“Why the fuck not? He didn’t lie.”
“He fucking did so. You didn’t murder anyone.”
Blake tossed up his arms. “I might as well have. I left her. Do you get that? I pawned her off on her parents and left her to die.”
“She wasn’t dead or dying. Just sick.”
“And I’m a doctor. I could have stuck it out, saved her.”
“Oh really? You’re a psychiatrist? Man, you’re busy.”
Blake stabbed a finger at him. “You know what I mean.”
“No I don’t. I know you met this girl and liked her. Somewhere along the way, you found out she was sick and you stuck it out with her.”
“I left her. Where did I think she was going to go from there? Who else was going to be with her?”
Bo blinked, letting the words float between them like a barge. They stood there in silence while the weight of Tara’s death suffocated Blake.
Bo was the first one to speak. “She wasn’t a kid at your group home, Blake. She was a grown woman. Sure, she deserved to have a partner who loved her and took care of her, but so did you…so do you.”
Blake’s breathing came harder, quicker, and he closed his eyes while he took control of his body, calming himself like he did when he seemed to be losing his grip in the ER, reminding himself that what was in front of him was important and deserved his focused attention.
He met Bo’s gaze. “I can’t stay. You know that, right?”
“Why?” Bo asked, his voice calm and steady.
“I can’t come back from this. Looking at all their faces tonight…the confusion, the disappointment, the fear. I can’t face them again.”
Bo didn’t say a word, just walked out of the room, Sadie on his heels. The front door shut, and they were both gone.
Blake blinked. That wasn’t like Bo. He was the most stubborn motherfucker Blake had ever known. When Bo came into the house, Blake had been ready for a showdown, not a bow out. Who did Bo think he was walking away from him like that? And what was he doing with his dog?
“Hey!” Blake shouted, kicking the suitcase out of his way. He shoved open the screen door and came to an abrupt halt on his front porch when he saw the display in his front yard. The friends he’d left at Seaside Sweets stood there, arms locked into one another’s, Bo on the end.
“If you’re going to leave,” Chase said, “you’re going to have to get through us.”
A lump crawled up Blake’s throat so big he wondered where his next breath would come from. Desiree broke off the end and walked over to him, putting her slim hands on his cheeks. “It’s going to take a whole lot more than this to make me doubt my friendship with you.” She kissed him on the cheek, and then walked away.
Ashe came up behind her, looking him up and down. “You know I’ve always thought straight people were crazy. This ain’t no big thing.” He threw his arms around Blake and gave him two quick squeezes before heading over to stand with Desiree.
Sebastian jerked a thumb at Ashe. “The gays love the drama. Not me, of course.” He gave Blake a sincere smile. “You are my friend. Friends don’t walk away from one another. You wouldn’t let me do that. And I won’t let you.” He winked at Blake and then leaned in to his ear. “You’re the only one who understands about my family. I need you. Please don’t leave.” Sebastian gave Blake a sweet kiss on his cheek, squeezed his arm, and then walked away.
Marigold stood in front of him, a big smile on her face. She raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms over her chest. “A doctor? If you thought I pursued you before when I thought you were a handyman, you just wait.” She wrapped her arms around him. “Don’t even try to be more fucked up than me. I won’t be shown up.” She pressed herself against his chest, and then joined the others.
Chase stood in front of him, his long arms out to his sides, palms up. “If you leave town, who’s gonna keep the spare key to my car? You’ve unlocked me like ten times now.”
Blake looked over at Bo, and he said, “Don’t look at me. PCB’s a half hour from here.”
Blake turned his gaze back to Chase, his heart bursting with the emotion of the past couple of hours that felt like a year.
Chase smiled. “I know Bo’s your BFF, but I love you too, man. I’d do anything for any of you bastards. I don’t want you to go, brother.” He pointed at Blake as he swiped his eye with the back of his finger. “You’re going to ruin my reputation with all this serious talk. The girls think I’m hot ‘cause I’m funny.”
