“It does.” For all the house hunting she’d done, she wished she already had a home to call her own. “Can you put ‘Vanessa’ on this one?”
“We sure can. Why don’t you enjoy a cup of coffee andshop around? This won’t take but a few minutes.” The woman toddled off with the stockings, and Vanessa began lifting the tops from candles. Winter Garland. Home Sweet Home. Christmas Morning, which smelled like peppermint and pine. An interesting combination, but it worked.
With the stockings, bell, two ornaments for Anna, and two candles to take to Fraser Hills packed thoughtfully in a Christmas bag, she left happy with the extra presents.
By the time she got home, she was more at ease about everything going on, even if none of it was the way she would have planned it.
She gathered her suitcase and laid in a stack of pantsuits, still in the dry-cleaner bags. A few winter essentials. Heels. Sensible shoes for the warehouse floor. Tennis shoes for jogging. One pair of jeans and workout clothes, along with her splurges from earlier today. Hopefully that little town had a dry cleaner locally.
With her clothes packed, she tossed all the can’t-live-without-’em local snacks, like Kay’s Candies chocolate-dipped pretzels and Vitner’s Crunchy Kurls, into a smaller bag. She slid the zipper closed on her suitcase, and dragged it to the door.
She wasn’t flying out until Monday, but she was ready to go.
Ready except for talking to Robert, and putting that to rest.
How was she supposed tell him what was on her mind? She’d rather not, but she couldn’t leave it hanging over the holidays either.
He hadn’t called since the incident at the gym. Maybe he’d be relieved to have the relationship cleanly dissolved.Another closing. My specialty.
She dialed his number and waited for him to answer.
“Hello.” He finally answered on the fifth ring, as if he didn’tknow who it was, but he knew. The flat tone of his voice still clung to the irritation he’d displayed at the gym.
“Hi, Robert.”
“I wondered if you were going to call.”
His snippiness made what she had to say easier. Sometimes he could be kind of a jerk when things didn’t go exactly his way. “Are you home?”
“No, I’m at the office.”
“Can we get together?” He didn’t jump on the opportunity. Anxious, she added, “To talk.”
“That depends. When?”
“I’m available now. So, whenever is good for you…”
“Oh. Okay.” He sounded surprised, or more like hopeful. “I can meet you at six o’clock for dinner downstairs at Bistro 2520.”
“Tonight?” She’d hoped he would meet now. She shouldn’t have been so accommodating. He was taking full advantage of that now.
“Sure. I’ll make the reservation.”
Of course he would. “Thanks, that’ll work. I’ll see you then.” Vanessa hung up the phone, and let out a heavy whoosh of relief.I can do this.
She was already packed. All she had on her plate today was getting this done with Robert. And now that was nearly six hours away.
Never one to take a lazy day, she decided to burn some time with a long nap. She set her alarm, although it was totally unlikely she would nap that long.
She lay across the bed in the sunny spot. The comforter was so warm. It was like lying in front of a fireplace.Maybe I could get used to this.She closed her eyes and relaxed.
When she woke up, that sunshine had moved too high in the sky to shine through her window any longer and the room had cooled down dramatically. To her surprise, she’d slept nearly two hours.
I must have been tired.
She showered and got dressed. Time droned on, and she was getting more anxious about meeting with Robert.
From her condo windows she overlooked one of the busiest streets in the city. Traffic was piling up below. She’d played out scenarios in her mind between red-light cycles.Fifty ways to leave your lover.
