Seventeen Days (25 page)

“Well, it does sound interesting. We can watch it sometime.”
Hopefully.

How am I going to tell him I can’t watch it with him now, and maybe not for months? That when I leave, I’m leaving until we go to Paris? I have a feeling I’ll need a better cell phone plan, one with unlimited data for video chats. 

“Okay, we’re here. Let’s kill the ‘little’ list you have going on.” 

Wow, it was a fast drive. Again, I wasn’t aware we were so close to the store. Correction, to a lot of stores. 

“Hey, Morgan?” 

“Hmm?” He’s looking at me funny. What did I do now? 

“You coming?” It’s then I notice he’s out of the truck and standing next to my
open
door. 

“Yep, sure am.” Jumping down, I start walking toward the entrance. 

“You’ll need a buggy for all your groceries. Would you like to share one? My things won’t take up much space.” 

What the hell is a buggy? 

“Sure it’s okay, but what the hell is a buggy, and why do I need one?”  

“You’re so damn cute when you’re confused. Some people call them carts, I call them buggies. It’s right there, the line of green things with wheels. They help you with your groceries, unless you planned on carrying them all. But with the size of your list, you’d be here all damn day taking things to the checkout counter.” 

Oh. Okay then. Grabbing one, we walk through the store and proceed to fill up not one but two buggies. Good thing he drives a truck; we’ll need it to haul all this shit back. 

First trip to the grocery store, completed. 

I’ve been worried since this morning when Savannah invited me to dinner she said Red has more news. What else can she have to say? Is she staying? We only have tonight and the next seven days left together before her flight leaves, and the last I knew, she was still going back to New York.  

Admittedly, I don’t want her to leave here. Ever. But it’s not logical. She has a life to go and live. Even if her life doesn’t include staying near me, I need to support her in any decision. She said she wants me in her future, and I need to believe her. If it takes her away from me while she gets her education, so be it. 

Wonder if she made more plans for the future with Julian? It’s the only thing I can think of, besides school. He had to have helped her make some sort of plans. 

Please don’t let her be moving to Paris. 

Long distance is one thing, but it would be hell on us as a couple if she plans on moving to Paris. We’d never see each other. It’s not like I can hop on a plane and spend a day with her and come back. Fuck, I’d be paying out the ass for airfare. If she moves back to New York, I’ll still spend a lot but airfare from Mobile to New York is much cheaper. Besides, I could be on a plane and see her within a couple hours. Not so if she moves to Paris. Could her connection with Julian be strong enough to lure her away to a different country on a permanent basis? 

Instead of letting her see my worry, I kept things light between us all afternoon. Tapping her nose and goofing around was my way of deflecting. 

Dinnertime can’t get here soon enough. My worrying won’t stop until I hear her news. 

After helping her haul in what seems like the whole damn store, I start putting things away. I’m faster than her since I know where pretty much everything goes. She got a little bit of everything. 

Savannah will probably freak when she sees the receipt. Who goes to the grocery store and spends nearly five-hundred dollars for two people? Red, that’s who. 

“What did you have in mind for dinner? You’re planning on cooking, right, or should I go grab takeout before Savannah gets home?” 

Hopefully she doesn't need much help if she is cooking. Eggs are pretty much the only thing I can make. And a mean ass box of macaroni and cheese. 

“Nothing too difficult: chicken marsala and tossed salad. Which is why I had you buy the wine, I needed it to cook with.” 

So she
can
cook? Holy shit.
Better marry her, tomorrow.
 

“Do you need any help?”
Please say no, I’ll ruin the whole meal.
 

“Yes! You can wash and cut up the veggies for the salad. That’ll save me tons of time. And before you ask, yes I can cook. Sienna fired the last cook we had a couple of years back, and she never bothered to hire a new one. Learning to cook was a necessity, unless I wanted to live on take-out.” 

“Consider the veggies done. So you taught yourself how to cook? Shit, I can’t cook. But you already know that.” Grabbing the carrots, I begin washing them off in the sink. 

“Cooking shows and the good ol’ Internet taught me how to cook. If you can read and measure you can cook. It’s all about following instructions. Cooking relaxes me. It’s been a stress reliever for me on several occasions. Baking too.” 

She bakes. Those may be my favorite words to leave her mouth yet. I’d kill for a homemade peanut butter cookie. 

“If you tell me you can make peanut butter cookies, I’ll be your love slave for life.” Not even kidding. Like I said, I’d kill for one. Grabbing the red pepper, I do exactly what I did with the carrots. I should probably check with her and see what all veggies she plans on using for the salad.

“Tell you what, I’ll bake your cookies, and we’ll call it good. No love slave needed.” 

“Woman, you have a deal!”
Peanut butter cookies shall be mine.
“Now, tell me what veggies to use before I wash and cut them all.” 

We proceed to work together until Savannah’s truck pulls in. She even started measuring ingredients for the cookies. I’m sure I’ll salivate when she actually starts to bake them. I haven’t had homemade peanut butter cookies since my mom died. 

