Page 57 of His Build
“No, it’s much better that we’re far away from him. When I moved back last year I thought my life had fallen apart, you know? But really, moving home was how I started to put the pieces back together. Sam was a mess at first, but Graydon really helped make him feel like we could be a family without his dad.”
Lucy shifted in her seat. Of course he had.
“I’ve never seen Graydon like this,” Casey said after a moment.
“Like what?” There was a wobble stuck at the back of Lucy’s throat.
Casey hesitated, then said, “You have to know he’s nuts about you.”
Lucy’s heart thudded. “No,” she whispered. Now she wanted to go. Needed to go. She grasped for the door handle but kept missing it, the latch frustratingly out of reach. “No, we just—we just took our working relationship too far.”
But she did know. She knew how he felt, and that was why she was running. She never wanted this.
Finally, Lucy found the handle. She pushed the door open.
Casey smiled. It was a sad smile, just the curl of her lips, her eyebrows slanted down. “Well, if you want it to be over, he’ll be professional at work. He’s nothing if not a gentleman, my brother.”
Lucy pursed her lips. The door hung open beside her, but she hadn’t left her seat. “He said he’d be transferring the project to Chris. So we won’t have to cross paths again.” A shot of sorrow ran through her the moment she said the words. And guilt. Her stomach was sick suddenly with that part. How could she ask Graydon to pass the Miyazaki job to Chris? She thought of the stacks of books in his dining room; dog-eared and stuffed with sticky notes. Of the balsa wood models, and the way she’d seen him staring at the build with a look of wonder on his face. This was his dream build. And she’d swooped in and taken it from him.
“But he doesn’t have to do that,” Lucy said, a new plan forming as she sat there. “I’m going to head back home.”
“You mean New York?”
“Yes.” Lucy swung her legs out of the car, relief coursing through her now as she got out. This was the first decision she’d made since she’d gotten here that felt logical. Keep things simple. Remember your life plan.
She leaned back into the car. “Thank you so much for the ride home, Casey. And dinner. And the… conversation. It was lovely to meet you.”
Before Casey could speak Lucy shut the door and turned around. She felt a streak of guilt running away from Casey too, but it didn’t matter. She’d never see her again.
Lucy’s heart twisted hard in her chest as she cut across the lobby, which was thankfully empty. She needed to get back to New York, to those gray towers. She couldn’t canoe across a glassy lake in the country in New York City. She couldn’t lose herself to that heartbreakingly tender and sexy man there. She would be safe when she was back in her perfectly ordered space.
Up in her room, it took her a surprisingly quick amount of time to pack up all her things. Lucy was organized—her clothes folded in the drawers transferred neatly into her luggage. Her toiletries were mostly in her cosmetic bag; only a few things in the shower needed to be collected. Half an hour later, Lucy Fulham’s whole life was neatly folded into her giant suitcase. At the doorway, she paused and turned to look at her room one last time. Through the sliding glass door she made out the outline of the Adirondacks, where Graydon had told her what had happened to his family. There on her bed they’d made love for hours, fresh and new, exploring each other's bodies. Just like she had earlier that afternoon. Only that time it had been different. Too close. Too much.
She’d laid herself bare for him.
There was no going back from this. Leaving was the right thing to do.
A darkness clung to her as she made her way out the side door. She didn’t have the heart to face Toby—she’d call tomorrow to tell him she’d left.
Once she was loaded up and on the road, she told her phone to call Alfred. She needed to let him know what she was doing before she lost her nerve. She didn’t even care about the money anymore, but the added layer of guilt at leaving Alfred hanging on this job once more sat with the rest of it like a stone. She picked up her phone, hoping with shame at her cowardliness, that Alfred might not pick up. She’d leave a message, telling him she was terribly sorry, and tell him she’d help him find someone else.
But she had no such luck. Alfred picked up on the third ring. “Lucy! What a nice surprise.”
Lucy could hear the sound of voices and music and clinking cutlery behind him. He was out for dinner. Of course, it was a weekend in New York City. She’d forgotten about those. She’d be going back to them soon enough. In fact, if she followed through on her plan, she’d be back in New York tonight.
The thought was startling. But it didn’t feel half as wretched as the idea of being back in New York, eating in a trendy Manhattan restaurant like the one on the other end of the phone while Graydon sat at the farmhouse table in his kitchen with his family tore a new hole in her heart.
“Lucy?” Alfred asked. She could hear the concern in his voice even through the din.
Her voice was hard when she spoke. It was the only way to get the words out. “Alfred, I have some bad news.”
.
* * *
Three and a half hours later,Lucy was pushing open the door to her darkened condo.
“Sadie?” she called.
