Page 145 of Intermission

“It’s quite romantic, isn’t it?”

It kind of is. “You sound like a Brit.”

I run my fingers over the goldish-brown stubble that lines a more defined jaw than I remember. Noah Spencer is no longer a boy. He is a man. The romantic lead in an off-Broadway musical. It’s... surreal.

“Are you sure I’m awake?”

“If I am, then you must be as well. So... what are you doing for dinner?”

“What?”

“Would you have dinner with me?”

“Noah, it’s not even nine o’clock in the morning.”

“Madeleine Faith Prescott, I am officially asking you out on a date. In case you’re unfamiliar with the concept, it’s the usual course of action when two adults who are romantically inclined toward one another share a meal in a restaurant. I am asking you out. On a date. Arealdate.”

“A real date.” My grin spreads wide. “I would like that.”

“Good.” He winks, and my heart spins and flops over on itself.

“I hear there’s a pretty decent place in Sommerton,” I say. “It’s called The Smoked Salt Grille or something weird like that. Except—” I smack my hand against my forehead. “I have to be at work at nine.”

“So we make it an early dinner.”

“No, you don’t understand. I have to be at workin Detroitat nine. It’s a ten hour drive, if I goreallyfast, plus I have to drop Janey off at my apartment in Ann Arbor. If I don’t leave pretty soon...” A strangled noise exits my throat. “I can’t believe you’re here and I—”

I squeeze my eyes shut. I don’t want to cry again. Our time together can’t be so short! Not after two years! Not after the night I just spent and the strides I’ve made...

“It’s okay. I’m not expected back in New York until the thirteenth. I’ll go with you. I can change my flight from Moline to... where did you say?Detroit?”

I nod.

“Detroit. Huh.” When Noah shifts position, he winces. Reaching down toward his foot, he pulls an inch-long sliver of glass from his sock. “So while I’ve been combing every theatre-student haunt in New York this summer, you’ve been in...Detroit?”

“No, I work in Detroit. Well, one of my jobs is there. I live in Ann Arbor. I moved there in May because I’ll be attending the University of Michigan this fall. Long story.”

And I will tell it all. Someday. But...

“Wait, why were you looking for me in New York this summer?”

“Now that’s a fun story.” He frowns. “In retrospect. It wasn’t at the time, I assure you. Anyway, I flew in for your high school graduation, but you weren’t there—”

“You came to my high school graduation?”

“I did. Butyoudidn’t.”

“Oh, yeah. I graduated early.”

“As I learned. Unfortunately, I only had a few hours in town.” He lifts a shoulder. “Money was tight, but I’d found a really cheap round-trip fare I couldn’t pass up. Anyway, I showed up at graduation, and Jenna told me you’d left town, but she didn’t know where you were. I guess you guys didn’t keep in touch?”

“No. We . . . drifted apart. Another long story.”

“Ah.” Noah nods but doesn’t ask for details. “Well, that silly little charm, wherever it landed, was going to be a graduation gift.”

“But I wasn’t there. Sorry.”

“No worries. We’d agreed to stay out of touch. You had no way of knowing I would come to graduation, and since my time was limited, I decided to leave it in the Dutchman’s pocket and hope you’d come home over the summer and find it.”