Tears flooded Libby’s eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”
Blair swallowed, but a tear fell down her cheek. “Just promise you’ll come back to see us more often than Megan did before she married Josh.”
“We’ll probably be back for business.”
“Not necessarily,” Megan said, subdued. “Noah refuses to take his job back.”
“Oh.”
“Does that change anything?” Blair asked.
She shook her head. “No. I just need to get to him.”
Her friends pushed her toward the bathroom and she climbed into the shower. They kept barging into the bathroom to ask her which clothes to pack. Tortoise sensed something was up and began to pace nervously.
“Oh! Food for Tortoise!” Libby exclaimed once she was packed and ready to go.
“I know this may come as a shock,” Megan said. “But we have dog food in Seattle.”
Libby stuck out her tongue as she scooped some of Tortoise’s dry food into a Ziploc bag and slipped it into her purse.
“I think I’m ready.”
They rode to the airport in silence. Tortoise sat quietly by Libby’s side in the backseat of Megan’s old Explorer, eyeing the crate in the back with suspicion. He wasn’t very happy about getting inside the box when they checked him in at the airport, but Libby rubbed and kissed his head. “I’ll see you in no time,” she cooed. “And then we’ll go see Noah. He’ll be so happy to see you.”
She only hoped he’d be happy to see her too.
Megan and Blair walked her to security and they shared a moment of awkward silence.
Megan handed her a slip of paper and a key chain. “This is the key to my car. The lot where it’s parked is written on this paper. Take my car from the airport and I’ll pick it up later when I get home. The address is where you can find Noah. He’s not at his apartment.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s at his grandfather’s house on Bainbridge Island. My mother-in-law sent him out there to inventory the house and his granddad’s workshop. Something to keep him busy.” She paused. “She also said he used to love it there when he was a kid. I think she was desperate to do something to make him feel better. I saw him there yesterday, so I know he’s still there.”
“Thank you.” She stuffed the paper and the key in a pocket inside her purse.
“Oh!” Megan’s face lit up. “Have you heard from Gram?”
“No. Why?”
“She got married in Vegas.”
“She what?”
Megan grinned. “A hot yoga instructor from some class she took out there. Nana Ruby had to fly home without her. Knickers is fit to be tied.”
Libby laughed. She could only imagine. But it reminded her of her own situation. “I don’t even know if we’re still married. I don’t know what happened to the marriage license.”
A soft smile lit up Blair’s face. “You are. I called Melissa while you were in the shower. She just texted a few minutes ago that she’d gotten ahold of the owners and they mailed it in. Also they’re sending your dress and some wedding photos to my office.”
The wedding photos. Libby laughed. “If you look at them keep an open mind, okay?”
Shaking her head with a grin, Blair reached into her bag and pulled out a picture frame, then quietly said, “One more thing. I forgot to give you this.”
Libby’s throat burned when she realized what it was—a photo of the three of them at the carnival on the day they’d been cursed by the fortune teller. The three of them were hamming it up for the camera. They were happy and carefree and sure they’d have each other forever. She was with her two best friends, the only two people who had made her feel truly loved until Noah. It was so perfectly them.
Blair wiped a tear from her cheek. “The day this whole curse nonsense was born. I should have never doubted you, Libby, but you believed enough for all of us. Thank you for that.”
“We used to be inseparable,” Libby said, regret in her voice.
“We can be again,” Megan said through her tears. “Living in different states doesn’t have to change that.”
“We can Skype,” Blair said. “I do it for business. We can conference call.”
Libby nodded, then the brunt of her fear hit her full force. “What if I get there and he doesn’t want to see me?”
Blair smiled through her tears. “There’s only one way to find out. Go to him. But no matter where you go or what you do, know that we will always love you. We will always be your second home.”
“You need to hurry,” Megan said, pulling her into a hug. “They’re about to board your flight.”
She hugged them both again, then went through the small security line, ready to break down into tears again. She didn’t think she’d ever been so scared. Her entire life was about to be decided in a few hours and she wasn’t sure she was ready to face it.
She took a deep breath and smiled to herself. She’d figure out a way to make him forgive her. She’d camp out on his doorstep if that was what it took.
They were meant to be together. She only hoped he believed that too.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Noah stood in his grandfather’s workshop, turning a piece of hickory wood over in his hand. When he was a kid, he used to spend weeks at a time here with his granddad. It was one of the only things that always set his hyperactive mind at ease. He knew that’s why his mother had sent him here. Her busy-work for him was a flimsy excuse. Not that he was complaining.