I wasn’t hungry, so buying a bowl for myself was out of the question. And as promised, Phoebe had already ordered her meal, so all I had to do was pick it up.
Twenty minutes later, I parked in front of her house. Hurrying up the front steps, I noticed how they creaked under my weight. I hoped she got rid of this place. It was a death trap. I’d stayed in quite a few dumps as a student, when saving money was more important than comfort, but this place took the cake.
She opened the door before I even managed to knock. Once again, she was flustered. I expected her to be wearing sweats or something, but she was in a dress, and her hair was elegantly pulled to one side.
“Hey!” She sounded breathless. “I heard the car.”
Had she dressed up for me? I loved the thought of that.
I held up her bowl. “Dinner is served.”
“You didn’t buy anything for you?”
“I was at my parents. Mom cooked, so I’m stuffed.”
Her face fell. “Griffin, I thought…” She shook her head.
“What?”
“I thought you wanted to have dinner together to discuss how things were going with Jude or something.”
“Phoebe, I just wanted to bring you dinner. Besides, look how happy you are.”
She smiled, taking the bag from me and carefully pulling out the bowl as we approached the dining room. She’d already put forks and knives for two on the table.
“Thanks, it’s my favorite. I haven’t had it since I moved here because it’s not exactly close.”
“Where did you live before?” I asked.
“In the Encanto neighborhood.”
“With him,” I stated.
She nodded, lowering her eyes to the bowl. “We lived together in a one-bedroom apartment.”
“I don’t get it. He’s a doctor, and you were working in his office. He must have made a lot of bank.”
“He wanted to pay back his student debt as quickly as possible.”
“There’s more to that,” I said firmly.
She looked up from her bowl. “How do you know?”
“You tensed up.”
Her eyes turned misty. “I never really asked for anything. And… he used a lot of those savings to buyhera car. I saw it on Facebook today. He posted it with the comment ‘Surprising my baby for no reason at all. Because she deserves it.’” She waved her hand in front of her face. “I don’t even know why it upsets me so much.”
“Phoebe, it’s a normal reaction.”
“I knew we were saving money, so whenever he asked me if I wanted something, I’d tell him I didn’t need anything. It didn’t matter if it was Christmas or my birthday. I think the mostextravagant thing I ever asked for was a Kindle, and that was during a Prime Day, so it was already on sale.” She swallowed hard, and her voice was rougher when she spoke again. “I just don’t get why I wasn’t worth anything to him.”
I pulled my chair closer, fighting to keep my temper under control, which was insane because I usually had zero temper. Clearly, that didn’t apply where Phoebe was concerned.
“Some people are the lowest of the low. They’re so self-centered that they don’t care about anyone else but themselves.”
“You’re right. I think he simply saw me as a painting or piece of furniture, someone who’d been part of his life for so long that he could completely neglect me.”
If she were mine, I’d give her the world: everything I owned, everything money could buy. If money couldn’t buy it, I’d somehow still find a way to get it for her. But she wasn’t mine. And she was obviously still working on recovering from the relationship fiasco. The last thing she needed was me barreling into her life. Besides, relationships weren’t my thing. I didn’t want to hurt her.
