Working for three solid hours, he almost managed to push losing Liz into the dark recesses of his mind a few times. But the look in her eyes when she’d realized it was over haunted him.
“Hey, Chief?” Barbara stepped into his office just before her lunch break started. “Josh Kowalski was just here. Asked me to give you these and said they appreciated it a lot, but it’s in your driveway and his sister’s all set now.”
He knew what was in her hand before she tossed the keys to the Mustang on his desk. “Thanks, Barbara.”
“You okay? You look a little off.”
A little off was an understatement. More like upside down, inside out and sideways. “Just tired. And I hate paperwork.”
“You always hate paperwork, but you don’t always look this bad. The last time was when your wife...oh. Do you want a cupcake?”
“No, thanks.” Sugar wasn’t going to help him now. “But I don’t feel so hot. After your lunch break, I might go home and I might not come in tomorrow.”
“No problem. I’ll be quick.”
She ended up grabbing takeout, which she brought back to the office. Free to leave, Drew closed up his office and headed for the SUV. He wasn’t sure if word of their breakup would have gotten around yet, but he still walked at a fast pace with his head down to avoid conversation. And once he was in his vehicle, he pointed it toward home.
His heart broke all over again when he saw the Mustang sitting in the driveway, just as Josh told Barbara it would be. He unlocked the door and lowered himself into the driver’s seat. Though the car had been his for twenty years, it would forever be tied to Liz in his mind now.
It smelled like her, and when he ran his hand over the dash, all he could think about was how amazing she looked driving it. The car had suited her and seeing her drive it had suited him.
But it was over. She’d booted him and now she’d booted his car. Drew bent his head, resting his forehead on the steering wheel, and stayed there for a while.
Chapter Twenty
Liz did what she’d always done to cope with heartbreak. She went to Rosie. There had been countless bouts of tears and high drama in her teenage years that the woman had soothed away, but she didn’t know if even Rose’s magic could work on this pain. None of that drama had begun to compare to really and truly having her heart broken.
She parked the truck she’d borrowed to replace Drew’s Mustang in its usual spot next to the barn and walked to the back door, which opened into the kitchen. That’s where she expected to find Rose and she wasn’t wrong.
The older woman set down the pan she was washing back into the soapy water and dried her hands before opening her arms for a hug. Liz walked into her embrace and instantly felt a little better. Not a lot, but it was better than sitting in her house alone, feeling sorry for herself.
“I thought maybe I’d see you today,” Rose said, “and I made two dozen mini pumpkin muffins for you, honey.”
“I hope you don’t have plans for them because I might eat them all.”
Rose let go of Liz and nudged her toward the table to sit down. “If you eat them all, I’ll hold your hair while you throw up and then I’ll make you some more.”
“You’re the best, Rosie.”
“I think we’ll try talking things out before we try the gorge-on-pumpkin-muffins-until-you-vomit route, though.”
A couple of minutes later, a plate appeared in front of her bearing warm pumpkin muffins cut in half and slathered in butter. Then a glass of milk.
“There’s no talking it out,” Liz said after she’d demolished three of the mini muffins. “We want different things and we suck at figuring out how to talk about that, I guess.”
“There’s a start. You want different things. What does Drew want?”
Liz rolled her eyes. “Everybody knows what Drew wants. He wants children. That’s what he wants more than anything.”
“And what do you want?”
“I don’t know.” That was the worst part. She just wasn’t sure, no matter how much sleep she lost thinking about it. “I was thinking about getting a degree if something interests me. Or at least taking some classes.”
“You can’t do those things with Drew while having a family?”
“So many women want to do things but, once they have kids, they never do.”
Rose pushed another muffin at her. “That’s true. And very many women have kids and still do the things they want to do. But here’s maybe the most important question. Do you even want to be a mother?”
“Yes.” She didn’t even have to think about it. “I really do. But I have to figure out what I want to do with my life first.”
Rose frowned and slapped her hand on the table. “Child, exactly what is it you think you’re supposed to be doing?”