“National security,” a security officer who guarded the entrance told her when she asked. “You can thank 9/11 for that.”
She was quiet when they walked out of the parking garage and toward the blocked-off road.
“It’s okay, Lib. It’s only slightly different. You can stand in the middle of the dam and toss it over.”
She nodded, still lost in herself.
He wrapped an arm around her back, pulling her to his side as they walked. When they reached the middle, she stopped and looked over the edge.
“The water’s a lot lower than in the movie.”
“Drought,” Noah said. “I’ve heard the lake is at a record low.”
“So nothing’s as I expected.”
To anyone else, Libby would appear to be sulking over something trivial, but he knew how her mind worked. This was connected to something bigger and he suspected it had to do with her aborted wedding. “Sometimes that’s not a bad thing.”
She looked up at him, her eyes filled with sadness.
He wasn’t used to seeing her so down. That was one thing he loved about her, her ability to find the good in the bad. He just needed to remind her of it now. “You know that whole saying about God closing a door and opening a window. Or is it closing a window and opening a door?” He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows playfully. “Or maybe it’s like Alice jumping down the hole to Wonderland.”
She grinned. “I get what you’re saying. But I’m turning thirty tomorrow and look at my life.”
He put his hands on her shoulders. “Yeah, look at it. You have two great childhood friends who love you enough to hunt me down and skin me alive.”
“Who were completely oblivious to the fact I didn’t love Mitch.” He’d give her that. It had ticked him off too.
“Okay, so they’ve been a bit self-centered and clueless lately. But you have a career you love.”
“Which doesn’t pay shit and interferes with the whole responsible adult gig.”
“Hey, I saved the best for last. You have me.”
A strange look filled her eyes, and for a second he thought she was going to reach up and kiss him. Instead she wrapped her arms around his back and pressed her cheek to his chest. “Yeah, I have you.”
“Libby, you know you can talk to me. I know something’s bothering you.”
“It’s my birthday. I had . . . a wish I was sure would come true, but it didn’t. Now I’m questioning everything.”
“Sometimes questioning everything is good. It puts you on the right track.” Didn’t he know that firsthand? Meeting her was what had made him question everything, and he didn’t want to go back.
“Look at you.” She lifted her head and grinned up at him. “Noah McMillan: life coach.”
“Maybe I’ll make it my new career.”
Worry flickered in her eyes. “Is something wrong with your old one?”
The wind blew her hair into her face. Without thinking, he reached up and tucked the strands behind her ear. “It’s always good to keep your options open.”
She nestled her cheek against his chest and they stood like that for nearly a minute. He marveled that he could be this close to her without planning on how to get her into bed. Not that he didn’t want to get her into bed, but that wasn’t what she needed.
Was this real love? Being with someone and somehow getting something from it even if sex or talking wasn’t part of it. For the first time he got what people meant about growing old with the one they loved.
In the scheme of his life, this was such a small moment, yet every preconceived notion about love was being chucked over the edge of the dam. He’d always thought true love—a love worthy of a lifetime commitment—was full of fireworks and passion. He had never suspected there could be more. His love for Libby was like a river of peace threading through his troubled soul. She quieted his demons and made him believe he could be a better person. That he had a purpose in the world. And while he wanted fireworks and passion, he now realized he needed both.
He kissed the top of her head, letting his lips linger longer than he should have. He expected her to back away and break the moment, but she hung on tight.
“I want to throw the coin together,” she said. “I want to share our wish.”
He wanted to share more than that, but it was a start. “What if we wish for different things?”
She shrugged, a grin lighting up her face as she looked up at him. “Then I guess the one who wishes the hardest will win.”
“Challenge accepted.”
She laughed. “It wasn’t a challenge.”
“It most certainly was. If you tell a guy something’s a test of strength or will, you better believe he’ll try his damnedest to win.”
“Fine.” She grinned as she dug the coin out of her pocket and held it up. “How do we do this?”
“How about you hold it and I’ll cover your hand with mine?”
“I think both of us should touch it,” she said. “Then we can just drop it.”
He shook his head. He knew how superstitious she could be. He wasn’t superstitious at all, but he’d agree to anything she wanted. “How about you hold out your hand.” He grabbed her hand and turned it palm up, spreading out her fingers, then placed the quarter on her palm.
Her body stiffened slightly and she sucked in a tiny breath.
Noah had been around enough women to know when one had a physical reaction to him.
Could she really want him?
With his index finger, he lightly traced around the coin in her palm. “Do you know what you’re going to wish?” he asked, his voice huskier than he’d intended. But now that he knew she might want him physically, his body was ready to go from zero to sixty in less than two seconds.
“Yes.” Her voice was low and she kept her eyes on her hand. “Now what?”
Was she talking about them or the coin? But even if she was talking about them, he knew he had to take it slow.
“Now I put my hand over yours.” He did just that, lacing their fingers together and pressing the coin between their palms. “Then we hold our hands over the edge and on the count of three, we let it drop.”
“Okay.”
They maneuvered their arms over the edge and she looked up at him, the sadness in her eyes replaced with hope.
“One,” she whispered.
Her chest was still pressed to his, their hands linked, and Noah realized he’d never felt more connected to anyone in his life.
“Two.”
What was she going to wish for? Was it fair to hope his was stronger than hers? All he knew was what his heart wanted. Her. He’d heard love was stronger than any force in existence. His wish might prove if that was true.
“Three.” By unspoken agreement, they kept their fingers linked and opened their palms. The coin dropped, but they continued to look into each other’s eyes for several seconds.
Libby finally lowered her hand and released his, looking over the edge of the dam. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
The change of subject was so abrupt, he chuckled. “I told you that you have a bladder the size of a thimble.”
“I do not.”