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"Hey," I say gently, "it's not the same as Dave. Not by a long shot."
"But… it feels so…." Her teeth appear, biting down on her lip as her eyes search the sand beneath her shoes for the proper words.
After a moment, she stands again, though her eyes stay locked on the ground. "I can't be here anymore. I… I have to go."
She tries to sidle between me and a parked car, but I quickly grab her by the shoulders, trying to hold her here. To keep her with me. She can't go. She can't leave.
"Denise, I… wait," I say quickly. "I can't let the night end like this. Please."
She shuts her eyes firmly, her shoulders stiff beneath my grip. "I'm sorry, Brett. I… I can't be around you right now. I… I need some time."
When her eyes reopen, they are once again full of tears.
"Like… just some time to think or…?" I swallow, my mouth refusing to finish the question. To say the thing I dread hearing the most.
Slowly, she nods. "Yeah," she chokes. "You know what I'm going to say."
I want to pull her close, to show her how much she means to me. To show her how much I can't stand to let her go. I'm a desperate fool madly in love. She can't go. It can't be over. "No, Denise. Not over this. You can take a few days away, and then we'll talk. We don't need to—"
"Maybe you don't want to, Brett, but I…." She gulps, and it looks almost painful. "I need to think about my needs and Sophia's right now. I promised myself I wouldn't get caught up with another man just to get betrayed again. And I… I broke that promise to myself. I broke that promise to my daughter."
"You didn't break a promise," I insist. "I did. But I can fix it. This is still—"
"No, Brett." Putting her hands on my arms, she stares into my chest, unable to fully meet my eyes. "Now, please, let me go."
As much as it hurts me to do it, I listen, releasing her. She steps away toward the direction of her van, stifling another sob with her hand.
I have never been a very sentimental person. Even when things were toughest for my brother and me, I never cried about it.
But seeing Denise walk away… knowing that I may never hold her again… I feel the pain of salt in my eyes for the first time in decades.
"Denise," I say one last time.
She pauses at her name. But she does not turn back. "Go home to Houston, Brett," is all she says. "I'll leave your luggage on the front porch. I trust you can get yourself a ride somewhere?"
The sound of approaching footsteps breaks through the intensity between us. I blink, trying to dry my eyes, but that wet feeling won't go away.
It's Sophia. She dashes over to her mother, and they wrap their arms around each other tightly, holding each other close enough to pop.
Sophia turns her head to look at me through her mother's arms and narrows her eyes in accusation, just like Tinsley did.
"Goodbye, Brett," she says in a sour tone. Hooking her mother's arm around her shoulders, she begins to guide Denise toward the van. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll drive."
They slowly make their way to the Sugar Breeze Bakery's van. As they pull out of their parking space, that logo peers at me across the parking lot through the dark.
I barely knew my own mother long enough to even talk to her about dating, about girls and women. But here is Denise's, as if alive once again. Sylvia Lawson staring at me through the dark with her bubblegum pink eyes. Eyes filled with ageless disappointment.
The van turns and takes off. And once again, I am alone. I'd forgotten how empty the world was without Denise in it.
CHAPTER24
Denise
"Denise?" Sheila asks softly. "Could you move your foot, please? I'm trying to get the next box."
"Oh," I say, shifting in my seat so she can grab what she needs.
She kneels before me to sift through the pile of folded cardboard boxes, searching for the size she wants. When I see her like that, I have to shut my eyes and turn away. It reminds me of that night in the parking lot… with Brett down on his knees….
