My cheeks warm. The way she says that makes me feel really good, special. “OK. I know just the place.”

Two hours later we’re sitting on the upstairs patio of a restaurant on the pier. It’s a brilliantly sunny day, and there are people everywhere, walking on the beach and along the waterfront.

I curl in my chair, my flip-flops discarded under the table, my heals balancing on the edge of the seat with my legs bent in front of me, listening to Mia and Michelle’s endless chatting. The Stantons sure can talk a lot.

I smile and take a sip of my wine. I haven’t been to this restaurant since I came here with Neil on our first date-date. It didn’t occur to me until the hostess directed us to a table that the last time I was here was with Neil.

God, how awkward that was. We hardly spoke to each other. But the night definitely ended amazingly. The memories warm my cheeks and send emotion pulsing through me.

Michelle shifts her gaze to me. “What are you thinking about, dear? You look lost in your thoughts.”

I shake my head, blushing and embarrassed. “Nothing.”

Mia crinkles her nose. “She’s thinking about Neil.”

The color darkens on my cheeks and Michelle laughs. “They drive us crazy when they are around, but the second we’re without them they are all we think about. So not fair. Men don’t think about anything.”

We all laugh.

Michelle straightens in her chair. “I almost forgot. I have a present for you for your birthday. Is it OK if I give it to you now since I won’t see you tomorrow?”

“You didn’t have to get me anything, Michelle.”

“Of course I got you something. You’re important to Neil. That makes you important to all of us. I couldn’t not get you a birthday present. You’re part of the family.”

“Why don’t you come tomorrow, Michelle? Bring Robert and the girls, and give me my present then. It’s just going to be my dad and me barbecuing on the patio.”

Her eyes grow huge. “No. I wouldn’t know what to say. What to do.”

I stare at her, confused, but Mia starts laughing uproariously. “Jeez, Michelle, he’s just Chrissie’s dad.”

Michelle blushes and Mia shakes her head.

“Michelle has the worst kind of crush on Jack, Chrissie,” Mia explains, trying to contain her laughter and doing a terrible job of it.

“Stop it,” Michelle warns, but she’s blushing and smiling. She looks at me. “Your dad is incredible.” The color on her cheeks darkens. “I saw him on the beach once and almost fainted. He’s just so freaking gorgeous. He is so hot.”

Mia and I look at each other and we both go yuck.

“Too much information, Michelle. I don’t think Chrissie appreciates hearing how hot her dad is.”

Michelle’s blush darkens. “Anyway. No, I’m not going to horn in on your birthday and I’d rather give you your gift today.”

She reaches into her tote and lays a box on the table. A slight hint of worry appears on her pretty face.

“You are probably going to think this is lame. I didn’t know what to buy you. What you’d like. What you would need. So I made this for you, Chrissie.”

She sets a beautifully wrapped box on my side of the table. I stare at her, feeling my eyes mist.

“I would never think anything you gave me is lame,” I assure her firmly. “I’m blown away that you made me something.”

She sighs. “I figured with being on the road with Neil, you wouldn’t have time to do something like this. My daughters seem to really like having them, so I thought you might want one.”

I’m touched beyond words, and more than a little curious. I open the card and am blown away again. The entire family signed it and penned a little note. I start to laugh. Neil’s dad signed his name Officer Robert. By the time I’ve finished reading it all my cheeks hurt from smiling.

I tuck the card neatly back into the envelope. Beneath Michelle’s alert and anxious stare I carefully unwrap the present. I pull back the tissue and my eyes widen.

I finger the cover. “You made me a scrapbook.”

Michelle nods, scooting her chair over close to me. “I started saving pictures from the newspapers the first day, and I thought you might like them. A little keepsake of your time traveling with Neil. Life goes by fast. It’s good to have things to remember it by.”

I lift it from the box, and it feels heavy, filled. We don’t look at the papers, ever, and I haven’t a clue what’s in here. But Michelle and Mia look excited, so I open the cover.

Oh my God. The first picture is Neil and me in the exit tunnel when he didn’t want to go out on stage. I’m sitting between his legs, smiling at him, and he’s hidden beneath all that hair. Jeez, I didn’t even realize someone had caught a picture of us. That there had been press anywhere near.

I start turning pages. Me and Neil on stage together during a sound check. Me and Neil arriving at an arena for a performance. Me and Neil holding each other. It goes on and on.

Jeez, Nate wasn’t messing with me. Chrissie tabloid frenzy. Famous for being famous. The photos. The captions. The tabloids like to create sensational romance to splatter in print, and they have definitely done that with us. No wonder Josh hates me. Some of it borders on ridiculous.

All this was going on around me and I never knew it. Moments of my life caught and barely remembered. Then the flash of distress gives way as my heart starts to melt. It is an overwhelming thing to see us in a picture. The way Neil looks at me. The way I look at him. I finger a photo. I didn’t know that this is the way my eyes look when I look at him. That this is the way we look at each other.

All my emotions run heatedly through my veins.

“Thank you,” I whisper. “I love it.”

“You guys look so happy together,” Michelle says, a touch emotionally. “Really beautiful. I never thought my son would ever love anyone the way he loves you.”

I nod.

Mia does a shudder. “Michelle, we are not getting all mushy here today. Please, you’re embarrassing Chrissie.”

I look up. “She’s not embarrassing me.” I shift my gaze to Michelle. “This is the nicest present anyone has ever given me.”

Michelle beams, pats my hand, and sits back. “Well, I just thought you might like something.”

I hold it against my chest. “I definitely like it, Michelle.”

~~~

I sit on a patio chaise watching the sunset with Jack.

Jack glances over at me. “Did you have a nice birthday, baby girl?”

“Wonderful, Daddy. It wouldn’t be a birthday without barbecuing with you on the patio.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t invite anyone over.”

I reach for my ice tea, hiding my smile behind my glass. Jack still doesn’t get it; I’m a loner like him.

“Nope, Daddy. You and me. That’s how we roll.”

He takes my hand. “I love you, Chrissie.”

“I love you too, Daddy.”

Jack sighs. “So why don’t you tell me what you’ve been thinking about all afternoon?”

Jeez, is it so obvious?

I scrunch up my face. “Would you be disappointed if I left Monday instead of staying the full two weeks?”

Jack laughs. “A little disappointed. But not surprised.”

I flush. “I love being home, but I’m kind of missing Neil.”

“Definitely not surprised.”

I stare out at the spreading shades of orange, pink and purple swirling in the sky above the Pacific.

“Did they have guidance counselors when you were in high school, Daddy?”

Jack shakes his head. “That was like a thousand years ago. I don’t remember. Why do you ask?”

“We had this one we had to see every month through our senior year to help us plan our future. Every time I went there, she asked me Chrissie, what do you plan to do with your life? It used to annoy the hell out of me.”

Jack rolls his eyes. “What did you say?”

“I don’t want to be anything. I want to meet a nice guy, get married, maybe have some kids. Just be and be happy.”