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Erin laughed. “Let’s wait until you heal up, Kay. I’ll give you first swing.”
Celia’s mouth dropped open. “But we had already broken up. I had no right to show up there, screaming like that. It scared me when I couldn’t stop myself. I was acting crazy.”
Erin stood, coming over to put her hand on Celia’s shoulder. “Chick, it would be crazy not to be angry. You were being completely normal.” She began to rub her shoulder soothingly. “I haven’t heard anything that would make you crazy at all, including your mom stuff. That’s her, not you.”
None of her counselors had ever said that to her. Celia tried to blink back the heat in her eyes, but she burst out crying.
“Oh, shit!” Celia heard Erin say as the rubbing got faster and less gentle. Her shoulder began to ache. “Kay, what do I do?”
Celia saw Katie’s sad smile through her tears. “Let her cry. Sometimes that’s what’s best.” Her cousin nodded at her.
Celia could do nothing else anyway. She bowed her head, letting the tears come.
Chapter 34
Trentonstaredattheglass filled with the green smoothie. He’d made two again. Two weeks after she had left, and he was still making that mistake.
At least it was Monday again. Sunday had been the worst. His family only had lunch once a month. He’d gone for his run as usual in the morning, but then the whole day had spread out before him. Even going to the supermarket had reminded him of Celia. He almost wished he would run into that ex of hers again. Which was ridiculous. Separating from him had been the best thing for her. Celia deserved someone so much better than that.
Not him, though. Trenton was the worst person in the world for her. He took care of people, it was true, but she really didn’t need to be taken care of. Celia needed to be first in a person’s thoughts. She deserved to be. And that was something Trenton could never offer her.
Celia had seemed sad when he saw her at the tavern, though she’d made a point of smiling at him. She’d even come over to thank him again. He’d accepted her gratitude, even though he didn’t deserve it.
She’d left the guest room pristine, so there hadn’t been much for him to clean after she moved out. He’d even found her sheets in the dryer. When he’d remade the bed, it didn’t take away from her lingering presence. She’d always kept it just as neat.
He’d washed his own sheets, hoping it would help with his sleeplessness. It hadn’t. Lying there made him remember the few times they’d slept together. It wasn’t just the sex, though the memories of that left him hard. He thought washing her smell away might help, but he’d forgotten. They’d already been living together, so it had been his soap and shampoo, his laundry detergent, he smelled on her skin.
Trenton had stood in the soap aisle the day before, considering trying something new, but he liked what he used.
After Emily had died, smells that reminded him of her had been soothing. It was a reminder that she had been there, that she had existed. He’d eventually changed them when the reminder became an ache. That was when the guys had helped him realize he barely left the house and taken him out to buy new furnishings for his bedroom.
With Celia, those types of things brought an instant restlessness. Maybe he should go back to the store.
His phone rang, and he reached for it, glad for the distraction. Seeing who it was, he smiled as he pushed the ‘Talk’ button. “Damon, it’s been a long time.”
“Hey, sorry about that. Things have been hectic.” Damon cleared his throat.
“No problem. You’re on tour again, aren’t you? Are you taking care of yourself?”
He listened to his friend talk about his lifestyle. Trenton couldn’t imagine singing in front of a crowd. He didn’t even sing in the shower or the car. Damon had always had such a unique voice, though.
“I wanted to ask your advice on something if you have a minute. I was trying to catch you before work.” Damon hesitated. “Is this too early?”
“I never mind you running your contracts by me. Did something new come up?” Trenton went over to his work laptop, waiting for it to boot up. He was a divorce lawyer, but part of why he’d gone that route was his appreciation for contract law. There was something about understanding expectations based on agreements that he found comforting. “Can you send a copy over?”
“It’s not about a contract. This isn’t technically in your wheelhouse, but, I don’t know, I thought you’d give me some perspective.” Trenton listened to his friend sigh over the phone. “I mean, you remember what I was like. The biggest dork to walk the earth. It hasn’t exactly been hard to get used to women throwing themselves at me now, but this feels different.”
“So this is woman trouble?” Trenton winced, thinking about the mess he’d made with Celia. “Blake or Malcolm would be better for that.”
“Please, those guys would brush it off like my manager did. He thinks I’m making too big a deal about it.”
Trenton frowned at the serious note in his friend’s voice. Damon had only ever taken his music this seriously. “What’s going on?”
Damon cleared his throat again, lowering his voice a little. “I think I have a stalker.”
The word reminded Trenton of Celia’s ex’s accusations. “Are you sure it’s not some girl that you’ve blown off who wants more?”
“The thing is, I don’t know. I haven’t been able to figure out who it is.”
