Page 32 of Lost and Found

His smile falters briefly, but in true Silas fashion, he’s quick to step up. He cracks his knuckles against a denim-clad thigh and nods. “Okay. I can do that.”

When our waiter comes by a moment later, Silas asks him to send Fisher out, and when Fisher obliges, Silas asks him to bring us a pen.

For one half second, I honestly think Fisher might throttle him.

“I have actual work to be doing, Silas,” Fisher bites out.

“I know what that’s like,” he replies, trilling his lips. “Have I ever told you about the time some guy called us to rescue him from his vacuum?”

Fisher pulls a pen out of his pocket and drops it on the table with a tense smile for me.

“I think he might actually hate you,” I say to Silas as we watch him march back toward the kitchen.

“He just hates how much he loves me.”

CHAPTER 11

Now

Bea

THELIST:

Adopt a pet.I narrow it down to:Adopt a dog.

Eat one of those insane sour candies you have to special order.

Bake bread. Try a few different kinds. Artisan, focaccia, and sourdough.And, my added touch:Eat carbs with every meal.

Go deep-sea fishing. Find out if halibut are real.As someone who has lived next to the ocean her whole life but has never been on it (or in it), this is aspirational enough for me as it is.

Put Merritt’s name on something permanent.

“If you have a girl, maybe you could name her after her?” Silas offers in response to number five.

“No,” I say, woven inside a chuckle. For some reason, the ease with which he brings up my hypothetical baby makes me feel like I swallowed a bubble gun. “Merritt would hate that.”

“Really?” He sounds surprised.