Uh-oh. Where was he going with this? “Okay?”
“You can relax. I’m not about to declare my undying love for you.”
Reassured, she went back to eating her ice cream.
“I accepted your invitation because I really liked you.” He grinned. “And because you’d made it pretty obvious you had intimate plans for the evening.”
God, how stupid she’d been. Had it only been two weeks since she made that call? That determined, headstrong woman seemed so far away now. “Yeah, I did, didn’t I?”
He nodded. “But halfway through the evening, I realized, despite what you’d said, and your clear intentions, you simply weren’t a girl that a guy had one night with and then sneaks out on her in the morning.”
Pain, piercing and sharp struck her right in the heart at Dean’s words. This man, known to have a casual fling with several women and then toss them aside, had treated her with more respect than her own best friend.
Sure, there were women who liked the one night deal, even preferred it. But that wasn’t her, and Dean had known that an hour into their date. How could Sean not have seen it too?
He continued, swirling his melting ice cream around the bowl, apparently unaware of her turmoil.
“I was so relieved that your neighbor was setting off fireworks, but once they hit the finale and you invited me inside, I made a bigger deal about the emails from work than I had to. When that didn’t work, I attempted to make you mad by gawking at your neighbor’s butt.”
God, had she really been that obvious? Or was the correct word here pathetic. “Why would you do that?”
“Because I didn’t know how to confess I wasn’t going to spend the night without making you feel unwanted.”
“You could have just told me the truth.”
He raised his brows. “Tell you the town playboy wasn’t going to have sex with you because he felt you deserved better than a one-night-stand? Really?”
Okay, he had a point. “So you made yourself out to be the bad guy to save my feelings?”
“I never wanted to hurt you, Dianna. But while I was in Hawaii, I realized the way I acted was more insulting than anything else. The truth is, out of all the other women, you’re the only one I’d even attempt a relationship with. But I’m just not ready for that, no matter how much I want to be. A casual fling.” For a moment his eyes reflected pain. “That’s all I can offer anyone right now.”
Damn, his break up with Natasha must’ve really messed him up. It’d been years since she dumped him, and still he couldn’t move on.
In a way, he was feeling the same as she was right now, but while this was all new for her, he’d been dealing with it for a while.
Dianna looked away, but no matter how hard she fought, her eyes stung. It was all too much for one day. This man whom she’d only dated a few times seemed to know more about her than her best friend of nearly thirty years.
The fact she’d held back the tears this long was quite an achievement if she really thought about it.
“Oh, Dianna, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He grabbed a napkin from the holder sitting on the table and handed it to her.
She took it, shaking her head. “It’s not you, it’s just I had a really rough day and seeing how sad you still are about Natasha…”
“Hey, hey, don’t shed any tears for me. I’ll be fine.” He turned in his chair, fully facing her and leaned in. “Are you okay?”
“You really are a lot sweeter than people give you credit for.” She dab her eyes with the thin napkin. “But can I offer you some advice?”
He smiled softly, and stroked the hair from her face. “Sure.”
“Don’t be so damn cheap on your dates.”
Dean lowered his head and laughed, his hand still against her cheek. “I never used to be. But whenever I tried paying for dinner or driving anywhere, Natasha would accuse me of thinking she couldn’t take care of herself or call me a male chauvinist.”
Dianna took his hand. “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
He studied her a moment, a grin on his handsome face. “I never thought I’d find a confidant in you.”
Dianna sat forward with her chin in her hand. “I’m listening. Share away.”
***
Turning onto Main Street, Sean searched for a parking spot, hoping he wouldn’t have to use the municipal lot a block away from his destination. Normally it wouldn’t bother him to walk, but today he was a man on a mission. For the first time in his life, the world made sense.
From the time he backed out of his brother’s driveway on the outskirts of town, until he hit the main road, Sean wondered why it’d never occurred to him before that he was in love with Dianna. And why had he suddenly realized it now?
For years, apart from the occasional twinge of jealousy when she announced a new boyfriend, or the rare shock of electricity when they touched, there had never been any indication that his feelings went beyond friendship, and they sure as hell didn’t go as far as being in love.
Was he fooling himself? Was he even capable of loving one person for the rest of his life? He’d never even come close before.
Then the song on the radio turned from an old Billy Joel ballad to “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys.
His breath hitched.
Their song. His and Dianna’s.
He remembered the day, so long ago. They’d been upstate at his parents’ mountain home when the song came on the radio. They’d heard it before, even sang along, but it was on that particular day that Dianna grabbed his hand, and sang the chorus to him in front of everyone. They’d been about eight at the time, too young to catch the overall romantic theme, but that didn’t matter to their families. From that moment on, it had been known as Sean and Dianna’s song.
A sign.
After a few minutes, he decided his search was an exercise in futility and headed for the side street that allowed him access to the town parking lot. Once parked, he jogged through the lot to the back entrance of the local florist.
