Page 118 of Hail Marry
“I mean, I don’t want to mess things up,” I say. “This isyourthing…”
Her fingers tap away as she completely ignores me. Once she’s done, she puts her phone away and smiles. “Hope you really meant it because now you have no choice. Now, let’s finish our shopping and go.” She links her arm through mine and pushes the cart with her free hand. “What kind of treats do you think the kids would like? I’m not above sugary bribes to get them to like me.”
We settle on Nerds Gummy Clusters and Twix, then check out and get on our way, dropping by home to put the perishable items in the fridge.
Tori rolls down the windows and gets the music blasting on the way to the youth center, and it’s all I can do to keep my eyes on the road while she belts the songs at the top of her lungs and dances as much as her seatbelt will allow. Tori is everything I never knew I needed.
I’ve got to find a way to keep her in my life, no matter what.
It’s not until I park and the music stops that Tori picks up her phone.
She looks at me, the carefree energy of the last twenty minutes replaced by something more somber. “Missed call from Preston.”
My stomach tightens.
“Should I call him back?” she asks.
I don’t have time to answer before the screen changes to show another incoming call from him.
Tori grabs my hand and uses the other to answer and put the phone on speaker. “Hey, Preston.”
“Hi, Tori. Are you with Luca by chance?”
“Yeah, he’s right here. What’s up?” The forced nonchalance in her voice while her hand fidgets in mine has me bringing her hand to my lips and kissing it.
She smiles at me.
Preston lets out a breath. “I got notification from the immigration office. They’ve set up a Stokes interview.”
Tori’s eyes shut.
“I know waiting for this kind of a thing is a form of torture,” Preston says, “so I called in and managed to convince them to move it up so you can get it over with and move on with your lives. It’s scheduled for the twelfth of September. That still gives us a good three weeks to prepare. I think a twice-weekly meeting should be enough to get us in a good place. I’ll send a calendar link over so we can get those meetings set up, okay?”
“Sounds good,” I say, a lump in my throat.
“Talk soon,” he says before hanging up.
It’s dead quiet in the car, and Tori’s hand doesn’t stir in mine as she stares ahead blankly. It’s such a foreign expression on her usually energetic and expressive face.
“Hey,” I say.
Her head turns toward me.
“We’re gonna get through this,” I say.
She nods, but I can see the doubt in her eyes.
“You’re stuck with me,” I say with a little smile. “No matter what immigration says or does.”
She lets out a shallow, breathy chuckle, and I lean in to kiss her. It’s slow and tender, and little by little, I feel her relax.
“Promise?” she asks as we finally pull apart.
“Promise.”
27
TORI
