RISK(75)

He cranes his neck so he can see my watch too. "I'm meeting someone too. Two special someones."

"Caroline and her baby?" I rub my tummy as I giggle.

He laughs. "A friend and his baby. Technically, she's not a baby. May is five now. I'm taking her to see that new musical for kids. It's her first Broadway show and I get to be her escort."

"I know a five-year-old May," I say quietly.

"May Black?"

I glance up the street to where Nolan and May are approaching, their hands held tightly together, her hair bouncing as she skips along beside him. She's wearing a red lined cape over her pink dress and a top hat. The magic wand in her hand is circling the air. I feel an urge to excuse myself and walk away before they get here, but the need to stay is stronger. "Yes. May Black."

"So you know her dad? Rigs?"

My eyes slide over Nolan as he nears.

I've only ever heard the name from Annie's lips and read his name in her journals after her death.

I saw him from a distance once as he sat on a park bench with my sister.

He had a sandwich for her in one hand and a toy for our dog in his other. He kept watch over my sister when we had nowhere to go. He gave her a safe place to be herself when she felt she didn't belong. He didn't care that she was so shy that she could barely speak or that she feared most people.

He befriended her. He cared for her and when her life was threatened, he protected her.

I should have known. I should have felt it.

He's Rigs. Nolan Black is Rigs.





Chapter 52


Nolan




It's the best f*cking mirage I've ever seen. Technically, it's the only one I've ever seen. It's also the only one I ever want to see. Ellie Madden is standing next to Jersey on the corner of Fifty Second and Broadway in the same spot I met Kip.

They were talking like they were old friends until Ellie looked my way and saw my face. She has to see everything I'm feeling in my expression. She must know that I regret every single thing that's happened since I walked into that candy store.

I went to see Liam. I called him after I got his number from his brother, and he invited me to his office. The office where he sits with people who've lost those that they love. He counsels them and helps them deal with their sorrow.

That's why she was there at the candy store with him. She was trying to cope. She wanted this year to be different so that she wouldn’t feel the breath-stealing pain that she feels every year on her sister's birthday.

Liam didn't tell me shit about any of this. He couldn't. He explained about confidentiality and friendship.

I had to piece it together myself based on what Tad told me and that sadness that's always there in Ellie's eyes. I spent the weekend uncovering every detail I could about the day that Ellie's sister died. I read the newspaper clippings about the shooting and then I called in a favor from the anchor at one of the local news stations and he found the archived footage of the news report from that day. I viewed it two hours ago. I watched it six times. I still can't believe my eyes.

"Look who I found," Jersey calls to May and I as we approach. "I found a beautiful girl that I met in Las Vegas standing on this corner waiting to cross on the light."

"You should never cross unless it's safe," May says as she breaks free of my grasp to run toward Jersey and Ellie.

She loves that old man as if he was her great-grandfather. I pray that doesn't change when his family expands. I doubt that their bond will break. He loves May as much as my grandfather would have.

May breezes right past him and jumps at Ellie, the top hat she's wearing flies off in the light wind. She wraps her arms around Ellie's legs, nestling her face against her stomach. "I missed you, Ellie. I thought you'd come back for more pancakes."

'I'm sorry that I haven't, May." She bites her bottom lip. "I'm sorry."

Any apologies need to leave my mouth, not hers. I'm the one who has to grovel and beg this beautiful woman to give me another chance. "It's good to see you, Ellie."

"You too, Nolan," she responds quietly.

Jersey clears his throat as he scoops up May's hat. "It's a small world, isn't it, Rigs?"

Startled, I feel panic washing through me. I look at Ellie. I wait for any recognition, anything.

"I've never been here before." May turns in a complete circle, her eyes cast above, soaking in the buildings, the sounds, and all the people milling about around us. "Daddy, why don't we come here? Look at everything."

Ellie kneels down. She takes May's little hands in her own. "May B, today I learned something very special about this spot."

"May B?" May giggles. "Oh, Ellie. I like that. Call me May B again."

"May B," Ellie begins again, her voice giving way to emotion. "Many years ago, before you were born, my sister, Kip, met a very special boy on this corner."

No. Fuck no. Ellie's sister is Kip? She was Kip?

I start to cry. I don't f*cking know how not to.

"Daddy?" May reaches for my hand. "Why are you crying?"

"This spot is magical." Ellie taps her toes on the pavement, drawing May's attention back to her. "Your daddy can feel it. I can too."