“Oh my goodness! Is that Mrs. Serrano waving to us?” Roxie asks around a mouthful of bread.
We all turn in unison and, sure enough, Mrs. Serrano is slowly making her way across the very crowded Cheesecake Factory dining room.
So much for the perfect ending to my vacation.
We left the beach house yesterday afternoon after having the most amazing week. My heart felt so full, and we made so many memories that I knew I would always think about them and smile. I had completely forgotten about the initial reason I was here in North Carolina, and now, here’s my reminder.
“Dammit.” What are the freaking odds?
I sigh and notice three pairs of eyes watching me. “What?” I ask.
“Nothing,” Vanessa says, shrugging. “You just said dammit, so we’re just making sure you’re alright.”
“I didn’t think I said that out loud,” I murmur, but can’t say anything else because Mrs. Serrano is suddenly beside our table and awkwardly stretching and giving us all hugs.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked over here!” she gushes before putting her focus on me. “I thought you would have been back in Seattle by now, writing your next book!”
I smile at her because…well, because she’s a wonderful person who I admire. “The girls and I went to the beach for the month. We just relaxed and I’ll probably start the next book when I get back home.”
“How fun! And it was just the four of you?” She looks at Vanessa. “Your family has a house in Cape Breeze, right? Matteo used to talk about it.”
And for a moment, we all go quiet.
“That’s right,” Vanessa tells her. “It was just the four of us for the entire month, but the first half, Mike, Zayne, and Ash were with us.”
Her eyes light up as she turns to me and smiles. “Oh, finally! You and Ash met! How wonderful! Matteo had been trying to introduce the two of you for years!”
“What?!” we all say in unison, and I know I’m wildly horrified.
“Oh, yes! He knew almost immediately after meeting Ash in college that the two of you would be perfect for each other,” she goes on like she hasn’t just dropped a ginormous bombshell. “Tell me, do you like him? Are you going to see him again?”
“Um…”
“I can’t tell you how many times my son tried to concoct these situations where the two of you would be at the same place at the same time! I’ll bet he’s smiling down right now knowing it finally happened!”
She looks so happy, and I don’t know why I’m hesitating—like…why don’t I just say that Ash and I are wildly happy together and I’m moving back to be with him? Why are those words stuck in my throat?
Loren, Vanessa, and Roxie are all staring at me in confusion and it must become obvious that I’m inwardly freaking out because Vanessa finally answers for me.
“You know what? They completely hit it off! We all couldn’t believe it either! Matt never mentioned it to any of us before.”
“Oh, he wanted all the credit,” Mrs. Serrano explains. “I only wish he could be here to see it for himself.” Her expression softens and then turns a little sad. Then she looks over at me. “I know I didn’t get to tell you that day at the funeral, but your eulogy was beautiful. Perfect. I knew you were the right person for it.”
Somewhere in the distance, someone calls her name, and she turns and waves before facing us again.
“You girls enjoy your dinner. I’m here with my women’s ministry group and our table’s ready.” She blows kisses to all of us. “Take care of yourselves!”
As soon as she’s swallowed by the crowd, the girls are all staring at me.
“Are you okay?” Roxie asks.
“The ick is back! The ick is back! The ick is back!” I chant, and I swear there’s a squeezing sensation in my chest.
“Okay, okay, okay,” she assures me as she scoots closer. “It’s going to be alright. We’ve been through this before and you clearly got over it.”
“What’s the ick?” Loren asks.
“First it was the fact that Ash was friends with Matt,” Roxie tells her. “And now…this.”
