When August Ends(38)

“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, se?or.”

“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?”

I nodded. “Sure.”

***

He led me inside. “You need to close your eyes for a little bit, so I can get something set up.”

I laughed. “Okay.”

Making myself comfortable on the loveseat, I covered my eyes with my hands.

“Okay, you can open them now.”

Noah had lit two candles that formed the number twenty-one. This wasn’t just any cake.

“Holy shit,” I said.

“You like it?”

“Who made that?”

“You know Evie’s Cakes in the center? I told her what I wanted, and she did it.”

The top of the cake was a little girl with her hands on a snowy television set—a replica of the famous scene from Poltergeist, the one I’d told him I was obsessed with as a child.

“This is the most awesome cake I have ever seen in my entire life.”

“I think we should try it.”

“Are you kidding? I don’t even want to touch it. We can’t ruin it.”

“We can cut around the bottom, leave the top intact. But eventually you’re probably going to have to destroy that, too.”

“No way! I’m freezing it.”

“You’re gonna leave a Poltergeist cake in your mom’s freezer while you go away to school?”

“Yes. I’m keeping it forever and ever. Someday, when I’m old and gray, I will still have that thing in my freezer. You think I’m joking, but I’m not.”

“That’s crazy. I hope you know that.”

“Well, so am I—a little.”

“This is true.” He winked. “Well, then I’d better not accidentally destroy it.”

Noah sliced us two pieces of cake from the bottom part, being careful not to touch the top.

“I almost brought it to the restaurant,” he said. “But I was afraid something would happen to it. Plus, it would’ve ruined the surprise of everyone being there if you saw me carrying a cake.”

“You really did surprise me, and I’m kind of glad it’s just us now.”

I knew that comment was a bit too honest, that it bordered on crossing the line. But it was the truth. I wanted him all to myself.

“This is the best birthday I’ve had in a long time,” I said. “I know my mother told you my sister died on my birthday. This was the first one I’ve had since then where I didn’t think of her all day. I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“You shouldn’t feel guilty.”

“I’ve always felt I don’t deserve to celebrate my birthday if she can’t have them anymore.”

“The day you were born is something to be acknowledged. Your sister would want you to celebrate your birthday.”

“I know that rationally. But you can’t always help how you feel.” I took a bite of cake, which was chocolate with a pudding filling. Yum. “I just wish I could have done something to help her. I was young and never thought things were as bad as they were.”