“Nah, we really don’t,” Marigold chimed in.
Bo stepped in front of Blake and shrugged. “Looks like we got through the initial fallout. Think you can stick around for the rest?”
Blake hadn’t cried his whole life until the day at Bo’s house, and here the tears were again, falling from his face without a damn bit of permission from him. His friends surrounded him, mowing him down, their huge group teetering back and forth as everyone tried to hug harder. Sadie barked and ran toward them at rocket speed, circling them and then running to the back of the house.
As they separated, Sebastian handed Blake the handkerchief out of his shirt pocket. “I always thought I’d have to give this up to a lady someday, but if it’s got to be a hot guy, oh well.”
Blake cleaned up, composing himself. “I don’t deserve you all.”
“Well, none of us deserves each other, so we’re all even,” Ashe said.
Blake let out a deep breath, noting with intense sorrow the absence of the most important person in his bunch of friends.
“Let’s go to my house and order pizza,” Chase said.
“I thought Seanna finished your kitchen,” Sebastian said. “You should be cooking us dinner.” He met Blake’s gaze and his expression dropped. “Oh shit, honey. I’m sorry. We’ll figure out how to get her back. We just need to keep you here right now.”
Marigold steepled her hands in front of her chest. “Will you stay?”
Blake glanced around at this oddball crew of his…two pristine gay guys, a hippie woman, a debutante, a redneck, and the funny guy who owned half the town. How they all came together as a perfect circle of friends was beyond him, but it worked better than anything in his life ever had.
He nodded. “Yeah, I’ll stay.”
They all applauded like he’d given a performance of some kind and pushed into him for one last hug. He’d never been hugged so much in his life, literally.
“Dinner’s on me,” Chase said.
“In that case, let’s go to Café Thirty-A,” Ashe said.
“Be fine with me,” Chase said.
“Pizza at Chase’s sounds perfect,” Sebastian said. “I want to see the new kitchen anyway.”
Chase pulled his keys out of his pocket. “I’ve got a boatload of beer there, too.”
“No swimming,” Marigold said, and they all laughed their way to the cars.
Blake called Sadie, and she came running. He let her back inside, Bo staying behind while he locked up. “We’ll work the other out, okay?” Bo said.
Blake forced a smile and nodded. “Yeah.”
Bo was doing his best to put on a brave face for Blake, but Blake was no dummy. Seanna was hurt the most with what happened, and Blake didn’t know how to fix that.
“I think this needs some time to breathe,” Bo said. “She needs a minute to understand everything. I talked to her, but I could tell I wasn’t helping. She’s got Cassidy with her, so that’s good.”
Blake’s stomach rolled imagining what Cassidy must be thinking about him right now, how much he’d hurt her niece. “I’ve messed so much up,” Blake said.
“I know. I’m not arguing it. But it’s time to start fixing things. Come with me over to Chase’s. Let’s eat pizza and let this group be around you now that they know. Let them see you’re the same person they’ve always known. Get this initial bit under your belt. You won’t believe how easy it will be the next time you see them.”
Blake gave him a look. “Have you done this befor
e?”
Bo chuckled. “Fuck no. I’m winging it as I go, like I handle everything else. Come on. Let’s go eat.”
Blake followed Bo to his truck, trusting him with his entire life, knowing full well he could.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cassidy handed Seanna the canvas grocery bag she’d packed for her, and Seanna peeked inside. She looked up at her. “I’m never going to be able to eat all this.”
Cassidy shrugged. “It’s a long drive.”
Seanna dropped the tension in her shoulders and ran her key ring in a circle around her finger. “You don’t think I’m doing the right thing, do you?”
“I never said or thought that.”
Seanna narrowed her gaze. “You’re a terrible liar.”
Cassidy smiled. “I just want you to be happy, sweetie. If taking that job back in Nashville will do that for you, then that’s all I care about.”
“I don’t have the job yet,” Seanna said.
