Page 77 of All the Beautiful Things
With my suit coat draped over my arm, my messenger bag slung over my shoulder, I flipped off the light to my office and shut the door. Stephanie was at her desk, shutting down her computer.
“Hey. Thanks for the help this week.”
With my dad out, she’d been taking care of more than usual. She was capable, been here long enough to probably run the company herself, but she rarely had to stay until six on a Friday.
“No problem. What an exhausting week though, right? I feel like I’ve forgotten a million things.”
“You did great. Anything forgotten has to be unimportant. I’ve got to head out for dinner—”
“Oh shit.”
The color drained from her tired face, making the dark circles beneath her eyes more pronounced. “Hudson—”
“What?” I stopped in my tracks like I’d been yanked back with a rubber band. “What is it? Dad?”
“No. Have you talked to Lilly?”
“No. Why?”
After the way I treated her this morning, I didn’t want to text her today. I needed to apologize in person.
“Shit. She stopped by earlier. That’s what I was forgetting. I’m so sorry.”
“She was here? When?”
“One-ish? It was after lunch, I’d just gotten back.”
“Why didn’t you send her in?”
“Nina was here. I told her to go in, but then I opened my mouth and said something about her being your ex and she freaked. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
I shook my head. “You told Lilly I was with my ex-girlfriend?”
She cringed, and I cursed. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m so used to everyone knowing about her. Knowing about you two, I didn’t even think about it.”
“Shit.” I scrubbed a hand through my hair. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”
“She went home.”
“What?”
“At one. She said Sandra told her to take off, so she was coming up here to see if you wanted to eat, I think. She said she’d let you know.”
I glanced at my phone, void of any texts from her, although why would she bother if I’d already told her I couldn’t take her home after work and she’d left?
I knew exactly what she’d think. Where her mind would go. And none of it was true, even if I was going to see Nina tonight. Not by choice, though.
“It’s all right. Really. Have a good weekend.”
Stephanie’s face twisted. “I’m so sorry. I meant to tell you as soon as Nina left but I was on the phone about the river project and then…”
The whole reason for this stupid dinner in the first place.
“It’s fine. It happens and it’s not a big deal.” Except it was, because Lilly didn’t trust easily and she’d be upset at the very least I’d never told her about my ex-girlfriend. Hell, we’d never spoken of past relationships at all except for her telling me she wasn’t a virgin. And that was all I wanted to know, even more than I wanted to know.
Add on to that how I treated her this morning and I had no doubt she was fuming in her apartment, pacing, ranting at me totally blowing her off. Worse, I hadn’t even realized I’d done it until I glanced at her in the truck, sitting there, gaping at me with a face so pale and hurt I’d wanted to slam my fist into the window. I was hurting her. Again. I kept doing it, not realizing until the damage was done, but there was that growing sludge in my stomach, slithering outward, coating me in that sense that something bad was going to happen.
The taste of it I had last week with Lilly in my arms had grown, unchecked.
