26. An Unexpected Goodbye

I walk into Simon’s apartment on Saturday afternoon to find him wrestling a jacket into a suitcase.

“You are just in time,” he says, looking up at me. He’s kneeling on the carpet in front of the fully packed suitcase. “Come on, give me a hand.”

“What are you doing?” I ask as I shove my shoes off and slip my feet into a pair of slippers. “Why are you here?” He’s supposed to be at Ben’s lake house, sweeping Keri off her feet.

I get down on the carpet and hold down one side of the suitcase. With my help, he manages to zip it up. It’s a huge suitcase, and it’s full of clothes. “Are you going somewhere?”

He nods and sits on the floor, raking his fingers through his hair. “Yeah,” he says. He sounds tired, and when I look around, I get an idea why.

The room is in disarray and there is another suitcase on the bed. He has been packing. A lot.

My eyes move back to him. “Are you moving?”

He nods and reaches for a water bottle beside him. While he takes a drink, I ask, “Where? I thought you like