Lynn nodded again, her eyes filling with tears. She stood slowly, her arms crossed tight against her chest.
Before Nathan caved into his instinct to pull Lynn close, he strode to the front door. “Goodbye, Lynn.”
He waited outside long enough to hear the deadbolt slide into place before taking the steps two at a time and getting back into the safety of his Jeep.
Nathan let his head rest against the seat. “What else was I supposed to do?” His voice sounded odd in the empty space around him. He groaned, turned the key in the ignition, and tried not to think about the fact that he was leaving behind the first woman he’d ever truly fallen in love with.
ChapterTwelve
Lynn wasn’t sure what startled her: The sound of Sharon’s voice or the loud thuds she made as she sat items on the coffee table. She opened one eye from her position on the couch and squinted against the bright light overhead.
Sharon wasted no time in nudging Lynn’s legs off the couch, forcing her to sit up or crash to the floor in an undignified manner.
With a moan, Lynn glared at her friend. “Seriously? You couldn’t let a girl enjoy her sleep of oblivion?”
“Nope.”
As though Thai were in on it, he meowed and deftly jumped onto Lynn’s lap where he made himself comfortable with a rumbling purr.
Sharon handed Lynn a spoon. “I’ve got ice cream, Twizzlers, egg rolls, and pizza bites. Oh, and ice-cold root beer. Pick your poison.”
The selections were carefully laid out on the coffee table. “Lorelai Gilmore would be impressed.” She jabbed her spoon at the ice cream. “Can’t let it melt, can we?”
Sharon smiled as she handed over the carton. “That’s the spirit. So how long are you going to just hide out in your house and pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist?”
Lynn ignored her for several bites. The combination of mint and chocolate melted on her tongue. This wasn’t going to fix anything, but there was no denying that chocolate never made a bad situation worse, either.
“It’s only been three days.” She nodded toward her window where the blinds were closed and curtains drawn. “I’ve seen a number of cars drive past, slowing in front of my house. And you told me that there were people milling around in the parking lot at the day care center. What else am I supposed to do?”
Sharon raised an eyebrow as though Lynn ought to know the answer already.
When Sharon had told Lynn about the extra people looking for her at the daycare center, she agreed to let Lynn take the week of vacation she’d accumulated, hoping that things would die down and Lynn could return to work after that.
Lynn wasn’t convinced. If these people had stayed interested enough for two years, another week wasn’t going to deter them.
Yes, she’d rather stay in her house, have the local grocery store deliver to her front door, and be glad she had nowhere to be.
Even if it meant constantly holding onto her phone and checking the screen just in case she’d somehow missed a call from Nathan.
Nothing so far.
She shouldn’t have been surprised, but not hearing from him and not seeing Mia at the center doubled her pain and loneliness. “Is Mia doing okay?”
“She is.” Sharon took a bite out of her licorice whip. “She’s missed you, though.”
Lynn almost asked about Nathan but stopped herself.
Apparently her thoughts were written on her face, because Sharon patted her shoulder. “Nathan has looked around for you, too. I told him you had taken a week of vacation.”
“I appreciate that.”
So Nathan knew where she was. He had her number. He was choosing to not contact her. It’d only been three days, but it was difficult to not let that sting. Everyone else had walked away from her—or pushed her away. Why shouldn’t he be any different?
“Hey, that ice cream had finally done it’s magic. Don’t go getting sad on me again.” She got a fresh Twizzler and tried to shove it into the pint of ice cream in Lynn’s hand. “He just needs some time. You can’t blame the guy.”
“I know.” It didn’t make waiting any easier, especially when one of the possible outcomes might mean not ever talking to him again.
~*~