Cassidy gave her a look. “That first phone interview seemed to go pretty well Saturday. And just the fact that he took the time to talk to you on a Saturday says a lot.”
“Yeah, probably that I’m going to have to work Saturdays.”
Cassidy shrugged. “We’re off Sundays and Mondays at Seaside Sweets if you ever change your mind.” She pointed at her. “That’s a standing offer.”
Seanna gave her a smile. “You have no idea how comforting that is, and how tempting.”
Cassidy wrapped her arms around Seanna. “I love you, sweetie. Come back soon…for a visit, okay? Fly down, and I’ll pick you up from the PCB airport.”
“I’ll do it. Love you, too.”
She kissed her aunt on the cheek, and then got behind the wheel. She kept it together until she got to the end of Seagull Lane, and then tears started flowing. She pulled over in the Seaside horseshoe parking lot until she could get herself together. A gray truck that looked like Blake’s across the lot had her frozen solid from head to toe. She couldn’t see him…not right now. Her mind was made up, her path clear. Fate had stepped in with the job opportunity, and with one of her friends helping the process along, she seemed poised to have everything fall into place back home.
Home. Nashville was home, not Seaside.
An older gentleman opened the door of the gray truck and hopped in, deepening the already bottomless void in Seanna’s heart. She put the car in gear and backed out of the space, heading back where she belonged.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Blake had no idea how much was enough time to let pass, but with the days crawling by like slugs, he was about to lose his mind. He’d texted Seanna on Tuesday and gotten no response. He’d expected that, so he let another day go by and tried again. Nothing. He drove by Cassidy’s house like a teenage boy stalking the girl he liked, but he hadn’t seen Seanna’s car for a few days, which made him wonder all sorts of horrible things.
Friday marked a week since he’d been outed, and something felt significant about that day. He pulled up to Seaside Sweets and walked through the front door. He didn’t feel welcome to slip in and out of the back like he usually did and like Cassidy used to encourage him to do.
He got in line behind two other customers, waiting his turn. Cassidy caught his eye at one point and gave him a tight smile that made his stomach ache.
When the last customer left, Blake stood face-to-face with Cassidy, the counter a welcome barrier between them.
“Hey, Blake,” she said, her voice steady and polite, not kind though. That was the best he could ask for.
“I wanted to give you both some time before I came by.”
She wiped down the counter. “Well, you could have come by as early as Tuesday morning. Seanna’s been gone since Monday.”
His heart fell fifty stories. “She’s back in Nashville?”
“Yep. Job offer, as of late yesterday. When she left, it wasn’t in the bag yet, but it looked promising.”
His brain throbbed at the idea of where she was living. “And is she back at her condo?”
Cassidy frowned. “I don’t know, and I’m not interfering.”
His stomach cramped at the idea of her back in that same situation with that weasel. He gripped the edge of the countertop, his fist balling up against the glass.
Cassidy put her hand over his, and the shock of it had him looking up at her quickly. “I’m glad you’re staying. I value our friendship, and I’m here for you.”
That now familiar pain formed behind his eyes. “Thank you. I feel the same.”
She leaned over the countertop, still holding his hand. “Go. Get. Her.” She let go and pulled her phone out of her back pocket, typing into it while his adrenaline started to kick in. She nodded at his phone as it dinged. “That’s her address. She starts the job Monday, so get your ass up there this weekend.”
He smiled, Cassidy’s support meaning more to him than she could ever know, and then suddenly, a brick wall stopped him. “Any suggestions how I get her back?”
She shrugged. “You’re gonna have to open your heart wide, Blake. Make sure you’re giving her your real self, as much of it as you can afford to give and more. Can you do that?”
His knees went weak at the thought, but if it meant getting her back and getting her to stay in Seaside, the pain and humiliation was worth it.
“You bet your ass I can.”
Cassidy grinned, and then shooed him away. “Go!”
