A handshake? After all that, he was getting brushed off with a handshake? But he was the one who’d made it very clear to her none of what they had was real.
He gripped her hand in his, running his thumb over hers. “I’ll see you around, Emma.”
She nodded and pulled her hand back. Sean squeezed her fingers for a second, but he couldn’t hold on to her. Before he could say anything else, she walked out of the house.
“You two are going to be stubborn about this, aren’t you?”
Sean turned to Cat and chose to ignore her words. “I’m going to miss you. And I mean that.”
“Even though Emma thinks a party isn’t a good idea now because it would be awkward, I’m sure I’ll see you again.”
“Don’t know where I’m going from here. But you never know. Maybe I’ll drive down to Florida and crash one of your wild and crazy beach parties some day.”
She opened her arms and he enveloped her in a hug. “You’re welcome to hang out under my beach umbrella anytime.”
After extricating himself from her arms, he kissed her cheek. “Take care of yourself, Cat.”
“And you…don’t be too stubborn.”
She went out the door before he could ask her what that was supposed to mean. He heard the truck door close and then it was heading down the driveway.
He stood there for a few minutes and then went into the kitchen. Over the last few months, he’d actually accumulated a few things and his belongings didn’t fit in the duffel anymore. He grabbed a trash bag because what the hell did he care, then scoured the downstairs, tossing in anything that belonged to him.
Then he finished upstairs and there was nothing left but to get in his truck and drive away. But first he went into the bathroom and pulled the pad of sticky notes out of his pocket. He stuck a pink one to the mirror and pulled the cap off his Sharpie.
And…nothing. What could he say? Something flip, like thanks for the good times, didn’t feel right. Maybe goodbye. Or why does it feel so shitty to be leaving right now?
He stared at it a long time, then put the cap back on the marker and shoved it in his pocket. There was nothing left to say, so he grabbed his bags and walked out of Emma’s house.
Cat and Mary met at their usual café, the mood pessimistic. The month certainly hadn’t ended like either of them had thought—and hoped—it would.
“She was so cold to him before we left,” Cat said, “but about a half hour after we got home, I heard her crying. I peeked into her room and she was sitting on the floor with a sticky note in her hand, sobbing her heart out.”
“Could you read what it said?”
“That’s the thing—it was blank. Just a blank sticky note.”
Mary frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I don’t know what the deal is with the sticky note, but I know she cares about him a whole lot more than she wanted him to know.”
“Sean’s not answering his phone. I made Kevin go up and knock on his door. He said Sean wasn’t in a really sociable mood and we should just leave him alone for a few days.”
Cat shook her head and put another sugar cube in her tea just to get the kick. “They’re both hard-headed. I’m afraid if they’re left alone for a few days, they won’t come around at all.”
“When I talked to Lisa earlier, she gave me the impression you weren’t going to have your goodbye party since we’re not all going to be one big, happy family. Maybe you should.”
“I hadn’t even thought about it yet. Emma’s knee-jerk reaction was to cancel it but, to be honest, even if she and Sean boycott, I still want to say goodbye to everybody.”
“Sean won’t boycott.” She said it with the certainty of a woman who’d brook no argument from the men in her life.
“Emma won’t, either.”
“Maybe a little more time together, without the lies, is just what they need.”
Cat smiled and took a sip of her tea. The bad part of the plan was the fact she’d have to say goodbye to Sean all over again. She wouldn’t look forward to that, considering how sad doing it the first time had made her. But it would be worth it if there was a chance of bringing him and Emma together, especially if it happened before she flew back to Florida.
They talked about the party for a few minutes, but then Mary finished her tea and dug a few dollars out of her purse. “I hate to run, but I promised I’d watch Brianna this afternoon. Joe has a writing deadline and Keri has an editing deadline and the baby doesn’t really care about either one.”
Once she was gone, Cat asked for a tea to go and walked down to the patch of grass that passed for a public park and pulled out her phone.
“Walker Hardware.”
Just hearing his voice brightened her day. “Hi, Russell. Are you busy?”
“Nope. Already had my customer for the day. What’s up?”
She told him the whole story, starting with Emma’s confession and ending with their intention to have the party as planned. “I hope you’ll still come. And Dani and Roger, too.”