her hypothetical horse. “We would probably still have the patisserie, I guess. I don’t know what it would look like, but I bet it would’ve been here. She would’ve loved it here so much she wouldn’t have wanted to leave.”
“I wish I’d gotten to meet her,” Noelle says softly, cuddling into my side. “She sounds special, and if she was anything like you, I know I’d l—I think we’d get along.”
“She would have loved you,” I say without thinking. But she would have. If she were here, Georgie would have befriended the whole town, but especially the Whittens. Especially Noelle. She loved Christmas and cozy things, and they would’ve gotten along like a house on fire.
And if she knew I was interested, she would have told me to get over myself and do something about it. She would’ve told me to take the word “casual” out of my vocabulary and tell Noelle how I feel. And that thought makes me a little more brave. Not brave enough to tell her I don’t want to be just friends, but brave enough to wrap my arm around her shoulders, pull her in closer to me, and press a kiss to her forehead.
Noelle sighs, a soft, happy sound.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I say quietly.
“Me too. Thank you for sharing your birthday with me, even if I did just barge in here,” she replies with a laugh.
“You had a noble cause.” I grab my TV remote and pull upGilmore Girls, hovering over the first episode. “Shall we?”
“Oh yeah,” Noelle says, taking the remote from my hand and pulling up the first episode. “I’m about to change your life, sweetheart.”
Oh boy, she has no idea.
24
