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I arched an eyebrow at her. What did I leave out that she could possibly need to ask me about? “Like what?”
“Like, first of all, if this hot guy that you’d just taken a shower with was naked in the bed, why would you leave?” Our sandwiches arrived just then, and I saw the waiter’s cheeks turn bright red as he set them down and hurried away. Lucy popped a chip into her mouth, undeterred. “Why not fuck him again? It’s not like he would’ve pushed you away.”
“Lucy, he was drunk and practically passed out. I wasn’t going to sleep with him under the circumstances. I couldn’t even fit in the bed, he was so sprawled out all over the place. And I hadn’t taken a shower with him. I just helped him in the shower.”
“What, like in a bathing suit or something?” She took a bite of her sandwich, so at least she couldn’t ask me anything else at the moment.
“No, the shower is huge, and there’s a bench in there. He sat on the bench, and I only turned on one shower head, so he was under the water and I wasn’t. Anyway, none of that is the point.”
“What is the point?” she asked. “I don’t understand why you’re so upset that he accidentally called you the wrong name. He was drunk.”
“Yes, he was drunk and missingher, Lucy. It wasn’t me he wanted there. It was her.” I hoped my explanation made sense, but judging by her expression, it didn’t.
“And? She’s fucking dead, Georgia. It’s not like he can get back together with her. You think he deserves to be alone for the rest of his life because the woman died? That’s not very nice of you. I’m surprised.” She took another big bite as I stared at her, trying to figure out why she was being so insensitive.
“You’re totally taking his side.” I couldn’t believe it. Why would she do that? She’d never even met him.
“I’m not,” she argued, setting her sandwich down. She was still chewing as she continued. “I’m taking your side. I’m taking the side ofdon’t fucking sabotage everything you do, Georgie. Geez. The man said his dead wife’s name, and you got out of there as fast as you could without even talking to him about it, from what I can tell, right?”
I nodded. I hadn’t spoken to him about it. I’d just made him think I had an emergency. Though, I was kind of hoping that he’d try to talk me into staying, but he hadn’t. His reaction had just solidified for me that I needed to leave.
“That’s fucked up, babe,” Lucy told me before finishing off her sandwich. I’d only eaten about half of mine since I’d been talking the whole time. “You should’ve talked it over with him.”
“Hey, the whole thing was traumatic for me,” I told her. “I had no idea he was still so stuck on his wife. It seems clear to me that he’s not ready for a relationship.”
“I don’t know about that,” she argued. “He made a mistake while he was drunk. You don’t even know what he meant by that.”
“It was more than a mistake. It was what he was really wanting in his life, to have her back. Besides, I’m not even sure if he wants kids. We live so far apart, and he’s from a different world than I am with all of that money and success.” I felt my eyes starting to mist up again as I rattled off all the reasons why we shouldn’t be together.
Lucy shook her head. “You’re just making excuses,” she said. “I wish you wouldn’t do that.” She sounded more sympathetic than she had before.
The waiter came back, and I asked for a box and the check. I just wanted to go home and fall into bed, never to get up again.
A few minutes later, we were walking to Lucy’s car, neither of us talking. We got in, and she drove me to my apartment. I wanted to say something, but all of the words were stuck behind the lump in my throat.
Lucy pulled into a parking spot and reached over, putting her hand on my knee. “Listen, Georgia, I know how upset you are. I don’t blame you. You really like this guy, and you were hoping things would work out. All I’m saying is, I wouldn’t be so quick to let him go. You don’t know why he said that. Sure, he was obviously confused about the name, but that doesn’t mean he was confused about everything.”
“What do you mean?” I asked her, feeling confused myself.
“Just because he got the name wrong, that doesn’t mean he was wrong about what he was feeling in his heart. I’m sure he still loves Kaylee—but what if he also lovesyou?”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I wanted to deny that it was even a possibility, but if he had meant the message for me—and I’d freaked out and left—maybe I’d ruined everything just when it was getting good.
35
BEAU
Iended up cutting my trip short. After Georgia left, there was nothing fun about traveling anymore. I just wanted to get back home. I left Switzerland later that afternoon and then stopped briefly at the house in Canada before heading home.
My plane touched down at the airport a few miles from my house. The moment I saw my truck sitting there for me, I let out a sigh. Being home always made me feel better.
But I still didn’t feel good. Ever since Georgia had walked away from me, I’d felt a hole in my heart that nothing could fill. I’d been tempted to drink away my troubles, but since that had been part of the problem to begin with, I hadn’t taken a sip of alcohol since that night in the bar with her. It had only been a couple of days, but it seemed like forever.
I thanked the airport workers and headed to my truck, tossing my bags in the back before I got in and placed the keys in the ignition. I took a few deep breaths, trying to decide how I was going to go home. Even though Georgia hadn’t spent a great deal of time at my house, I knew as soon as I walked through the door, everything there would remind me of her.
Pulling my cell phone from my pocket, I stared at it for a moment, wondering if I should call her. I could ask her how she was doing and get around to what it had been, exactly, that had made her want to leave. Being drunk, I’d had no idea if I’d said something or done something to embarrass her. All I knew was that she had been fine when we’d first started drinking, but by the time I’d woken up the next morning, she didn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore.
I put my phone away. Calling her wasn’t going to do me any good. For an instant, I thought about calling her friend Lucy. Georgia had given me her number in case of an emergency, but that was pointless, too. I’d seen the way that women acted toward men who had wronged their friends. Despite having no idea what I’d done, I must’ve done something, which meant calling Lucy would only get me in worse trouble than I already was.
