Hidden Hills
Page 25
Which was why he’d had to offer.
He glanced through the window to the spot where she’d fallen apart. Man, her life seemed even more messed up than his, if that was possible. He may have become a loner, but at least his career was thriving. He’d thought hers was too, based on all the fan mail Mark used to brag about her getting. But what did Adam know about publishing? Squat. Maybe fans were fickle.
He did recognize grief when he saw it. He was surprised at how fresh hers still was. Mark had been gone longer than Jen. But then, he’d had time to prepare for Jen’s death. He’d read somewhere that sudden death was trauma on top of loss. Maybe that made it harder to recover.
His thumb caressed the gold band on his left ring finger. Not that he’d recovered. Not by a long shot.
He downed the rest of his beer and went inside to grab another. Numbness sounded good tonight.
His phone rang just as he opened the fridge. He closed it, grabbed the phone, and glanced at the number. His heart constricted. That number hadn't shown up on his phone in a long time. He answered it. “Hey.”
“Adam… it’s Claire.”
He heard the tension in her voice, could picture her pacing in those silly pink slippers she’d worn the other day.
“Hey.” Again. Real eloquent. But it was all he could manage.
“Is that room still available?”
“Of course.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
He was taking his best friend’s widow to London.
What on earth was he thinking?
****
The Breakfast Bettys — Vivian, Julie, and Kori — threw Claire a lovely bon voyage party at the Barrel & Brig, the closest thing the island had to an English pub.
“I know you’ve been planning this for two months, but I still can’t believe you’re actually going to London with Adam.” Julie rested her chin in a freckled hand and looked wistfully at Claire.
Claire pushed her untouched burger away. “I still can’t believe it either. What was I thinking?”
Vivian stabbed a bite of Caesar salad. “You were thinking, ‘Crap. I’m broke. I better save my career.’”
“I know he’s changed,” Kori said, “but promise me you’ll at least try to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s not going to be easy. He’s such a…” Claire struggled to find the right word.
“Grouch?” Vivian offered.
“Stick-in-the-mud?” Kori suggested.
“Incredibly attractive man with a wounded heart?”
All three women looked at Julie.
“Sorry.” Julie didn’t look the least bit sorry. “Did I say that?”
“I knew you had a soft spot for him,” Vivian said.
“Yeah, well, I have a soft spot for several men.” Since her divorce five years ago, Julie was always on the lookout for eligible men.
“So does Claire, according to Beatrice Atwell.” Vivian dabbed at her smug smile with a napkin.
“What?” Claire asked, shocked.
“Those rumors are your own fault, Claire.”
She turned to Kori. “You've heard rumors too?”
“Sure. Started by you. Don’t you remember the coffee shop?”
Ah, yes. That day when she’d been ticked off enough to shock Bea with that comment about sleeping with the plumber. But, really! Who would honestly believe what she’d said? “Ugh. The gossip mill on this island drives me nuts. Give these people something better to do.”
“You do realize people will make assumptions about you and Adam?” Julie questioned.
"Yes, I know. I’m trying to just ignore that. Besides, when I get back — still single — in the fall, anyone who has made stupid assumptions will find out how wrong they were.” Claire picked up her glass of beer and took a sip.
“Or not,” Vivian teased.
Claire set down her glass and looked sternly at her friends. “Let’s get one thing straight, girls. Nothing will ever go on with Adam and me. Furthermore, I am not going to London to find any sort of man, whatsoever. I’m going for work only. Got it?”
Kori placed her hand on Claire’s. “We know. But you never know. Not with Adam, of course,” she hastened to add as Claire’s eyes narrowed. “But someone else may enter the picture. Just don’t close yourself off to love.”
“Aargh!” She shook off Kori’s hand. “I’m not ‘closed off to love.’” She mimicked Kori’s words using two fingers on each hand as quotation marks. “But, can I first just get to the point where I’m not longing for Mark every day?” She looked each of her friends in the eyes to drive the point home.
“We’re sorry. We only want you to be happy.”
Claire knew they did. She sighed. “Trust me, I’d like to be happy too. I just don’t see it in the cards anytime soon.”
A rare silence descended on the table.
“So, Adam’s taking you to the airport tomorrow?” Julie was obviously trying to change the subject.
“No, Vivian is.”
“Why not Adam?”
Claire shook her head. Her friends didn’t need to know everything, certainly not the argument she’d had with Adam last week. “It’s just better this way.”
"Besides," Vivian said with a smile, "I’m also going to double-check her suitcases and make sure she didn’t pack anything that will embarrass us.”
“Vivian!” Claire rolled her eyes.
“If I see one item of fleece in there, I’m throwing it out. I didn’t lend you all my best city outfits for nothing. This is a fresh start for you.” Vivian regularly traveled to San Francisco, Chicago, and New York for work.
“I am looking forward to an excuse to dress up. I’m kind of tired of my Pacific Northwest staples.” Claire looked around at all the locals in the restaurant. Fleece or flannel could be seen on almost everyone.
Kori slapped the table. “I think it’s time for presents.”
Three brightly-colored packages were placed before Claire. She took her time opening them, savoring the moment and the love she felt from these women, her dearest friends. Julie gave her a cheery umbrella that folded down into nothing so she’d “always be prepared” in London.
“It’s perfect. Thank you, Julie.”
“Open mine next.” Vivian pointed to a small, square package. “I want you to be prepared, too.” Claire caught the wink she gave Julie and Kori.
She skeptically undid the wrapping to reveal a little silver box, the kind to hold a bracelet or pair of earrings. Lifting the lid, she found herself staring at a small pile of condoms.
“For Pete's sake, Vivian! You didn’t!” Her face glowed red as Kori gasped and Julie burst out laughing.
“Just bring them along. I know you don’t think you’ll need them, but you never know. You’d want Anna to be prepared,” Vivian hastily added as Claire opened her mouth to protest. “And the last thing you need is to get pregnant when you’re almost fifty. You still could, you know.”
“Forty-one is not almost fifty! And I will not need these.” She thrust the lid back on the box and shoved it away from her under a dirty napkin.
“Open my gift.” Kori slid a cheery gift bag over to Claire.
“As long as it’s not more ‘protection.’”
Under layers of tissue paper lay a beautiful, embossed leather journal. Because this adventure is momentous enough to deserve its own journal, Kori had written on the inside cover. Your other journals represent the past. This one begins your future.
Claire’s eyes filled with tears as she hugged her friend.
****
That night, Claire walked through every room of her home. Each room held memories of Mark and she savored each one, bittersweet though they were. Finally, tears streaming down her face, she reached her bedroom where a framed picture of the two of them rested on her nightstand. She picked up the photograph and sat on the bed next to her open suitcase, tracing the lines of Mark’s face with her finger.
&
nbsp; “I love you, babe,” she whispered. “I always will.”
She took a shirt out of her suitcase, gently wrapped it around the picture, and nestled it among the folded clothes.
She rose and stepped into her walk-in closet. On the far wall was a safe. She undid the combination lock — their wedding anniversary — and opened the door. Then she slowly slipped her wedding ring off her left hand, placed it in the safe, and closed the door.