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“Uh . . .” Yes. “That’s okay.” I couldn’t imagine why he wanted to have a drink with me.
“I’ll take a rain check.” He seemed determined. Odd. Odder than me.
I picked up my phone out of nerves, not knowing what else to do.
“You probably want to get back to your show,” he guessed.
I nodded, though I really wanted him to stay.
He stood, brushed off his pants, and straightened his jacket. Wow, he was quite the specimen. He gazed down on me, smiling. “Watch out for those cake crumbs.”
I giggled and blushed. “Thanks for helping me.”
“Anytime.”
I found myself very much wishing he would be around anytime I needed him. Though I knew better than to hope and have dreams. They never came true.
The Red Dress
“There’s something different about you.” Naomi stabbed a cherry tomato with her fork.
It was our obligatory after-the-wedding lunch we’d been having since stepmother number three. But instead of taking me to Chuck E. Cheese like she used to when I was a little girl, we went to the Cheesecake Factory now. Much better, in my opinion, except I couldn’t whack a mole, which was highly therapeutic. Not to say cheesecake didn’t provide plenty of TLC.
“Different?” I questioned before shoving a fry in my mouth. Fries were also a good source of comfort.
“You’re not your normal post-wedding solemn self.”
I chewed and swallowed. “That’s because the newlyweds are honeymooning for two weeks in Bora-Bora.” And maybe it had something to do with Kane, but I would never say that out loud because it’s insane. One gorgeous man talking to me shouldn’t be a reason to celebrate, although it felt like quite the victory. It did make the wedding more bearable.
Naomi snorted. “Does Eva know she’ll be the only one on vacation?” She did her best to keep the bitterness out of her voice but didn’t quite succeed.
“I’m sure she’s figuring that out right about now.”
Auggie was always connected and known to spend hours a day working while on vacation. Once, he took Cindy, Mindy, and me to Disney World and only left the hotel room once. That was after I’d begged him for three days to tour Animal Kingdom with us. He’d relented but spent half the time conducting business on his cell phone.
Naomi placed her delicate hand over mine. “Are you sure you’re doing okay?”
“Are you?” I gave her a sad smile. I knew how much she loved my father.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” She tucked some of her medium-length silver hair behind her ear.
I admired Naomi for embracing her age. She had never once dyed her hair or used any fillers or Botox like the latest stepmother. Even so, Naomi was ten times more beautiful. Her laugh lines and crow’s-feet only meant she smiled a lot. And her brilliant turquoise eyes still shone. They spoke of how wonderful and kind she was. She was too good for my father. However, I got it—despite our vast differences, I loved him and was desperate for him to love me back.
“He doesn’t love Eva,” I tried to comfort her. “I’m not sure he’s capable of loving anyone.” I shoved two more fries in my mouth.
Naomi sighed and set down her fork. “Sweetie, your father loves too deeply. That’s his problem.”
I rolled my eyes. We’d had this conversation a hundred times. Naomi was convinced my father was too afraid to love anyone after my momma died. Or, I should say, after the manner in which she died.
“He blames me.”
She shook her head vehemently. “No. He blames himself. Your mother’s postpartum depression was something he couldn’t fix. It was something he didn’t want to believe she had.”
That part I knew. It was how Naomi had come to be in our lives. Auggie hadn’t believed my momma had taken her own life. He’d refused to accept it when the coroner labeled her death as a suicide. He had hired Naomi, a private forensic pathologist, to try and disprove the county medical examiner’s claim. Naomi couldn’t. But she’d offered my father comfort. When he hadn’t offered any back after three years of marriage, she divorced him. She was the only woman to ever leave him. Something my father could never fathom.
One-sided relationships were the worst. I would know. It was the kind my father and I had, unless you counted him paying for all my needs and wants, which I kept to a minimum. It felt wrong to gratuitously take his money. I didn’t want to feel like I was using him like everyone else. Everyone meaning most of his ex-wives and stepchildren. I didn’t want his money. I wanted something much more valuable than money was ever going to compensate for.
“If she had never had me—”
“The world would have cried. I would cry.”
“You wouldn’t have known any different.”
“Scarlett, you listen to me. I would have known something was missing in my life had you never come to fill my heart. I love you more than anyone.” Her eyes began to water, making mine do the same.
