“I understand, Aubrey. I understand more than you could possibly know. You are a diamond, shining in the dark. It would be impossible for someone to leave you of their own volition.”
His gaze was pulling her under. She felt herself slipping into the abyss. It would be so easy to get lost in those brown depths, to drown in them. She leaned forward, toward him, not sure what she intended. His face was shaped like Josh’s, but his chin was different. His eyes were, too. Honestly, he looked nothing like her husband. But there was something about him . . .
“Hey, you two. What’s up?”
Meghan’s cheer yanked Aubrey back into her chair, and she pulled her hand from Chase’s grip.
“Hi, Meghan. Nothing major. We’re just chatting.” She heard the slur in her voice. Damn. She needed some water. Her head. It was so thick, so full.
Meghan sat next to Aubrey, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “You might want to slow down there, sugar pop. Linda went home. I’m glad you’re still here. I was afraid you might have slipped off into the night.”
“Not yet,” Chase said lightly. “We were just getting to know each other.”
Meghan looked at the two of them closely and raised an eyebrow. “Am I interrupting?”
Aubrey laughed. It was a high-pitched whinny, bordering on hysteria. Drunk laugh. Drunk girl. The thought made her giggle again. “Of course not. We were just talking about . . . Chase, start again. What were you saying?”
He didn’t miss a beat, and Aubrey liked him for it. Almost as if he knew she was getting too toasted and wanted to protect her secret.
“Like I was saying, Chicago’s had the worst winter in decades. We’ve all been freezing. The idea of some warmer weather seemed like a good one when I booked the ticket.”
Yada yada yada. Aubrey watched his mouth move. It was a good mouth, full lipped but not overly so, just the right amount of cushion. She didn’t like kissing lipless men.
Good God. She really was drunk.
Meghan had a beer, dark and thick, Guinness, from the looks of it. She took a sip, and the foam gathered on her upper lip. “So you’ve just been sitting here, talking about the weather. Uh-huh. Chase, what do you do?”
Aubrey could have sworn a cloud passed across his face. “I write freelance. Articles. Boring stuff, computers mostly. It pays the bills.” He launched into a funny a story about a jail-broken iPhone found on the L, and the tension passed.
They talked, and talked, and talked, Chase regaling them with stories, Meghan countering with some of her tall tales. Aubrey pretended she was an ordinary woman, out for an ordinary evening, with ordinary friends. She went along for the ride, enjoyed it even, until she looked at the clock and realized it was almost one in the morning. She was more than tipsy, and exhausted, and ready to go home. After Meghan’s arrival, things had gone back to normal for her and Chase, just two people who found some common ground having a drink. Ships passing in the night.
She stood carefully. “Guys, this has been fun, but I really have to head out. That sixteen miles is catching up with me.”
Meghan gave her a hug. “I’m staying. I don’t need to open the store until noon tomorrow. Chase? Another?”
“Actually, Meghan, I have to go, too. I’m supposed to fly back to Chicago in the morning. Aubrey, why don’t I walk you out?”
He met Aubrey’s eyes. She stared back, willing herself not to get lost.
It all flashed before her, how the night was going to go.
They wouldn’t speak. It was almost as if words would break the spell, and they both knew it. They’d just walk out of the bar and around the corner to the parking lot behind the coffee shop, not touching but very aware of each other. The drive would take less than five minutes. He would follow her into the kitchen, and when the door was closed and the alarm set, he would pull her into his arms.
And when his lips touched hers, she would know.
Josh.
The tenuous hold she had on her emotions would be broken. She’d accept his caresses and return them ravenously. They wouldn’t even make it out of the kitchen.
Without breaking the kiss, he would simply lift her onto the counter, push her dress up and out of the way, slide off her panties, and sheath himself in one stroke. She would moan, deep in her throat, and he would answer her cry. It would be over too quickly.
They would move to the bedroom and do it all over again. And again.
She didn’t know how much time had passed, whether a minute or an hour. Years would have gone by too quickly. She had missed him, so much. And now he had come home.
CHAPTER 10
Daisy
Today
It was dark out, and Daisy was still on the back deck when Tom came home from work.
He took one look at her and sat in the matching Adirondack chair. He reached a hand out and touched her knee.
“What’s wrong?”
Tom had a way of asking questions that Daisy didn’t know how to answer: How are you? Are you all right? Do you still love me?
“The letter,” she said, shrugged at the paper.