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Wil had done that.
“You’re a good kisser, Noel,” Wil said, pulling back.
You’re a good mom.That was what Diana had told Katie she’d needed to hear, that she’d learned how to tell herself because it wasn’t something the world told her often enough.You’re a good mom. You’re a good kisser. You’re a good person.
Katie watched the gratitude fill Noel right to the top. Katie reached up and wiped away the tears that were falling down her cheeks.
Wil Greene was such a gift to the world.
Katie was sorry that she would never get her chance to kiss her.
“Ah, thanks, then,” Noel said. He stuck out his hand, and Wil shook it, laughing.
He squinted over to where Katie was, behind the tripod. “Thanks.”
“Yeah! Of course,” Katie said. She touched the floor switch that turned off the lights, then the boom, and hit the big red stop button on her phone.
“Let us walk you out.” Wil touched Noel’s elbow. “Do you have any questions about posting the video?”
“Nope, you explained that pretty well and for pretty long, too. I got the form in my email.”
“Once you send it back, I’ll post, then.”
“All right.” He smiled. Katie noticed that he looked a bit tallerand more at ease. Wil walked next to him, Katie behind them, and as Wil opened the door, a swirl of cold wind wrapped around all three of them on Wil’s stoop.
“Katie!” a man shouted. “Look over here!”
She didn’t think. Her head moved automatically, pointing her face down and away from the voice. “Hey, Noel, could you come back inside with us for a minute?” Her tone was calm but very firm.
“Sure, sorry.” He turned around with Wil, confused but compliant, and Wil shut the door against the knot of men on the sidewalk in front of the house.
One week since Katie landed at the Green Bay airport. Three days since the party at her parents’ house. That was how long Katie had thought she might have, because that was as long as she’d ever managed to keep her presence a secret anywhere in the world.
She could never really come home. She’d known that, but Katie had never been more sorry to be right.
She’d never felt more keenly the size and shape of the gap between the life she had and the life she wanted.
It took an hour before her parents made it to Wil’s house. While Katie waited, she arranged a rental for Noel and explained he’d have to come pick up his car in a few days when things calmed down.
Her dad borrowed Noel’s keys and pulled Noel’s car into Wil’s garage.
Noel called his brother to pick him up from the back alley behind the house and take him to the rental agency.
Katie’s dad drove his car back home. Diana waited for Katie.
By the time they were ready to go, Katie knew, one or more of the men outside would have run Noel’s plate and figured out his name, probably his phone number, certainly his social media.
It was what they did. It was how this worked.
Before she stepped through the door to leave, Katie put her hand on the back of Wil’s neck, her forehead against Wil’s. “I’ll let you know when I know, okay?”
Wil smelled like mint. Her skin was warm, so warm that Katie wanted to lean into it.
She closed her eyes as she felt Wil’s breath on her mouth, then opened them, even though she was too close to see Wil’s face. It was close enough. Close enough for Katie to feel what it would be like to have this.
To have Wil.
“I’m sorry,” Wil said.