I laughed, and when I met his eyes again, the corner of his mouth twitched up in a smile. “I’ll be careful, don’t worry. We both will. I’ll look after him.”

“Good.” He kissed my forehead again.

“Have fun in Massachusetts.”

“Mm,” he said doubtfully, but smiled. “I’ll try.”

Noah gave me one final kiss, but I think we were both hyperaware of the fact that his parents and his brother were waiting for us to finish saying goodbye, so it was only a brief one. But it was still enough of a kiss to send the fireworks thrill through me.

I spent another few melancholy moments standing with Noah, saying goodbye, before scuttling back up to the porch, where Lee and his mom were waiting.

I’d always thought it was kind of pathetic how couples took forever to say goodbye—and then started the whole thing over again. It seemed like some big, sappy, exaggerated thing that even the hopeless romantic in me didn’t really appreciate too much. But now that it was happening to me, I understood. You did it because you wanted to delay them leaving you as long as possible. You did it to try to stall the future. To buy a few more seconds with them.

As soon as I set foot on the porch, Lee grabbed my hand and squeezed it hard. I wasn’t crying, but he seemed to know how heavy my heart felt without the need for tears pouring down my face. I glanced sideways at him, catching his eye and giving him a small, grateful smile. It was comforting to know that whatever happened, I always had Lee.

“Call me when you get there!” June yelled after them as her husband reversed off the sand-covered driveway. He held up a hand—a gesture that said Yeah, sure thing! but the look on his face said I didn’t hear you, but whatever!

Once the sound of the car engine had died away round the bend of the street that led toward the highway, June let out a sigh and went back inside. Lee let go of my hand.

“Forget about you?” my best friend said in mock-horror. “How am I going to cope when he goes off to college and leaves you behind?”

His expression, which was bug-eyed and aghast, made me laugh a little. “I won’t be all heartbroken and depressed, don’t worry. Besides, we have a party to go to tonight!”

“Yeah!” His hand went up for a high five—then he dropped his arm just before I could slap my hand against his. “Aw, man! Shelly, please tell me this doesn’t mean I have to take you shopping!”

“Well…” I laughed before he could roll his eyes. “Kidding.”