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“At the risk of feeding his ego even more,” Liam said with a growl, “Grant is right.”
“I processed it plenty. Every time my mother calls to invite me to Christmas or Thanksgiving or Shawn’s birthday, I have to process it and deal with my grief over losing a fiancé and a brother in one fell swoop.” I was knee-deep in dealing with it on a constant basis. “Honestly I’m sick of thinking about it. And talking about it.”
“Fair enough,” Grant said as he took another bite of his croissant. “We’ll stop talking about it and you can forget knowing what it’s like to have a woman smile and welcome you with a kiss as you walk through the doors of that big yellow house on Cornucopia Lane.” Grant flashed a wide smile, completely oblivious to my inner turmoil and confusion.
“What big yellow house?” That was a stupid question, because I already knew which house. “Shannon lives there now?”
Liam nodded, his tone filled with sympathy. “Closed on it a few days ago. Thought you knew.”
“I didn’t.” How would I know? I didn’t call her in the days before the doctor’s appointment, or since. Shannon hadn’t filled me in either. “She never said a thing.” I could hear the hurt in my tone and it didn’t embarrass me one bit. These guys were my friends and if anyone was allowed to see me like this, feeling like the wind had been kicked out of me, they were.
“Why would she tell you anything?” Grant asked, his tone light but there was a thread of steel woven through it. “You say you want to be involved, but you’re not. You don’t call to ask how she’s feeling, if she needs anything or even how things are going.”
Grant’s words brought me up short. “How would you know?”
“Easy,” he said with a shrug. “Because every time I come in here, which is too damn often by the way, I ask how the baby baking is coming along and she always looks surprised that I would ask. Pleased that someone other than her girlfriends care.” He sat back and picked up a butter cookie. “And Brenna said you seem like you don’t really care.”
I looked to Liam who gave a reluctant shrug, agreeing with Grant. “From her perspective, that’s how it seems, yeah.”
“Shit.” I pushed away from the table and made my way to the empty register where Shannon leaned against the display to catch her breath. “Hey.”
Shannon pushed off the display case and smoothed her apron. “Hey Miles. How’s it going?”
“All right. Busy. How are you? Feeling okay?”
“Yep,” she said, her voice a little too chipper. “I’m feeling good which means the baby is feeling good. What can I get for you?”
I frowned. “I’m not here to place an order.”
She looked around in confusion. “Okay. Why are you here, then?”
I hated this. It wasn’t that long ago that id’ stop up here and we’d chat and laugh and flirt, even with a full line of customers. Now things were tense and awkward. “I wanted to see if you were free after your shift ends today.” We needed to spend time together, to get back to the way things were. That was all.
“I’m not. I have to do some baby reading, and then budgeting before bed. What’s up?”
I sighed, feeling defeated. “I thought we could spend some time together. It’s been too long.”
Sadness flashed across her face but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. “How about a raincheck, Miles? I’m really tired and I have a lot to do before bed.” The only comfort was that she genuinely looked sad, but I had a feeling it wasn’t for the same reason I thought she looked sad.
She was avoiding me and that’s why she looked sad. “Sure,” I told her, feeling more defeated than ever. “I’ll see you around, then. I guess.”
“I’m sure you will.”
Sooner than she realized. Shannon couldn’t avoid me forever, I wouldn’t let her.
Shannon
Fresh from the shower, I slipped into a pair of purple sweatpants, a long sleeve t-shirt and fuzzy socks, the very picture of weeknight comfort. I hadn’t been to the grocery store in more than a week, which accounted for why I had my head stuck in the fridge for the third time since I came downstairs, in search of something to eat for dinner. There was a half-eaten carton of yogurt, one egg and some soft celery in the fridge, which wasn’t enough to even make a meal.
It was the downside of being busy during working hours and tired after work, there was no time left for important things like grocery shopping. And exercise.
The doorbell rang and I cast a quick look at the clock on the wall with a frown, wondering who would stop by unannounced after eight in the evening. Moments later, I pulled the door open and had my answer. “Miles.”
