AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What’s that doing here?” I ask. One glance at the stickers on the back confirms my suspicion. It’s Joe’s car. Maybe he does care and is waiting for me to get back.
I grab my bags and lock my car.
“Fiona, how was your trip?” a familiar voice calls out.
I look up and see Cara walking toward me. “It was interesting. And nice to catch up with everyone. Is everything okay?”
Something major had to be wrong for both Joe and Cara to be waiting on my doorstep.
“Everything’s fine.” Cara has a huge grin on her face. She’s practically glowing.
“Why are you here?” I motion up to my kitchen window. I can see from here that I left the living room light on. Good thing my dad isn’t here. He’d give me quite the lecture about wasting energy.
“Oh, I’m not here for you. I was helping Joe get settled in. Poor guy didn’t have a single piece of furniture. I found him looking like a lost puppy in the store.” She shakes her head, sending her blonde curls flying.
“Joe moved in here? He’s living in my building?” I ask. None of this is making any sense.
“Of course. He signed the lease last week. Didn’t he tell you?”
“It must have slipped his mind,” I mutter, digging around in my purse for my keys.
“He is such a sweetheart. I’m glad Dave brought him on board. Let’s hope he sticks around for more than one movie. I better run. I have some laundry I need to get done before work tomorrow. See you in the office.” She’s dancing to her car, a roomy minivan that has plenty of room for her and the three kids she shares with her ex-husband, an actor who couldn’t keep his hands off his co-stars. It’s nice to see her happy for a change.
That’s when the pieces finally click together. She’s happy because she and Joe spent the entire day together furnishing his apartment. They must have gotten pretty close. By the look on her face, possibly more than that. And her lips had been red and swollen.
I shake my head and take the stairs up to the second floor, wondering which of the apartments Joe now occupied.
I’m inside, unpacking my bags when my phone rings.
“You took your invitation, didn’t you?” my sister asks.
“I did. It seemed silly and a waste of a perfectly good stamp.” I pull the thick ivory envelope from my bag and prop it up against the nightstand, admiring the wax seal.
“You’re unbelievable. I guess that means you got home safe. Everything go okay?” she asks.
I walk into the kitchen and pour myself a glass of wine. “The drive was fine.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” She’s always has a sixth sense about when something was bothering me.
“Joe moved into my building,” I say, taking another sip of wine.
“And that’s a problem?”
“Not really, but he spent all day with Cara furnishing it. I saw her coming out, beaming like she just spent the day at an amusement park or a fancy spa or something.” That wasn’t quite right. She looked like a woman in love.
“Oof. What did Joe say?” Gwen asks.
“I didn’t talk to him. I have no idea where he is other than that he’s in the building. I didn’t even know he’d left early until I stopped by his parents’ house when he didn’t answer his phone.”
“Wow, back up there a minute. Sounds like I missed quite a bit since you left my house.”
She was right. I quickly caught Gwen up on what had happened.
“Why did you want to talk to him?” she asks the one question I was hoping she’d gloss over.
“I was hoping we could talk. You know, see where we stand.” And maybe get a chance for a redo of that kiss that almost happened.
“Oh, sweetie. I’m sorry.”