Chapter Twenty-Four
The elevator dinged, and Blake stepped off, glancing around for a sign anywhere with numbers and arrows. He spotted one and headed down the hallway. Maybe he should have checked himself in a mirror somewhere to make sure he didn’t look like an escaped convict. Elevators usually had mirrors, but the one he rode in was padded for movers.
He stood in front of the door to Seanna’s condo…her place with Jason. Surely he wasn’t there with her. What would Blake do if he was? How would he react if Jason opened the door? His hand instinctively balled up into a fist. He couldn’t do that, not right away at least.
He’d rehearsed a million things to say to her in the truck on the eight-hour ride to Nashville. He was sorry was the first, second, and eightieth thing. Past that, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he was going to be honest with her and speak from his heart. He was going to rip open wounds that had been sealed up for decades, whatever it took to help her understand and come back home with him.
He stood with his fist raised, ready to knock, when the door flew open. A short, dark-haired guy stood there holding a set of car keys. “Who are you?”
Blake blinked, rechecking the number on the door. “I’m looking for Seanna. Is this the right apartment?”
The guy pursed his lips, his nostrils flaring. “Daryl!” he shouted over his shoulder. “Is this the asshole?” he asked in an out-of-place Jersey accent.
Another guy appeared, a little taller and rounder, holding a red plastic cup, brow furrowed. “No. If you’re looking for Jason, you can fuck off. He’s not around,” the guy said, his southern accent making more sense to Blake.
“Where is he?” Blake asked out of curiosity.
The taller guy looked Blake up and down. “I look like his mama? I don’t fucking know. And before you try to pull some stupid shit, you should know Rick here’s an officer of the law, so take your bullshit out of here, understand?”
Blake was caught somewhere between wanting to kick this guy’s ass and wanting to thank him for being protective of Seanna and her apartment. “I’m not here for Jason. I’m looking for Seanna.”
The taller guy, Daryl, spit into the red cup, a bulge protruding under his lip. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Who the fuck are you?” Blake gave it back to him, starting to get pissed off with this cat-and-mouse game.
“I’m Daryl Goddamned Perry. Who the fuck are you?”
Blake relaxed at the name. Perry was Seanna’s last name. “I’m Blake…Blake Evans.”
Daryl just stared
at him blank-faced.
“I’m a friend of Seanna’s, from Seaside.”
Seaside seemed to be the magic word. Daryl’s hard expression softened. “You know Cassidy?”
“Yeah, she’s a good friend. She sent me, sort of,” he said under his breath.
“Sent you to do what?” There wasn’t a piece of bullshit in the Greater Nashville Area that was going to get past this guy. Blake was starting to like him.
“I’m just…I’d like to talk to her, please. Is she here?” Blake tried to peer around these two, but they were holding the doorway solid.
“Daryl nudged the other guy. “Go on, Rick. And will you pick me up a bottle of Coke before you come back? All she’s got is Diet Coke in here.” Rick nodded with a wave and headed off. Daryl opened the door and let Blake in, but there was nowhere for them to sit down. The living room had been cleared of furniture.
Daryl shut the door behind them. “I take it you’re the guy she’s been seeing down there these past couple of months. Cassidy told me about you on the phone the other day.”
Blake wondered how pissed off Cassidy was when she had that conversation. “You’re Seanna’s brother?”
“Yeah. Did you even know she had one?”
Blake remembered her mentioning a brother, but just in passing. “Yeah.”
Daryl rolled his eyes. “It’s fine. We’re not too close. My fault. I’m pretty irritated with myself about that, too, you know. If I’d not been so goddamned wrapped up in my own life and work, I might have taken the time to see something was bad wrong with her this last year. We could have avoided all this.” He glanced around her apartment. “I’m here now though, trying to make up for it. You here to get her to forgive you?”
Blake supposed he was, but wasn’t sure that was the right answer. “I just want to talk to her.”
Daryl narrowed his gaze. “Like Jason just wants to talk to her.”
Blake’s chest heated up. “Has he been here trying to see her?”
Seaside Sweets Page 20