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"The very best. "
"Can we meet them? Choose for ourselves?"
Joy transformed his face, turned him back into the boy shed fallen in love with. He held her so tightly she couldnt breathe, and kissed her until she was dizzy. When he drew back, he was grinning. "I love you, Lauren. "
She couldnt seem to smile. His enthusiasm chilled her somehow, made her angry. "You always get what you want, dont you?"
His smile fell. "What do you mean?"
She didnt even know. All she knew was that she wanted two things and couldnt have them both. "I dont know. "
"Damn it, Lauren. What the hell is wrong with you? How am I supposed to say the right thing when you change your mind every ten seconds?"
"Like youve ever said the right thing. All youve ever wanted is for me to get rid of it. "
"Am I supposed to lie? Do you think I want to blow off my whole future and be a dad?"
"And I do? You asshole. " She pushed him away.
He seemed to fade at that; it was almost as if he were losing weight before her eyes. "This whole thing blows. "
"Big time. "
They stood there, staring at each other. Finally, David moved toward her. "Im sorry. Really. "
"This is ruining us," she said.
He took her hand and led her back to the couch. They sat side by side. Still, it felt as if they were miles apart. "Lets quit fighting and talk about it," he said quietly. "All of it. "
ANGIE GOT OUT OF HER CAR AND CLOSED THE DOOR.
The storage compartment was in front of her.
C-22.
Other peoples compartments were on either side. The long, low building was one of dozens. A-1 Storage, the sign at the front gate read. Keep it safe. Keep it locked.
Angie swallowed hard. The key felt cold and foreign in her hand. She almost turned around then, almost decided she wasnt strong enough to do this after all.
It was that, the fear that she hadnt come far enough to be here, that finally made her move. She put one foot in front of the other, and the next thing she knew she was at the lock. She fit her key in place and clicked it open. The garage-style door clattered up and snaked into place along the ceiling.
She flicked on the light switch.
A lone bulb in the ceiling came on, illuminating a stack of boxes and furniture wrapped in blankets and bedding.
The leftovers from her marriage were all here. The bed she and Conlan had purchased in Pioneer Square and slept on for so many years. The desk hed used in graduate school and finally given up on. The sectional sofa that had been bought because a whole family could lie on it and watch television.
But she hadnt come here for those things, the reminders of who shed been.
Shed come for Lauren.
She worked through the boxes, moving first one and then another as she made her way deeper into the storage unit. Finally, she found what she was looking for; it was tucked in the back corner. A trio of boxes marked Nursery.
She should simply take the boxes and put them in her car, but she couldnt. Instead, she knelt on the cold cement floor and opened the box. The Winnie-the-Pooh lamp lay on a stack of pink flannel bedding.
Shed known how it would feel to look at these items, each so carefully chosen, none of them ever used. They were like bits and pieces of her heart, lost along the way but never forgotten.
She picked up a tiny white onesie that was rolled into a ball and held it to her nose. There was no smell except that of cardboard. No baby powder or Johnsons shampoo.
