I had to leave before he does.
I’ve let Kray get too close in the last few days. He makes me feel things I’m not ready to feel, especially for a man who’s going to get on a bike a ride away as soon as the snow clears.
“Merry Christmas, dear.”
I’m startled out of my thoughts by Fitzy.
She’s taking a load of clothes to the basement laundry, wrapped up from the cold in a leopard print robe.
“Merry Christmas,” I mumble.
I don’t correct her that it’s Boxing Day and Christmas is technically over.
“He came away with me anyway,” Fitzy says.
She pauses with the laundry basket resting on the door frame, looking wistful. I glance around, wondering if she’s in the middle of a conversation with someone else. But no, it’s just the two of us in the parking lot.
“Um, who?”
She squints at me as if I’m the one that’s gone mad. “My first husband.”
Oh, I get it. She must be talking about the man she mentioned the other day.
“I thought you didn’t get married?”
“We didn’t get married in Barbados,” she corrects. “He came with me back here to Bourbon for the wedding.”
“What about his family?”
“Oh, they accepted me in the end. They just didn’t believe we could fall in love after only knowing each other for four days.”
She smiles wistfully. “But when you know, you know.”
I try not to think of Kray and his laughing eyes and kind smile, or the way my heart skips whenever I catch him looking at me.
“He got a job as a lifeguard on the cruise ship, and we had a wonderful time traveling the world,” Fitzy continues. “Until a freak diving accident took his life in Thasos, one of the Greek Islands.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be, dear. We had three wonderful years together. I’m glad I took that chance on him, or I would have missed out.”
She looks at me sharply, all wistfulness gone. “Make sure you don’t miss out, dear.”
Then she disappears into the laundry room, the door banging shut behind her.
I stare at the closed door for a moment thinking about Fitzy’s words. She can’t be talking about me and Kray, can she?
She doesn’t know our situation. She doesn’t know that he’s leaving town the first chance he gets.
I pull my suitcase toward me and head to my car.
What might have worked for Fitzy a hundred years ago doesn’t apply to my situation. There’s no changing the fact that Kray’s life—his family—is somewhere else.
It’s a few hours later and I’m slumped on the couch in my apartment. Lisa left a box of chocolates to say thanks for the temporary accommodation, and I’ve got a pile of crumpled chocolate wrappers next to me.
I pop another chocolate in my mouth just as there’s a knock at the door.
Biting into the caramel center, I get up off the couch. It’s probably one of my neighbors wishing me a happy Christmas. I don’t feel much like chatting, but I can’t ignore the fact that I’m home with my car parked out front.