“Great.” She pushed herself to the edge of the couch. “I’m going to go take care of a few things, and I’ll come get you when I’m done.”
“Sounds good.”
As she left, I reached into my purse to take out my phone. I never usually checked it while I was inside the library, but I felt it vibrating next to me on the couch. I scrolled through the notifications. There were over a hundred of them. One in particular made my eyes fill.
It was from my dad.
Hi, doll face.
“Oh no,” Bay said as she rejoined me on the couch. “What happened while I was gone.”
With a wet tissue in my hand, I glanced up from the screen. I didn’t know how many times I’d read those three words. I couldn’t stop staring at them, visualizing the process he had gone through to type each letter.
All of that work … for me.
I showed Bay my phone, so she knew what had made me so emotional.
“Awww,” she sighed. “He must be feeling better?”
I’d told her nothing about my dad’s diagnosis or how he was sending me that message or how long it had taken him to get the letters on the screen. If I was going to have that conversation, I needed a drink.
“Let’s go get a cocktail,” I told her.
I got up from the couch, sticking my phone back in my bag, and hanging the long leather strap over my shoulder. With Luz scheduled to pick up Tommy from school and Viv at Trever’s, I wouldn’t have to look at the screen again.
“There’s a place not far from campus that makes an incredible margarita,” she said.
“No need to say any more. You had me at tequila.”