Crazy Little Thing (29 page)

Jasper’s face looked like I’d told him I was a cyborg.

“Go on. Open it,” I urged.

He picked up the box and slowly eased it open. “Sadie, you can’t give me this! This ring is huge.”

I shrugged. “I know. But I don’t need it. I don’t want it. And I’ll never make a necklace out of it because it will always remind me of Richard.”

Fontaine grabbed the ring from Jasper and held it up to the light, making it shimmer and glow.

“Then you trade it in and get something else, but I can’t take it.” Jasper shook his head.

“But I don’t need more jewelry, Jas. And you do. I would love for you to take this thing off my hands. You know I can’t stand having stuff lying around that no one is using. It’s clutter to me. But if it makes you and Beth happy, then I’ll feel good too.”

Fontaine handed the ring back to his brother. “That’s a pretty good deal.”

Jasper looked back and forth between us and the ring. “Do they even do that? Take trade-ins, I mean?”

Fontaine nodded. “I’m sure they would at Mason’s jewelry. I’ve bought vintage stuff from there before.”

Dody’s Tweety Bird clock chimed in the hallway as I waited for his answer.

“Are you absolutely certain, Sadie?” Jasper asked solemnly.

I was. It was the right thing to do. “Absolutely.”

Jasper closed the box and hugged me as if we were about to jump from a plane and I had the only parachute. His voice cracked. “Thanks.” Then he strode from the room, muffling a sniffle.

Fontaine smiled at me, shaking his head. “Sugarplum, I had no idea you could be so magnanimous.”

I smiled back. “And I had no idea you knew what magnanimous meant.”

I arrived back at Des’s before him. I puttered around, tidying things up, washing the few dishes in the sink, arranging the sofa pillows, making the bed, and lining up all his shoes, which had been strewn in one big pile by the front door. Stacks of unopened mail were scattered around the kitchen and eating area. I couldn’t resist. I sorted it all, putting the magazines in one pile, the junk mail in another, and whatever looked important into a third. I put the tidy stacks on the kitchen counter.

He walked in as I finished. “Hi there.” He glanced around, taking in my handiwork.

In that instant, I realized I had been presumptuous again. Maybe he liked his shoes in a pile and his mail littered through every room.

He set the grocery bags on the counter next to the crisply folded dishtowels. “You’ve been busy.”

I bit my lip. “I’m sorry. It’s a habit.”

“Don’t be sorry.” He picked up the top magazine. “Hmm, when did I get this?”

“They’re in chronological order, oldest to most recent.” My compulsion knew no boundaries. Let’s put it all out there.

He pressed his fingertips against the counter and smiled. “Let me guess. You have all the clothes in your closet arranged by color, don’t you?”

“Doesn’t everybody?”

He smiled wider still. “My sister Robin is the same way. She’s going to love you.”

The moment hung suspended. He had broken the cardinal rule. Everyone knew it was bad luck to mention meeting a family member this early in a relationship. Almost as bad as saying “I love you” too soon. You know,
premature love declaration
.

His smile faded as fast as it came. He turned to fuss with the bags while I restacked the perfectly stacked mail.

“So, what’s for—”

“Spaghetti,” he answered before I finished the question.

Spooning that night like a little old couple drifting off to sleep, I pondered the state of this union and fought back sadness. The summer was passing by. Des and I had very deliberately not discussed me going back to Glenville or where his next assignment might be. I knew the offer of an extended stay in Bell Harbor was on the table for him, but since he hadn’t brought it up, neither had I.

The reality was this lovely affair was a detour, not a destination. Sooner than I wanted, I’d be back to my real life and he’d ride off into the sunset for his next grand adventure. We knew that from the start, so it would be childish to wish it was any other way. Right? There wasn’t any way around it. We’d been living in a bubble, pretending there was a future. But there wasn’t.

“Des?” I whispered.

“Hmm?”

“It’s fun being with you.”

He squeezed my middle, mumbling in near sleep, “You too.”

In the morning, I woke up before him, wisely grabbing his shirt from the floor and putting it on. Getting caught naked yesterday had turned out well enough, but I was still modest. I flipped on the bathroom light, and my heart gave a hop, a skip, and a flutter. Resting on the counter next to Des’s was a brand new toothbrush. It had a little dental floss bow tied around it so I’d know it was for me. That was about the cutest thing ever. He bought me a toothbrush. I picked it up reverently, as if it were Cinderella’s glass slipper. This meant a lot to me, and not because of my meticulous attention to dental hygiene. This toothbrush was special because it meant he wanted me to come back.

CHAPTER 21

“IT’S ONLY A TOOTHBRUSH, SADIE. Maybe it’s because you have terrible breath.”

I was sitting in Penny’s garish ladybug kitchen before picking the kids up from Richard’s. Des was spending the next few days in Seattle at a medical conference so I had some time to wander. I stirred my lemonade, wondering if she was right. Maybe I was reading too much into it. “I just think it was cute.”

