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The day of the party

The morning felt like a dream. Blue skies and calm water stretched out in every direction around us as the boat powered across the lake. Will was smiling that crooked smile of his. The one that made me swoon. And even over the roar of the boat engine, I could hear Mia’s soundtrack.

That morning, as we sat down to a breakfast Alma had made for Will—some divine overnight casserole thing—Mia shared the playlist she had made to celebrate his birthday, titled “Pal Turns Old.”

“It’s perfect, Buggy.” He had kissed her forehead, taking the “old” joke in stride. “I love you.”

Mia beamed proudly, satisfied with the reception of her gift.

Will’s forty-sixth birthday party would be later that day, and we all agreed a boat ride would be a nice way to spend the hours between breakfast and the time Mia would have to head back to Constance’s and Will and I would have to start getting dressed.

Even before we could head down to the dock, though, the house was buzzing with activity.

Autumn swept into the kitchen around nine a.m., as we were putting our breakfast dishes away.

And Marcus wasn’t far behind her, arriving with enough food to feed an army and soliciting the help of Autumn’s party crew to unload provisions.

“So, this is the famous Marcus,” Will had said as he shook Marcus’s hand. “Este and Beau are always raving about you. Nora, too, of course.”

Marcus’s usually friendly smile had a bit of an edge to it, and I wondered if he was still mad at me.

I gave him a short wave, feeling like I owed him a huge apology and knowing I couldn’t apologize with Will around.

“We’re headed out on the boat for a little while.

Can you tell Autumn I have my cellphone on me if she needs anything? ”

“Yeah,” he said as his jaw tightened in the back of his cheek. “Have fun.”

I could feel the judgment radiating off him.

Not today, Marcus. Today is for celebrating Will and charming the pants off some rich assholes.

We walked down to the dock, climbing aboard Don’t Settle. As soon as we were on the water, Mia synced her playlist to the Bluetooth speakers, and we zipped around as some of Will’s favorite musicians serenaded us. We bounced from R.E.M. to REO Speedwagon before Nick Drake started playing.

Will cut the engine so that Mia could jump in the lake to wakeboard. As Mia was getting ready, I noticed a small box on the captain’s dash next to Will.

“What’s that?”

He looked down at it like he hadn’t seen it before.

“That,” I said, pointing this time.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged with a little smirk. “Open it and find out.”

I frowned at him. “It’s your birthday, Will. I’m supposed to be the one giving you presents.”

He reached for my hand and tugged me into his lap. “I’ve already got what I want.” He pulled me in for a hug and kissed my cheek. Leaning back, he picked up the box and handed it to me. “Open it.”

“Give it to me tomorrow. I feel guilty taking something from you on your day.”

“Nora.” There was that liquid look in his eyes that I loved so much. The one he gave me when he proposed and when he asked me out for the first time. Pleading and hopeful. He could have anything he wanted from me when he looked at me like that. “Please, open it.”

That’s my Will.

“I love you,” I said.

“I love you. Now, open it.”

Inside the small green rectangular box was an amber pendant encircled in delicate scalloped gold on a thin gold chain. The amber had little flowers that looked yellow etched into the burnt orange gem and on the back I could feel the grooves of the etching.

“Oh my God.” I looked at him. “It’s so beautiful. I love it.”

“It was my mom’s,” he said.

I looked up at him, shocked. I knew his mom had passed away when he was still a kid. All these years later, I was surprised he had anything left of hers.

The second wife doesn’t get many heirlooms.

He took it out of the box and opened the clasp. “It’s not very extravagant. Nothing like the jewelry you see around the club. My mom didn’t care much for opulence. Not that we could have afforded more. But she loved this necklace. She wore it every day.”

I turned on his lap so that he could fasten the chain to my neck.

“My mom would have loved you,” he said, and he looked like he might cry. “You’ve never given a shit about any of this.” He waved at the mansions surrounding us on the lake. “You just want me. I can’t believe I’m so lucky.”

I pulled him in and kissed him, wiping a few small tears away.

“Knock it off, Pal,” Mia called from the water. “Stop making kissy faces and drive the boat.”

He chuckled and gave me another kiss before obliging her.

I touched the pendant, which fell just above my heart, and swelled with a little bit of pride.

We had made it through a really shitty time.

We were going to be okay. I didn’t know what the future held for me.

Maybe we’d have kids, maybe we wouldn’t.

Maybe I’d try to go back to work, maybe I wouldn’t.

But we were going to be there for each other.

We were going to figure it out together.