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Porter chuckled. “Opal mentioned that Josie took in a duck a while back. I guess this is him?”
“Yep.”
“She named it something, right?”
“Daisy.”
Porter’s brows drew together. “You know that’s a male, right? Males are raspier. The female’s sound is softer.”
“Yep.”
We sat quietly for a few minutes while Porter finished his beer. Once it was gone, he tucked the empty bottle back into the cardboard holder.
“I liked her,” he said. “Josie, not the duck.”
I drank my beer while staring straight forward. Porter still didn’t take the hint.
“I thought she was good for you. You deserve to be happy, boss.”
“Yeah? Then you should hightail it out of here. That’ll go a long way in getting me there.”
The idiot smiled and got up.
I held out my hand. “Give me the key. I’ll get whatever she left and drop it at the post office.”
“Oh, no. It’s okay. I got it.”
“Wasn’t asking, Porter.”
He hesitated, but when he saw the look on my face, he relented and dropped the key into my palm. “Alright then, thanks. Post office closes early on Saturday, though, so you need to go soon. Opal will kick my ass if it doesn’t get out today.”
“I got it.”
He nodded and waved. “Have a good weekend, boss.”
I waited until I finished my beer and heard his truck pull away before getting up and going inside. One step in, and I already regretted taking the key from Porter. The place stillsmelledlike her. I didn’t know how that was possible after a week, but it did. I took a deep whiff of torture in and closed my eyes.
Fuck.I missed her.Missed smelling her. Missed seeing her smile at me even though I never deserved it. Even missed the cards hanging on the wall. It felt like a punch in the gut being in here. But I freaking deserved it.
I tormented myself some more in the kitchen, imagining her standing at the coffeemaker wearing my shirt from the night before, dumb Christmas cards hanging all over the walls behind her. She smiles at me as she reaches up to grab mugs, revealing her bare, perfect ass.Fuck, I’m really an asshole.
Upstairs, I opened the door to the left bedroom—Josie’s room—and stopped two steps inside. It was empty. Another blow to the gut. I stared at the indents in the rug from where the bed used to be, imagined it still there. I’dmade loveto her in that bed. Hadn’t done that in years. It had been so long that I hadn’t even remembered there was a difference betweenfuckingandmaking love. But there was, and the difference had left a gaping hole in my heart.
I forced myself to the closet. It was empty too, not even a hanger to be found. Reaching up, I felt around on the shelf for what she’d left behind. It was one of those USPS envelopes, about as big as a piece of paper. The return address was a place in New York City. I thought about not looking inside for about half a second, but quickly justified being nosy by telling myself I needed to make sure something was even in there. It would be stupid to send an empty package.
The first thing I pulled out was a passport. Opening it and seeing Josie’s smiling face landed a one-two punch. I stared down at it for way longer than necessary. Luckily I had to get this thing to the post office before it closed or there was no telling how long I’d sit here. Walking out of the closet, I went to stuff the little book back into the envelope. But when I did, I realized there was more inside. There was no reason I needed to take the rest out—obviously the envelope wasn’t empty—yet I did it anyway.
And my heart stopped when I read the note.
Josie,
I’m taking a leap of faith. I’ll be on that flight to Aruba. Give me a chance to show you I’ve changed, and meet me on it. I love you.
Noah
This is what she needed fucking overnighted? I ripped the papers out of the envelope and unfolded them. My eyes could barely read the printed words because my hands were shaking the page so hard. But I picked off the important parts.
Ritz Carlton Aruba 9/12-9/19
