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Chapter Seven
Riley
Ihadn’t seen Ethan face-to-face since the night of Coral’s birthday. That didn’t mean I hadn’t seen him. I had. Every freaking time I looked around my home, I saw him. He was in almost every single picture scattered over every surface. He had helped me pick out the sofa. He’d fixed my washer. He’d hung the photos in the living room; he’d even gone to the freaking grocery store for me!
There wasn’t a place in my house that didn’t have memories attached that included him. Even my freaking toilet, as he’d many times held my hair back as I’d gotten sick. It was driving me nuts. I was ready to sell my townhouse and find a new place to live that had no memories of him.
I had just gotten home from work, and I was staring into my fridge. I was hungry, but then again, I wasn’t. I wanted to eat, but my stomach had been iffy whenever I put something into it over the last couple of days. I was probably coming down with one of the stomach bugs that got passed around so quickly in school.
I sighed as I closed the fridge door when the doorbell rang. I glanced at the clock. It was only four-thirty, too early for my date with Joe. He wasn’t supposed to be here until five, and then we were taking the kids to the movies and out to dinner.
Our relationship over the last few weeks was progressing—slowly. I really did enjoy spending time with Joe, and last week, he’d told the kids that we were good friends hanging out. Chip didn’t seem to care one way or the other, but Sasha was excited that her older brother’s teacher was friends with her father.
Because he had such a busy schedule with his job and the kids, I didn’t get to see him too often, which was a plus. I couldn’t get tired of him, and I appreciated how important his kids were to him. I did love the fact that they always came first.
I pulled open the door to see Henley. “What are you doing here?”
I left the door open and went back into the kitchen. If we weren’t eating until after the movie, I had to have something other than popcorn or candy. However, the theater did have soft pretzels with lots of gooey cheese. That sounded awesome.
“He leaves Sunday,” he said as he closed the door behind him.
“Who?” I asked casually as if I had no clue who he was referring to. Of course, I knew that Ethan left on Sunday. Everyone in our family and a few of his siblings had all made sure to remind me.
“You know damn well who, Ry. You need to go talk to him.”
“No, I don’t. If Ethan wants to apologize to me for what he said, then he can come to find me. Until then, I have nothing to say to him.”
“Jesus, you are as hardheaded as a brick.” He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms.
“I am not the hardheaded one. Talk to him. Besides, you should be pissed off at him for calling me a drunk.”
“You are,” he snapped back.
My face turned to him so quickly that it almost kept going all the way around. “What?”
“Riley, everyone knows you drink too much. Ethan’s right. You have a problem.”
“I do not!” I yanked open the fridge, my eyes falling on the wine bottle in there, and I almost yanked it out. Instead, I dug around in the drawer and pulled out my lunch meat. “I can’t believe all of you think I have a damn drinking problem. I can drink or not drink. It’s my choice.” Damn, I wanted a drink right then.
“You should choose not to drink,” he stated, and I rolled my eyes at him.
I pulled open the bag of ham and began to reach in, but the smell of the ham wafted up to my nose, and my stomach rolled over on itself. I tossed the ham to the side and leaned over the sink as my stomach heaved.
“Shit.” Henley was at my side, pulling my hair back and turning the water on to wash down my vomit. “How long have you been sick?” His hand slipped over my brow, and I pushed it away.
“I guess I picked something up at school, or that lunch meat is bad.”
Henley picked up the bag, sniffing the contents. “Smells fine.” He pulled a piece out and stuffed it in his mouth. “Tastes fine, too. Anything else bothering you?”
“No. I just need some ginger ale and to sit down for a few minutes.”
“Okay, go sit. I’ll get your drink.”
I plopped on the couch, and the nausea in my stomach started to recede. I should call Joe and let him know I needed to cancel, but my phone was in the kitchen and getting up was too much of a hassle. Instead, I leaned my head back until Henley brought me the glass.
He waited until I’d taken a few sips and then sighed as he sat down. “Riley, I don’t want to argue with you or upset you, but Ethan’s not the only one that sees it.”
“See’s what?” I asked him, totally at a loss.
