Page 70 of Dear Adam
“I’ll let you know when she has the puppies,” she says quietly, finally meeting my eyes. “When is your flight back to California?”
“I’m staying, Aly. For good.”
“You are?” Her chin quivers, and I finally feel like I’ve reached a breakthrough with her. Not a large one by any means, but it’s something.
“I’m not losing you again. I’m here and I’ll be waiting for you, however long that takes.”
Aly glances out the window then down at her watch. “You should know that Adam is awake.”
“He is? That’s great!” Relief courses through my veins, and the crushing weight finally lifts off my chest. “Is he home or still in the hospital?”
“You’re his best friend. You should know.”
My stomach drops. “You’re absolutely right. I’ve been so selfish, Aly.”
I wish I could say something, anything, to make her understand what she means to me but I can't find the right words. Instead, I reach down and scratch Pretzel under the chin, then rise to leave.
“Bye for now, Aly.”
Chapter thirty-two
Aly
WatchingLeviwalkfromthe table, shoulders down, face distorted in agony, was almost enough to make me stop him. Almost. I’ve forgiven him, and I wish I had the strength to tell him.
But the sting from Levi’s actions is still present, and even though it’s dulled, the embarrassment that my innermost thoughts were out there on display for the guy I’ve been pining over since our childhood hasn’t lessened.
I sit in the coffee shop a few minutes longer with Pretzel, finishing my coffee, before finally getting up and heading back to Bloomie’s. The lights are on and the flowers are out, meaning Emma must already be in.
“Where have you been?” she calls from the back room. She comes out a few seconds later carrying a bucket of daisies. “We had a special order for fifteen daisy arrangements that need to be delivered today, by the way. I think the ad we ran on Instagram really helped.”
“That’s great,” I mumble absentmindedly, staring out the window.
“What are you looking for?” she asks, following my gaze. “Why do you look so…pale? It’s not flu season yet, is it?”
“I just saw Levi,” I confess. I shut my eyes tightly, ready for the blow from Emma. Instead, I’m greeted with silence. I crack one eye to find her staring at me, arms folded across her chest.
“And?” she asks.
“He apologized.”
“So are you two…” She pauses, looking for the right words. “Okay?”
“I didn’t accept his apology,” I say.
“Hmm,” Emma says, pulling a daisy from the bucket and twirling it between her fingers. “Why not?”
“I’m not ready. What he did was wrong, and it still hurts.”
“It was wrong, yes. But he confessed to every part of it, didn’t he?”
“Who’s side are you on?” I say, stomping my foot like a child.
“Have you talked to Adam about it?”
“I gave his phone back to him the other morning and told him what had happened. He agreed it was a real crappy thing to do, but you know how Adam is. He doesn’t let stuff like that bother him.”
I pull a vase from the shelf and fill it with water so we can get started on the arrangements. We work side by side until I catch Emma staring at me from the corner of my eye.
