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“Thanks, guys. Go home. You’ve been fabulous. I’m going to do one last check inside.”
“Okay.” Summer hugged her long and hard. “Luke and I are going to hang out at my house, make dinner and watch TV. You’re welcome to come over.”
Chris smiled. Oh, Lord. The offer was incredibly sweet, but it meant she’d become the single woman everyone felt sorry for. “Thanks, but I’m exhausted. I’ll be fine at home.”
Eva’s home. Chris’s home was thousands of miles away, and she suddenly missed it something fierce.
Almost as much as she missed Zac.
“If you’re sure.” Summer hugged her again. “If you change your mind, just call. Seriously, we’ll just be hanging out.”
“Thanks, Summer.” The back of Chris’s head was aching from forcing so many smiles. She just wanted to curl up alone on the couch and cry herself into puffy-faced hideousness. Then, phoenix from the ashes, she’d rise up again and be okay.
That was the plan, anyway.
After Summer and Luke left, she went back into Slow Pour for her purse, lingering by the table where she’d first met Zac back in October, and had been both strongly attracted and strongly annoyed by everything he did. He’d practically bullied her into taking a walk to the beach that day, showing her the special peaceful place on the cliff where she’d been so many times since to meditate. From that first meeting he’d seen what she needed and tried to give it to her.
To repay him, she’d fought or denied her true feelings, bristled whenever he spoke to her, and once she started to understand and change, she’d given all the credit to herself and the Peace, Love and Joy Center.
She owed him so much. Before she left, she’d make sure to speak with him and let him know how much his support had meant to her.
How much he meant to her?
Chris closed her eyes. She wasn’t going there. What was the point?
She opened the office, got out her purse and did the final check on the store before turning the sign to Closed and locking up. Outside, she wandered over to the tent, dimly lit by nearby streetlights. The red carpet beckoned her. She stood next to it, reliving the special, intimate moments the four couples had shared with Slow Pour and with Carmia.
The deep ache in her chest intensified. She lowered her head, feeling tears coming again. Again! This was getting to be a habit, and would continue, she suspected, until she was back home once again and could immerse herself in the crazy hustle of New York and her business.
“Chris.”
Her head jerked up and her heart took off. Zac.
He ducked under the roof flap of the tent and walked toward her, stopping on the other side of the carpet, hands on his hips, looking big and solid and absolutely wonderful. “I’m sorry I missed your event.”
“Oh, that’s...” She had to clear her throat. “That’s okay. It was great, though. Four couples got engaged.”
“Yeah, Luke texted me. He told me about Eva and Ames. And Gus. That’s great.” He nodded. Nodded again.
Oh, Zac. Chris felt as if she was going to explode from all the feelings fighting inside her.
A sudden breeze blew through the tent, bringing the cool, damp smell of incoming fog. Apparently the clear skies weren’t going to last much longer.
“I wanted to talk to you, Chris.” He was calm, as usual, watching her intently. She’d come to love both of those things about him. “I figured if I showed up earlier you’d be a little busy.”
“Just a bit.” She wrapped her arms around herself, bracing for another draining conversation.
“In all the time we’ve been together, you’ve been searching for ways to be as emotionally honest with yourself as possible.” His voice cracked. “But I haven’t been emotionally honest with you.”
“Oh.” Her head sagged back down toward her chest. No more, no more. No more emotions today. No more complications. She felt as fragile and doomed as a soap bubble heading for a rosebush.
Pop. The end.
Zac’s feet took a step forward, to the edge of the carpet.
“Zac...”
“I love you.”
Chris’s head rose. Her eyes widened. Her lips parted. Had she just heard him say what she’d just heard him say?
