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This is where Lily and I worked on my grandmother’s paperwork. Down the hall, where new kitchen cabinets are about to be installed, is where we kissed right before Grandma interrupted us and spooked Lily.
Instead of smiling, the memory makes me feel bitter. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks burying myself in work and renovations. I’ve taken on three new clients personally and pushed my sales team hard. Then evenings and weekends, I’ve worked on the house.
Last weekend, Lee came over to help me paint and I’m pretty sure he was just checking if I was still alive. I refused his offer to buy me a drink at the Grove and watched him drive away on his bike with a sigh of relief. It’s been good to be alone.
My stomach growls, and when I peel myself off the floor and shuffle to the kitchen, I realize my fridge is completely empty. The pantry isn’t any better, unless I want to open a dusty can of chickpeas that came with the house.
Grabbing my keys, I head into town to grab some dinner. I park near the Heart’s Cove Hotel and walk toward a little Thai place just diagonally across from the Four Cups Café. When I get closer, I glance across the street at the dark windows of the café and wonder how Lily’s doing, then kick myself for even caring.
Our evening in the garden still lingers at the forefront of my memory. Lily wants nothing to do with me, and I shouldn’t even be thinking about her anymore.
I pause when the café door bursts open. Out of the Four Cups Café come spilling most of the members of Lily’s family. Before I can stop myself, my feet carry me closer.
“I’ve got the food,” Trina says. “Jen says she already gave her a few things, but I grabbed more. Mom, did you get Iliana’s overnight bag? You said she forgot her toothbrush?”
“Who do you think I am?” Lottie huffs, then thrusts an arm toward a waiting vehicle. “It’s all packed and ready to go. You must have forgotten that I’m your mother, Katrina, and that I’m more than capable of caring for my daughters.”
Trina seems content ignoring her mother as she glances at her phone. “Candice just texted me,” she says. “Lily woke up a couple of minutes ago. The surgery went well.”
I stumble on a crack in the pavement. That was today? Lily’s getting her mastectomy right now? I frown, hurrying forward. It hasn’t been that long since the housewarming…has it? I keep telling myself that Lily was right to push me away, that it’s better for us to go our separate ways.
But this acid burning in my stomach disagrees.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Lottie throws herself at the passenger door and clambers inside.
I cross the street in time to help Trina with the boxes of food she’s hauling into the trunk of her car. She looks up when I grab one end of the box before it tips over and gives me a relieved smile. “Rudy, hi! Thank you. I almost lost the sandwiches there.”
“You feeding a football team?”
She grins, but the edges of it are tired. “No, just the visitors that will be stopping in to see Lily.” Trina glances at the box and bites her lip. “We may have gone overboard.”
My throat is tight, but I manage to respond. “She got her mastectomy today?”
She studies me for a moment, then nods. “Yeah. It went well.”
My throat feels raw, and I only manage to nod. “That’s good. She was nervous about it, I think.”
“She actually talked to you about how she felt?” Lottie’s head pops up above the roof of the car. “Am I always the last to hear about these things? First she tells Trina, then you know how she’s feeling—I’m starting to think Lily is trying to keep me in the dark about everything. Next thing, I’ll find out she’s already married or maybe she’s decided to become a nun!”
Trina plants her hands on her hips. “Mom, you saw her when she told us. She was terrified that we’d have a bad reaction to the news. It doesn’t exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out she was scared. Rudy just happens to be more perceptive than your average Neanderthal. Yesterday, she admitted to me that she couldn’t stop thinking about the months before Dad died, and that’s why she was nervous to tell us. She didn’t want to burden us with the news.”
“I know, I know.” Lottie huffs. “Silly girl.”
I frown, remembering Lottie’s words—she said Trina knew about the cancer. I could have sworn Lily told me she hadn’t said anything to her family…but maybe she misspoke, or maybe she told Trina about the cancer after she told me.
It’s not my business. Either way, Lily broke it off with me, and it’s for the best.
“I’d better get going,” Trina says, squeezing my arm.
I step aside and let her get in her car, standing on the sidewalk to watch them go.
I feel…useless. And guilty.
Why do I feel guilty?
The car engine turns over…and dies. Trina tries it again, and even through the car door I can hear Lottie’s voice barking out instructions. When the car fails to start a third time, I bend over and knock on the window.
It rolls down and Lottie turns toward me. “You got jumper cables?”
