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I hand her another card to replace the one she threw on the ground. This one has my home phone number on it. I rarely use these cards.
She smiles for the first time and pulls something from her pocket. “I will.”
“Take this one,” I say. “Call me night or day.”
She takes it and turns to follow her parents out the door. I don’t expect to hear from her. But then again, she picked my card up off the ground after I left. That has to mean something.
Chapter Three
Shelby
I’m heartbroken.I never thought anything could hurt so much.
Then to walk into the lawyer’s office and see him. The man who paid for my coffee and took the full brunt of my rudeness … the shame engulfs me.
I don’t even know why I went to the meeting for grandpa’s will. Mom and Dad are handling everything, but I thought I should be there to support them, yet it’s me who needs holding up.
Perhaps some people wouldn’t understand my devastation at losing my grandparent, but Grandpa and I had a special bond. I was closer to him than my parents.
The thought has guilt tugging at my insides. I love Mom and Dad dearly, but they have the kind of relationship that made me feel like an intruder growing up. I’ve never doubted their love for me, but sometimes, they were so absorbed in each other it was as if they forgot they had a daughter.
But with Grandpa, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was the center of his universe. Mom and Dad both have intense careers, and my grandpa often looked after me while they worked long hours. He was my foundation, and now he’s gone, it feels as if I’m crumbling.
I close my eyes, recalling the handsome lawyer’s beautiful brown eyes as he handed me a new business card. His deep voice rumbled through me, stirring something deep inside me as he urged me to take it.
Should I call him?
Reach out and beg him to tell me how I’m supposed to survive losing my grandpa?
Instead, I pick up my phone and dial my best friend.
“Hey, girl,” I say as Poppy picks up, my voice cracking beneath the weight of what I’m about to tell her. Only I don’t need to.
“I’m so sorry, Shelby.” Her voice breaks too, and we both begin to cry.
After twenty minutes, my sobs have subsided and my eyes are almost swollen closed. Poppy is still on the other end of the phone, murmuring words of comfort every so often. Waiting for my anguish to subside, though I don’t think it ever will, not fully.
“I went to the lawyers with my parents,” I tell her with a sniffle.
“Sweetie, you don’t have to do that stuff,” she says softly.
I close my eyes as fresh tears threaten to spill down my cheeks.“I know, but the lawyer, Anthony ... Tony … was the guy who bought me the coffee … and I was such a bitch to him,” I finally manage to splutter.
“I’m sure he understands if he’s the one dealing with your grandpa’s estate, honey.”
I know she’s right, but it still sucks to know the handsome stranger I thought I’d never see again is someone I may be dealing with quite a bit over the coming days.
Then again, maybe not.He must think I’m an ungrateful headcase.
I don’t like the heaviness in my heart at the thought of not seeing him again. It’s already so battered from the loss of my grandpa; I don’t need to put it through any more pain.
“You like him? The lawyer?” Poppy asks intuitively with a tentative hitch in her voice like she’s unsure she should be bringing up hot guys at a time like this.
“He’s gorgeous, but the thought of pursuing anything when I’m filled with guilt over Grandpa is ...”I trail off, trying to find the right word.
“Your grandpa would only want your happiness, Shelby. That’s all he ever wanted. Seeing your joy brought him joy. I swear you two were connected spiritually. You had the same humor and finished each other’s sentences.”
Warmth fills me at her words. She gets it because she knows me so well. We’re each other’s biggest cheerleaders in times of happiness and a soft place to land in times of utter loss and devastation.