She rubbed her still-flat tummy, a habit she’d developed since learning she was pregnant. “It is cute, definitely. But you shouldn’t move there for some guy, especially one who may not be staying.”

“Dody’s the one who keeps saying I’m moving there. I never said that!”

“Not directly, but you’ve been dropping hints all over the place. All you can talk about is how fun it is and how friendly everybody is and how much better than Glenville it is. Honestly, it’s like you don’t even care how you’d be totally abandoning me right when my baby gets here!” Penny covered her face with her arms and burst into tears.

Ah, those first-trimester hormones are powerful little bastards. They will kick you in the knees and make you fall flat on your weepy face. I set my lemonade down to hug Penny’s heaving shoulders.

“I’m not moving there. I agree it would be stupid.”

“But it wouldn’t!” she hiccupped. “It would make perfect sense. It is so much better there than here. Where am I supposed to take my kids to play? There are no parks within walking distance of my house. There isn’t a beach or fudge shops or kite stores. Bell Harbor has that, plus those cute little houses that all look different from each other.” She wiped her face. “Just think of it. You could buy a darling little bungalow and paint it purple if you wanted to. I have to get a frickin’ dispensation from the pope to put a birdbath in my yard, stupid neighborhood association.”

“Maybe you should move to Bell Harbor,” I said.

“Maybe I will, but you go first.”

I sat back down, wishing there was some gin in my lemonade. “So now you’re saying I should move there?”

“Probably. But don’t do it for some guy.”

When Dody and Fontaine had suggested I move, it was easy to dismiss the notion. After all, Fontaine had business motives and Dody is a whack job. But Penny adding her name to the petition changed things.

“Wouldn’t you miss me?”

She hiccupped again. “Yes, but I’d come to see you all the time. Princess Buttercup loves the water.”

“Who is Princess Buttercup?”

“My baby. That’s what Jeff calls her.”

“But what if it’s a boy?”

“Then he’s going to get beat up a lot.”

The television blared through the door of Richard’s apartment. I knocked a second time, and Jordan opened it a minute later.

“Hi, Mommy.” He jumped into my arms, squeezing me tight. That would never get old.

“Hello, beautiful,” Richard purred. Oh, that was definitely old.

I stepped through the door into his starkly furnished apartment.

“Wow. I love what you’ve done with the place.”

Richard chuckled. “Yeah, well, you kept all the furniture, remember?”

I smiled. “Are the kids all packed?” The sooner I could get out of there the better.

“What’s your rush? Would you like a drink?”

“No, thanks. We have to run. And I’m driving.”

“Got a hot date back in Mayberry with this Dezzz character the kids keep buzzing about? Who are they talking about?”

“Nobody special. Just a friend.” I kicked aside a newspaper on the floor, looking for the kids’ shoes.

“A friend, huh?” Richard leaned against the wall. “Friends are good to have. Is it serious?”

I stopped looking for shoes and gave Richard a stern look. “That’s not exactly your business, is it?”

He smirked. “Oh, so it is serious? What kind of name is Dezzz? Is he a biker or something?”

I saw Paige’s sandal stuffed under a couch cushion and crossed the room to pull it out. “He’s a doctor. Come on, kids. Help me get your stuff together.”

Paige hopped around on one foot. “Mommy, where’s my other shoe?”

“It’s here, baby. Let me help you.”

We scurried around, gathering their things and stuffing them into a duffel bag. I didn’t take extra time to fold anything. It would all go into the wash as soon as I got back to Dody’s anyway.

“Daddy, don’t drink my juice box, OK? Save it for me,” Jordan told him.

“OK, J. I will. Are you sure you have to rush off, Sade? We could order a pizza, open a bottle of wine. You could tell me all about your new friend. Or better yet, we could reminisce.” His innuendo was loud and clear.
Let’s put on a movie for the kids and sneak into the other room for a quickie
.

I shook my head vehemently. “No, I have stuff to do. I need to stop by the house before we head back to Bell Harbor.”

He frowned. “You don’t need to check on the house. I could do that for you, you know.”

“That’s nice of you to offer, Richard, but I have a couple things I’d like to pick up. Kids, give Daddy a smooch. We have to go.”

Paige kissed his cheek and he gave her a hug. Jordan tried to do the same.

“Hey, J. Real men shake hands, remember?” Richard chided.

I bit my tongue. Heaven forbid Richard’s son show any sensitivity.

Jordan nodded and held out his hand.

“OK, I think that’s everything,” I said. “See you later, Richard.” I started to walk out the door. The kids scampered ahead but Richard gripped my arm and squeezed. “Sadie, tell the truth. Is it serious between you and this guy?”

Was he jealous? After all this time and all he’d put me through?

I wasn’t naive enough to think it was serious with Des. I didn’t know if it ever would be, but I wasn’t about to let Richard know that.

“It’s desperately serious, Richard. I’ve never been so in love.”

CHAPTER 22