Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 106798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
I adore her.
When she moves on, when she follows her dreams, it will be bittersweet.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Emersyn
Leah Rue hires me. We click like long-lost friends. Sisters. Like I did with Suzie.
“I got the job!” I yell, calling Zach from my hotel room in Manhattan after my meeting with Leah.
“That’s great. When am I getting rid of you?”
I giggle. “Soon. January eighth. I put it in your planner on the tenth—just a guess. But I don't really expect you to take the day off for me. Oh my god … I have to give all my clients notice. This. Is. Happening!”
“Stop. I want to take you to the airport.”
“What are you doing?” I stare at the ceiling as I plop back onto the bed.
“I just fed Harry.”
“Jesus … HARRY!” I shoot to sitting. “Harry Pawter. Shit. I haven’t even thought about him. I can’t take him with me. Leah said last year she was at her apartment in Manhattan for less than ten days total. I … I’m going to have to find a new home for him.” The male cat I didn’t want has me all choked up. Stupid Brady.
“Why? He has a home.”
“No. He’s not your cat. I won’t dump that responsibility on to you. And you’re gone a lot.”
“If you could see him on my lap right now, you wouldn’t say he’s not my cat.”
“Zach …” I blink back my tears.
“It’s fine. If I’m gone for an extended time, I’ll ask a neighbor to feed him.”
“I don’t know …”
“What? You’re going to give him to some stranger? What happens when you’re done traveling? Won’t you want your cat?”
“Why are you so good to me?”
He chuckles. “Good question.”
I grin and roll my eyes. “Will I see you in the morning? I’ll be home early.”
“Nope. I fly out early as well. I’ll be gone overnight.”
“Well, safe travels.”
“You too, Em.”
I disconnect and wince as my heart suffers in conflict. I got the job. It’s a huge opportunity for me professionally and on a personal level. I can’t wait to travel the world with Leah. But … I’m going to miss my husband. So very much.
We blink.
That’s it.
One tiny blink and New Year’s passes with Zach in flight and me watching the ball drop from the comfort of Zach's sofa with Harry Pawter next to me.
Some packing.
Several dinners together.
Good wine.
Many laughs. And a few tears when Suzie comes up in conversation—my tears. Zach is much stronger.
Then … it’s my day to leave for Hawaii early in the morning.
I remind Zach that I can get a cab or an Uber, but he’s already taken the day off. On the way to the airport, Zach goes through a checklist of things for me, like: did I remember my medication, and do I have plenty of money?
When we get to the terminal drop-off, he sets my suitcase on the sidewalk and closes his trunk before turning to me.
My nerves are fried. It’s the excitement and fear of what’s to come for me; it’s traveling to Hawaii, but mostly it’s the goodbye that’s just seconds away. The half bagel I forced down before we left home compounds the nausea from my nerves as it sits in my stomach like a brick.
“You have no idea when you’ll be back?” he asks for the hundredth time.
I shake my head and shrug. “Leah lets life lead her. We might be back in two weeks or two months … or longer.”
Ten days. Last year she was home ten days out of three hundred and sixty-five. That’s three hundred and fifty-five days without Zach—if he’s home when I come home.
Home. Is his home mine? Do I really have a home or do I simply have a cat and a man who gave me health insurance and a roof over my head?
“You have me as your emergency contact in your phone, right?”
I return another nod, rubbing my nervous lips together. I’ll probably have a fucking seizure before he can pull away from the curb.
This is it. I’m going to lose it so hard, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
Jesus … here it comes.
“Hey … no. What’s this all about?” Zach palms my face with both hands and catches my tears with his thumbs like little windshield wipers. My lower lip quivers, and I fight like hell to keep from going into an all-out ugly cry.
“Happy tears.” Again, I try to swallow that boulder in my throat. “They’re happy tears.” I do my best to reassure him, but it doesn’t completely erase the concern in his eyes.
His beautiful brown eyes.
His handsome smile.
That sharp jaw covered in scratchy whiskers that he keeps at the perfect length—Zach is the most beautiful man inside and out. And I’m going to miss him like crazy.
“I … I’m worried that I’m going to feel inadequate working with Leah. And … there’s you.”