Page 63 of It Couldn't Be You
Then, I was shuffled forward in line. As I passed Sophia, she gave me a polite kind nod.
I stumbled outside into the maddening sun. The air was wintry and cool, but the sun wasn’t deterred. I waited for my parents on the steps of the church. I held my coat tight as a strong breeze blew harshly against me.
My dad cleared his throat, arriving behind me. I smiled at him.
He asked, “Who was that tall brunette standing with them? A cousin I hadn’t met?”
I shook my head. “She…” was his ex? The love of his life? An old family friend? “She was Jordan’s high school sweetheart.”
I had been trying to deal with the blank space Jordan left in my life, but now I was faced with the blank space I left in his. Was I, to this family, just a blip? A bad memory that ruined Christmas one time. Someone who would show up at funerals and shake their hands. The treading of water after and before Sophia?
“Oh, I remember her,” my mom said, standing beside the two of us on the stairs of the chapel. She grabbed my hand and held it all the way to my car.
Twenty-Two
Me
Hey Gabe! I haven’t heard an update on your leg in a while. How’re you doing?
Gabe
same ole, same ole. I’m progressing little by little. Still on crutches. Lots of physical therapy.
Me
I’m here if you need anything.
Aday or so later, the sky was still a clear blue, and the sun was brilliant as ever. Katie threw a frisbee outside for Midnight. We were sitting on the grass. Our feet were bare even though the weather was only in the fifties. I had seen Gabe’s truck parked in the driveway when I arrived and casually asked Katie if he was there. He was.
I hadn’t heard a peep from him, but I’d felt his presence like a magnet pull. I lay on my back with my eyes closed, and I could hear Katie giggle to herself.
“What’s got you giggling?” I asked. My eyes were still closed, guessing her answer before she said it.
“Something Canada Man said.” Her voice was a little mushy.
As was slowly becoming the norm, she was with me, but also a little bit with Terrence. We would be talking then she would abruptly go silent for a few minutes to reply to a message. I found it adorable to see Katie so consumed with another person after years of being so elusive with guys before this—even the ones she liked.
We started discussing how old we thought Midnight was—potentially nine years old, or was he ten? Or even eleven? When her phone rang. I glanced down as she did to see the name Canada Man lighting up her phone screen as he attempted to FaceTime.
I wiggled my eyebrows, and she asked, “Is it okay if I answer?”
“I don’t mind at all,” I said, sitting up onto my elbows.
“Hi, you,” she said in a tone I’d never heard her use before.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said, smooth and soft.
I awkwardly looked toward Midnight, who had plopped down in the middle of the grassy grounds, frisbee abandoned just a few feet away. I tried to ignore the two of them as they shared updates. Vancouver was snowy. She had finished the book she was reading. He was going to get dinner with a friend tonight. She wished he was getting dinner with her.
“Who’s that with you?” I heard him say later. I awkwardly sat back up and gave a little wave as Katie said, “Emma.”
“How’ve you been?” he asked.
“I’ve been good,” I said, squinting under the sun. “You?”
“I’ve been missing the woman holding this phone.” He winked. I bumped into Katie’s shoulder, playfully giving her a nudge. “How’d you feel about your last assignment?”
I bit my lip. “I had a lot of fun. I really liked where I took the story.” I wanted to ask, what did he think? But I had promised myself I wouldn’t bring our working relationship into Katie and Terrence’s budding relationship.
