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Had he even planned to tell her he was leaving?
*
Isaac stood inhis doorway, watching helplessly as Del’s gears turned. If only he’d pressed the send button on his phone one of the hundred times he’d picked it up to call her this week instead of chickening out every time, they wouldn’t be in this predicament right now. But he hadn’t wanted to hurt her, hadn’t known where to begin. Even now, he struggled to string a complete sentence together.
“Will,” he said slowly. “This is Delaney. My—”
“Uber Eats driver.” She raised the delivery boxes higher, a forced smile on her lips.
Isaac felt his jaw drop. Was she trying to bail him out, even now? He cringed. Maybe she hadn’t quite connected all the dots. But surely, finally seeing him completely disguise-free should have been a clue. The haircut and shave had been Will’s idea on their way back from the South Bend airport. Afterward, Isaac had hardly recognized the man staring back in the mirror.
“Oh. Great.” Will patted his pockets. “Uh, just let me find my wallet.”
“No need,” Del said sweetly. “You can just put it on Isaac’s tab.”
“You’ve got an open tab?” He stepped around an immobile Isaac to take the offered boxes. “This pizza must really be something. You’d better call and get that settled up before we leave tomorrow.”
Del’s eyes widened for a brief moment, then narrowed to mere slits as Will walked away. Yep, the dots were now fully connected. This was definitely not how Isaac had hoped their good-byes would begin.
“Are you even kidding me right now?” she asked in a hiss.
“I was going to tell you. It just all happened so fast.”
“And yet you had time to get a haircut and a shave.”
Oh yes, the dots were now securely connected.
“It’s too bad you didn’t get any beer to go with this pizza,” Will called from the kitchen. “Do you guys deliver that, too?”
“We do,” she said through clenched teeth. “Just not to this house anymore.”
Isaac looked toward her truck and spied the open side door. Maybe it was good she had planned to make two trips. Judging by the red in her cheeks, he might have ended up with a bottle cracked over his head.
“Del, I—”
“Save it for your call in to themanagerlater,” she said in a low growl. “Unless, of course, you plan on dodging that conversation, too.”
With that, she spun on her heel and stormed for the silver pickup parked in the drive. Dammit, this was not how he wanted to leave things between them. Hell, he didn’t even want to leave. He wouldn’t if his responsibilities weren’t dictating that he did.
“Shoot,” Will said from inside, his cell phone buzzing. “I’ve got to take this call.”
He answered the phone and headed for the back porch with the box of pizza still in hand, giving Isaac the chance to chase after Del. He caught up with her just as she was reaching for her door handle.
“Del, wait.”
She turned to face him, fury brewing in her eyes. “Why, so you can feed me some half-baked excuse for why you didn’t bother to tell me you were leaving?”
“I was going to tell you. I pulled up your number to call more times that I can count. I just…couldn’t bring myself to say good-bye.”
“Then I’ll do it for you. Good-bye, Isaac. Best of luck in New York City.”
She turned again to go, but he caught her arm. “Del,please.”
He half expected her to turn around swinging. Instead, thankfully, she paused. Didn’t turn around, but she paused. Isaac released her and took a step back, glancing briefly toward the house to make sure the coast was still clear.
“I got a text from Will not long after Margaret’s party. Apparently, someone made a bunch of TikToks that didn’t paint Katrina and her extreme behavior very favorably. He was keeping an eye on them, with high hopes that they would help turn the tide.”
“That’s why you were so busy ‘working’?” she asked with air quotes.