“Mom used to make the best peanut butter cookies. Before baking them, she’d make the dough into balls and toss them in sugar. Once they were all covered, she’d press them with a fork. They were the best damn cookies in the world.”

Savannah walks in and waves before quickly heading up the stairs. 

“You haven’t told me much about your mom. What was she like? From the limited amount you’ve shared, she sounds like one of the moms from a TV show—fantastic.” 

I haven’t shared much about her yet because I don’t want her to think about her awful mother and everything she’s missed out on. She already thinks about the bitch too much for my liking. 

“She was. My parents were the type of people you couldn't help but love. Don’t get me wrong, they weren't the picture of perfection, nobody is. Mom was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen until you. She had this mass of long, deep-ebony hair. So dark, it reminded me of coal. She was the type of mom who didn’t miss anything. Every football game she was there in the stands, cheering me on. On my birthday, she’d wake me up with a huge piece of chocolate cake, she claimed everyone should eat cake for breakfast on their birthday.” Smiling to myself at the memory I add, “She was simply amazing, Red. She would’ve loved you the moment she saw you, thorns and all.”
Like her son.

“One day, I would love it if you told me everything about them. They raised an amazing man, Harrison. I’d love to know everything about the people who helped you become who you are.” 

Taking the bowl of pasta from her and placing it on the table, I gather her up into my arms. Pulling her close and hugging her tight. 

“I know this may be soon and probably not the greatest time to say it but I love you, Morgan. You’ve crashed into my life, turned it on its head, and sent my heart spinning. You make everything that doesn’t make sense, make sense. I know I’m fucking it all up, so to put it simply I’ll say it again. I love you. Cherish you. Crave you. No matter what happens between now and when you board the plane bound for New York, I want you to know. You don’t have to say it back, or fuck, even feel it yet. My world before you was dull; you’ve brought it back to color. You’ve made me want things for myself I never knew I wanted. Happiness.” 

If I never hear her say it before she leaves and our future is unknown, I’ll be at peace because I told her how I feel. She’ll undoubtedly take the biggest piece of me with her. 

Cupping her head, and wiping the tears I didn’t know she was crying, I gently kiss her soft lips. 

Breaking away, she gazes into my eyes. “God, I’ll never tire of staring into your emerald depths.” 

Savannah comes walking into the kitchen, breaking the spell that had been cast over us. Whatever she was going to say dies on her tongue. It’s okay, I don’t want to know if she was going to say it back or not. If she wasn’t, my heart would splinter. If she was, it’d burst. 

“You’re right on time, Aunt Savannah, dinner is done. Hope you’re hungry because I made enough for ten people.” 

“It smells wonderful in here, Morgan.” 

Pulling a chair out, I motion for Morgan to have a seat. “Thank you, Harrison.” 

Dog and Mac come bumbling into the kitchen. Before I take my seat, I lead them outside. Otherwise, they’ll be begging for scraps. I’m sure they’ll have leftovers. 

Seeing the helping she served me, I can’t help but laugh. “There’s no way I’ll eat all of that. Some of us don’t have never-ending stomachs like you.” 

Swapping her plate for mine, she digs in. After the first few minutes of silence, she breaks it. It's one of the things I love about her, she can’t stand the silence. 

“As it was mentioned this morning, I have some more news. I’d like to get it all said before anyone speaks, if that's okay. It’s going to be hard for me to say, but I have to get it out all at once or I never will.”

Fuck me.

Knowing nobody's going to take this lightly, saying it all at once will be best.
Again.
I’m tearing off the Band-Aid. One swift pull. 

“I’m using the ticket back to New York next week. I plan on going to Sienna’s and packing up what clothes and things I want, finding a place to stay, and attending Columbia in the fall. At least starting my education there. I’m not sure what I want to study yet, but I never let them know I wasn't going to be attending classes. Julian has offered to pay for my education. He’s also offered to pay for my housing for the next four years while I attend. I’m going to apply at a few different schools for the winter or spring term, but for now, Columbia it is.”

They both stop eating and flat-out stare at me. The look of love that was shining from Harrison’s eyes a few minutes ago is replaced with one of sadness. 

“I’ll only be gone a couple of days, max. Then I’ll come back here until a day or two before my classes start. Before you know it, it’ll be winter break and we’ll all be in Paris. Together.” 

Aunt Savannah still doesn’t say a thing. She’s still staring at me like she’s waiting for the other shoe to fall. Harrison pushes out his chair and gets up and starts walking out the back door.
Where is he going?
He can’t leave when he’s upset and he’s clearly upset. The guy professed his love for me minutes earlier and I fucking crushed his heart. 

“Go after him. It’s what you want and what he needs. Whatever I have to say about this subject can wait. Go after him, Morgan. He’s had enough loss in his life—he doesn’t need to lose the thing he’s only recently found.” 

Standing, she gives me the keys to her truck. Pressing a quick kiss to her cheek, I all but run out the door. Only to find he’s already gone.