Before, whenever he sought to buy flowers for a date, he stressed over what to get. Red roses were too intimate, carnations too informal, blah, blah, blah. But not this time. He knew exactly what she liked. Even though red roses would be perfect for what he had in mind, Dianna wasn’t a roses kind of girl. She liked unusual mixes of flowers, something outside the box.
A bell jingled as he opened the back door. He made his way to the front of the shop and greeted Bertrice, the elderly woman behind the counter. He knew her by name, of course, since he frequented her establishment so often. She once joked that his purchases paid for her daughter’s wedding.
“Well, hello there, Sean, it’s been a while. Need assistance in picking out a bouquet for a new girl?”
“Not this time. I know exactly what I want.” What better than a mixture of her favorite flower and his? “Can you make me a bouquet of irises and red tulips?”
“Ah, mixing love and friendship today,” she said as she opened the glass refrigerator door behind her and gathered the flowers.
His heart skipped. “What?” How the hell did she know?
Carefully arranging the blossoms for even distribution, she winked at him. “It’s my business to know the meaning of flowers. Irises are the symbol of a cherished friendship and red tulips are for perfect love.”
Another sign. Sean couldn’t stop the smile forming if he tried.
Why would he want to anyway? The joy building in his heart was a lost friend he hadn’t felt in years. How could he not have noticed it missing before now?
Sean scanned the small shop while Bertrice finished his order. He took in all the silly, disgustingly sweet balloons and knick-knacks lovers bought for each other. He was going to have fun buying Dianna Valentine’s Day and birthday gifts that were more personal than the funny T-shirts and baseball caps he usually got her.
When his order was ready, Sean paid for the flowers and exited through the front of the
shop toward the bakery up the street. Chocolate croissants were her favorite, and Terri’s Bakery made the best in Suffolk County.
Standing on the corner, waiting for the light to change, he breathed in the cool refreshing air. Summer was dying, but it was dying slowly, peacefully, and for the first time in a long time, Sean was happy that shorter hours at work were in his future.
He glanced around Main Street, hoping to see many smiling faces. He wanted everyone to be as happy as he felt today.
Then his eyes settled on the ice cream parlor across the road.
Dianna stood next to one of the small tables outside the shop. Next to her was Dean Vaughn, standing way too close.
Jealousy surged inside him as the fucking asshole cupped Dianna’s face in his hands and lowered his forehead to hers. His lips were moving though Sean couldn’t hear what he was saying, of course. But he could guess. Probably something inappropriate, or knowing him, asking for reimbursement for the gas he’d used to get here.
Instead of pulling away and punching him in the arm, Dianna placed her hands on Dean’s waist. She nodded, then leaned in and hugged him.
Pull away.
The hug continued.
Pull the fuck away, Dianna!
After a few more seconds, she finally complied with Sean’s unspoken demand. Dean kissed her cheek, and Dianna took his hand as she backed away from him to finally turn and head for the parking lot.
Sean remained frozen. Bile rose in his throat as he watched the happiness and joy he’d felt before slowly drift away.
Part of him wanted to storm over and deck Dean square in the jaw then drag Dianna away, demanding to know what was going on. The other half wanted nothing more than to run away.
“Hey, dude, are these yours?”
Lurching from his desolate haze, Sean turned to the teenager standing next to him, holding out the bouquet he hadn’t even realized he’d dropped. The flowers he knew would bring a smile to Dianna’s face. The flowers she would hold as he got down on his knees and begged her to forgive him for leaving this morning.
The flowers she would clutch to her chest when he told her he was in love with her.
This wasn’t him. He wasn’t the boyfriend type. For one brief moment, he’d thought he had it in him to actually have a mature relationship, but apparently, even his best friend didn’t think he was capable. Why else would she be having ice cream with another man, cozying up to him in public only hours after they’d been so intimate?
Well, why wouldn’t she? He snuck out of her room this morning without a word.
That’s who he was.
He shook his head to the teenager. “Nah, man, you can have them.”
“Sweet! Mom’s gonna love these.” And off he went. At least those flowers were going to make someone smile today.
Sean became morbidly numb as he walked back to his car. He started the engine, and let out a humorless laugh when The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” shouted at him from the radio.
Sean sat back debating on whether or not he should go home or bury himself in work. His shift didn’t start for another three hours, but he doubted Valarie would mind the extra hand.
But would anyone be able to work with him right now? The numbness would soon wear off, and in its place would be a mélange of sorrow, confusion, and anger.
Try as he might, he just couldn’t make sense of what happened last night. Why had Dianna slept with him? She must have some feelings, even if they didn’t amount to being in love.
But why would he think that? She had been more than willing to sleep with Dean, had even been excited about it, and Sean was pretty damn sure she didn’t have feelings for that jerk.
Except, she seemed pretty infatuated with him just a few minutes ago.
Then he remembered the pills. Her excuse for taking them seemed plausible enough at the time, but what if that was just a convenient excuse? What if she’d lied to him about ending her crusade to have sex for the first time, and he just happened to present the perfect opportunity.
If that were the case, why hadn’t she just let him seduce her? But then he remembered her words the night his mother interrupted them in his bedroom.
