CHAPTER 26
Evie
“Do you want to talk about what happened inside?” I’d finished putting my purchases in the trunk and clicked my seatbelt into place in the passenger seat.
Merrick’s eyes closed a moment and he sighed. “Not really.”
I thought he probably just needed a little time and space, so I nodded. “The landlord is having my new apartment painted today. He said I could drop things off while it’s being done. Would you mind stopping there so I can deliver all this stuff I bought?”
“Sure.”
He was quiet during the ride. When we pulled up, Merrick double parked out front and helped me get everything inside.
“You’re not staying here until the bed gets delivered, right?” he asked.
“No. I still need to finish packing all my stuff at my sister’s anyway.”
He nodded and shook the keys in his hand. “You want me to drop you off at your sister’s?”
“Oh…yeah, sure. That would be great.” It wasn’t like I expected him to spend the entire weekend with me, yet the ending to our time together felt sort of abrupt. I hadn’t even taken my overnight bag when we’d gone out to the stores. “My bag is at your apartment, but I don’t need anything from it. I can just grab it before I leave the office Monday.”
He nodded.
The drive to my sister’s apartment was short, and I was glad since the silence was getting pretty loud in the car. I tried not to take it personally. Clearly seeing Amelia’s daughter had upset him. Unless I was doing the math wrong, which I didn’t think I had, she’d had a baby with another man while they were together. I could’ve sworn Merrick had said Amelia passed a little less than three years ago, and it seemed like they’d been together up until the end. But maybe I’d gotten that wrong. Now was not the time to ask.
When we arrived at my sister’s building, Merrick pulled to the curb. He left the car running and came around to open my door.
I forced a smile. “Thank you for coming shopping with me.”
“No problem.”
“I guess I’ll see you Monday?”
He nodded, then leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Take care.”
Merrick waited until I got into the building to get back in the car. I wanted to think whatever had happened would blow over, yet I couldn’t help the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I watched his car pull away. Call it women’s intuition or whatever, but something told me my heart was about to be broken…again.
• • •
“Hey. What are you up to?” My sister tossed her keys on the kitchen counter and walked into the living room, where I’d been sitting for a long time. It must’ve been after eight already since she was closing the store tonight.
“Not much. Just watching TV.”
Greer looked at the television and back to me. “Ummm… It’s not on.”
I blinked a few times. “Oh… I meant I was about to watch television.”
She eyed me suspiciously. “Okay, well, mind if I join you?”
I shook my head. “Of course not.”
“I’m just going to go get changed. I ordered some alcohol-free wine. I’m going to put it in a wine glass and pretend it’s real.”
“Alcohol-free wine? So grape juice?”
“Basically. It’s a cabernet.”
She came back a few minutes later wearing sweats and an Emory sweatshirt I’d bought her at least seven or eight years ago. She held two glasses and passed me the one in her right hand.