He nodded. “Okay. We’ll see you in a couple of days?”

I hesitated. “Yeah. Couple days.”

He held out his hand. “I’ll take care of them.”

I shook his hand. “I know.”

He looked at Bella.

“Give me one second, okay?” she asked him.

He nodded and walked down to the curb.

She set Jackson on the ground. His eyes were red, but the sobbing had stopped and he seemed to be rallying.

She squatted down next to him. “Can you tell Noah goodbye?”

He shuffled toward me and hugged my leg. “Bye.”

I gently moved his arms off my leg and bent down next to him, hugging him. “I’ll see you soon, dude. Maybe I’ll go to Legoland with you or something.”

He squeezed my neck. “Okay.”

He detached himself and Bella whispered something in his ear. He skipped down to the car and Alex smiled at him, helping him into the car.

She brushed the hair from her face. “Saying thank you seems really dumb.”

“You don’t need to.”

“And I pretty much knew you’d say that.”  She glanced at Carter. “Is he always like this?”

“Yes,” he said. “He’s like a knight in crappy surf clothes.”

She smiled. “I look forward to getting to know you better.”

“That’s what all the ladies say,” Carter said.

I rolled my eyes. “Maybe I didn’t miss you.”

Bella shook her head, smiling. “So we’ll really see you soon?  Back in San Diego?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll be there.”

She put her hands around my neck and rose on her toes. “Okay. Good. And thank you, Noah. Thank you. I’m sorry if I screwed it up today. I was just…I don’t know.”

“You didn’t screw anything up,” I said. “You got Jax back. It’s fine.”

She kissed my cheek and let go of my neck. “I’ll see you soon.”

I nodded and watched her walk to the curb. Alex opened the door for her and closed it behind her. He waved at us, got into the driver’s side and they drove away from the house, Jackson peering out the back window as they rounded the corner.

They were going to be okay. There was something about the three of them that fit nicely together. Alex wanted to take care of Bella and she wanted to be taken care of. I wasn’t one to believe in spirits or guiding forces, but I couldn’t help but wonder if Liz had something to do with bringing all of us together.

Or maybe that was just the way I wanted to see it.

FIFTY-THREE

“I thought the roof was a nice touch,” Carter said, hanging out the passenger window.

“It was very you,” I said, hitting the blinker and changing lanes.

We were in the rented SUV, pointed west on 98, the Gulf off in the distance to our left.

“Why didn’t you answer my email?” I asked.

“I did.  I sent Alex.”

“You couldn’t hit reply?”

He shrugged.  “You were freaked and I didn’t like it much, either.  I didn’t wanna waste time.  Alex was ready to go.  Just trying to be careful.”

I nodded.  That all made sense to me and I was glad he’d done it.

“That Hanson guy won’t follow the girl?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. He wants to be king in a small pond. He found out today he’s not so good in bigger ponds.”

Carter nodded.

We drove in silence for a bit.

Carter drummed his fingers against the door. “So. This is weird.”

“Yeah?”

“Was weird when you called.”

“Why?”

He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Dunno. Just wasn’t sure when I’d hear from you and it’s just hard to remember…before.”

It was hard to remember before. At least, it was hard to remember feeling happy and secure and a bunch of other things that I didn’t know how to describe.

“And you know, they’re still digging,” he said. “Klimes and Zanella. They're still digging. Pretty sure they didn’t know I left town, but I’m not totally sure. They’ve been clingy.”

I had no doubt.

“So I don’t know what’s waiting for us,” he said, leaning back in the seat.

I didn’t know either. I really didn’t. But I was tired of hiding from it.

“We’ll deal with it when it shows up,” I said. “And you’ll be fine. I’ll make sure.”

“I’m always fine.”

“And ugly.”

“Florida sun has damaged the cones and rods in your eyes, apparently. I’m better looking than ever.”

I smiled as we made the turn onto Highway 87 and headed north toward Interstate 10. I missed my best friend. It was good to be sitting next to him again, listening to him talk like an idiot. And it was even nicer to know that he’d still show up whenever I needed him.

I hoped I could return the favor some day.

“You alright?” Carter asked. “And I don’t mean right now. I mean with…everything.”

“You mean Liz,” I said.

“Yeah. I do.”

I didn’t know if I’d ever be alright with her being gone. There was still a void, an emptiness that felt as if it would always be staring me in the face. I didn’t know how to remove that and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to. But I couldn’t run from it forever. It was going to change. The only thing I could do was face it and see what happened.

So as the sun disappeared behind us in the rearview mirror and I prepared for the long drive home, back to San Diego, to face whatever was waiting, I gave him the only answer I could think of.

“We’ll see,” I said.

THE END

ACKNOWLEDG MENTS

Big, huge, massive thank yous to the following folks:

The readers who continue to ask for more stories about Noah.

My family and friends for their encouragement, support and good humor.

Pam Applegate for her editing expertise.

Hannah Elizabeth for smiling at me every day.

Beth Balmanno for making my life better in every single way.