Page 111 of Beauty
I worry my lip as I respond and hit Send before I can talk myself out of it.
Me: Okay. Make sure Liv is all right with it, though. If so, I’ll have some designs for her to look over when I get back.
Beckett: You’re the best.
Me: I know. You’re not so bad yourself.
Beckett: We’re Langfields. Of course we’re the best.
Chuckling, I set my phone on the nightstand. I need to focus on getting ready, but more than that, I need to prepare myself for another few hours with Noah.
I pad into the bathroom and turn on the shower. As I step back, I catch sight of my butterfly tattoo. Standing in the middle of the tile room, I survey it.
Does Noah really have one like it? He must, since Ollie is the one who mentioned it. And I’m dying to see it.
I shouldn’t be. I promised myself that I was done seeing any and all parts of that man unless they’re visible when he’s clothed.
Though there’s a voice in the back of my head, one I try my best to ignore, calling me out on my bullshit, insisting that before long, I’ll be breaking that pact.
“I never thought we’d actually find you,” says the man with a shock of white hair. “But you are just as pretty as I remember. I’m Ernie, by the way. Figure it’s been a few years. Though I am pretty unforgettable.” With a wink, Ted Danson’s lookalike leans in and kisses my cheek.
The man beside him is a little rounder, a little shorter, and bald. But he’s got the biggest smile. “And I’m Bert.”
I give them an awkward little wave. “I remember.”
We were a few minutes early, so while we waited for Bert and Ernie to arrive, Ollie pitched his summer trip idea to Noah. From what I gather, the two of them take a trip after school gets out, and this year, he wants to try horseback riding in Montana.
Bert claps Noah on the shoulder. “Woulda been nice to know we could stop checking dollar bills.” He eyes me, his lips kicked up on one side. “Six years we’ve been looking for you.”
The confession knocks the air from my lungs
Before I can recover, Ollie’s voice snaps me out of my stupor. “What are you talking about?”
Noah stands, patting his son on the shoulder. “Remember how there are grown-up things we don’t always explain? This is one of them.”
Ollie scowls. “You said it’s rude to talk about secrets and not share them.”
Noah nods, his hands on his hips. “You’re right, bud. We’re sorry.” He ruffles the little guy’s hair.
He embraces both men, exchanging words I don’t catch.
Maybe if I weren’t so thrown off by Bert’s confession, they’d register.
And by being in the presence of these men all these years later.
Noah fits so well in the world I’ve just slipped back into, with my brothers and hockey and my new career, but as I watch him interact with Bert and Ernie, I’m hurtled back to another time. A time when Noah was not a threat to my happiness, but the source of it. The two days where my world began and ended with him. A world in which only the two of us existed. That’s what made it feel so mystical, almost as if I’d made it up. But I’d forgotten about Bert and Ernie, and if what they are saying is true, that Noah truly looked for me for years, it makes that encounter feel less like a fantasy and more like my true past. And damn, is that doing a number on my heart.
We settle at the round table so I’m flanked by Ollie and Ernie, with Bert on the other side of his friend and Noah almost directly across from me, giving me the perfect angle to study his every reaction.
Unlike the man I met years ago, this one doesn’t hide many of his thoughts. He’s no longer guarded. He laughs openly and often, and he’s affectionate, squeezing Ollie’s shoulder, rubbing his head when he cracks a joke or makes a sarcastic comment. And he’s kind when he has to correct the little guy when hetells Bert that if he wants to see seventy-five, he should probably reconsider the dessert.
I spend the meal laughing at stories the older men share of the time they’ve spent with Noah and Ollie over the years and sniffing back tears when I realize just how genuine the affection they all share is.
“You like this new job?” Bert asks as he digs into the berries and whipped cream the server brought out for him. He listened to Ollie and went with the healthier option.
I take a sip of my espresso while I consider how to answer. It’s not nearly as good as what the cafés in Paris serve, but it’ll do. “Honestly, this isn’t what I thought I’d be doing with my life, so transitioning hasn’t been all that natural.”
Noah frowns, worry radiating from him. I don’t know why he’s so surprised. He can’t honestly think this is what I had planned for my life. Though I suppose that since we’ve barely spoken since coming back into each other’s lives, he knows very little about me.