“…what if you’d succeeded? Don’t you think you’d be wracked with guilt over being so deceptive?”
Okay, so she might have tried to save him the guilt that night. But why do that only to sleep with him anyway?
Something wasn’t adding up.
Shit, what difference did it make? The deed was done. An endeavor she’d said she just wanted to experience and get over with. He should’ve taken her at her word.
Because that’s apparently exactly what she’d done.
Sean slammed his hand on the steering wheel, suddenly angry. “This is bullshit!” he spat out and threw the car into Drive.
Latching on to this surge of anger, Sean focused on the destination he had in mind.
Once he arrived, he parked in front of her house, pulling in a few deep breaths before he got out of his Porsche.
It wasn’t until he stood on her doorstep, after ringing the bell that he wondered if this was the right thing to do. Should he even be here?
The door opened before he could answer his own question, and he could tell from her pinched face, she wasn’t happy to see him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I owe you an explanation.”
She studied him, her eyes narrowing. “Fine. Let’s hear it.”
Wow, she really wasn’t going to make this easy for him, was she? “Let me come in and I’ll explain everything.”
She moved aside and opened the door wider, but held up her hand to stop him before he fully crossed the threshold.
“Tell me honestly, are you sure we should even bother?”
His head screamed for him to run, but he forced those voices aside. “Yes, Trudy, I’m sure.”
Chapter Nineteen
“DAMMIT, DAMMIT, dammit!” Jack stormed down Main Street, knocking into the vendors’ sidewalk displays, and bumping into trash cans. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if he hadn’t been invisible.
“Jack, please, you’re starting to freak people out.” Angie tried to catch up with him, but his long strides kept him out of reach. “If you’re going to do this, at least go visible so they can see why the trash cans are flying all over the place.”
“Fine!” Jack disappeared into the alley between two buildings. When Angie finally caught up to him, he snapped his fingers, loud and clear. “Visible now, happy?”
After doing the same, she took his hand and led him back onto the sidewalk, hoping the distraction had calmed his anger.
Nope!
As soon as they hit the street, he continued to vent. “How could he do that? He was right there. He had the flowers in his hands, rehearsing in his head what he was going to say. If he had just come along a few minutes later he would’ve caught Dianna walking to her car instead of misunderstanding that stupid hug with Dean.”
Goodness, she understood his frustration, but why was he so furious? Ever since he’d turned to her with his hand hovering over the purple custodio and declared the cloud belonged to both Sean and Dianna, he’d been a mass of raw nerves.
Was it because of their charges, or was it something more than that? Like, coming so close to the end of their assignment and their journey back to Heaven, only to have it snatched away from them with one stupid hug?
“Why didn’t he confront her?” he carried on. “Why did he just turn and walk away?”
“You heard what he was thinking. It’s not as if they are a couple. He made sure of that when he walked out on her this morning.”
“I don’t care. It was a damn cowardly thing to do.”
“Sometimes being brave when you’re in love is the hardest thing to do.”
“Yeah, well, if you ask me—”
“Jack, please calm down. You’re drawing stares.” She scanned the crowd, a feeling of discomfo
rt pulling at her stomach.
“Oh for God’s sake, woman.” He faced her. “First you want me to be visible so I don’t freak people out, now you—Angie, what is it?”
“I don’t know.” She continued to exam the crowd. “I just suddenly feel very nervous that people can see us.”
Then her eyes fell on an old woman standing on the corner across the street. Even though her hair was completely gray, her face a mass of wrinkles, the woman stood tall, giving off an air of strength. But despite how she appeared, the woman stared at Angie, gripping the street pole, her face deathly pale.
Sixteen years had gone by, but still she’d know her anywhere.
“Jan.” Her beloved sister whom she hadn’t held, hadn’t touched in so long, stood a mere fifty feet from her.
Angie let out a sob and took a step in her sister’s direction, but Jack grabbed her hand.
My sister. I need to hold her. I need to touch her!
“No, we have to go.” Jack pulled her from her quest, his voice a harsh whisper. “We have to disappear. Now!”
“With all these people around?” Her eyes never left Jan’s. “You made such a commotion, some are still watching us. We’d never be able to disappear unnoticed.”
“That’s a chance we’ll have to take. I never read the manual, but even I know we can’t come in contact with her.” Not even the panic in Jack’s voice could stop Angie’s primal need to go to her sibling.
Her heart pounded as she tried to pull away. The urgent need to comfort Jan overwhelmed her, as she watched her sister’s face crumble.
“Angie, no!”
“Jack, please. Please, let me just hold her one last time.”
He blocked her view. For the first time since she can remember, Jack’s eyes welled with tears of his own. “You can’t, honey, I’m so sorry.”
“But I never got to say goodbye.” Grief swarmed inside her body. “Please, let me just say goodbye.”
Jack grabbed her arm, pulling her in the opposite direction.
She protested even stronger, desperate to hear that sweet voice again, longing to smell the Calvin Klein Eternity she always wore.
Angels in Seashore Cove (Love and Laugh in Seashore Cove Book 2) Page 22