"Hi. My name is Crystal." She stuck out her hand.
Lily shook it, a bit unsure of how to respond. She glanced toward the registers and saw Nate watching them, his brows drawn together.
"I just wanted to meet you. I know what you mean to Nate, though he never spoke of you during our time together."
"You and Nate are dating?" Lily hoped there was no sign on her face of how the thought bothered her.
"No.” The woman tilted her head to the side. “We were, but when I heard you were back in town, I broke it off."
Lily frowned. "Why did you do that? I'm not back to rekindle things with Nate."
"Maybe not, but I'd always told myself that if you came back before certain things had happened in my relationship with him that I would break things off." Crystal's smile had an edge of sadness to it. "I always thought that in time, he'd come to feel about me like I did about him. That didn't happen."
Lily wasn't sure what to say to this woman. "I'm...sorry?"
"Don't be. If it had been meant to be, we would have been in a different place by now. He's a wonderful man." Another sad smile. "Maybe if it's not meant to be with you either, he can at least gain some closure by you coming back."
"I hope so. I'm not the right woman for him." Lily's heart clenched as she said the words.
"I think he'd disagree with you."
"I'm sorry it didn't work out for you." Though she knew her heart was still tangled up with Nate, she really did hope he could find happiness with someone else. It might be her destiny to be on her own, but it didn't have to be Nate's.
The woman shrugged. "I'm going to assume God has someone else out there for me." She reached out and touched Lily's arm. "Anyway, I just wanted to meet you. I figured you must be someone pretty special to still hold his heart the way you do."
As the woman turned and walked away, Lily stared after her. The conversation did nothing to strengthen her resolve to keep her relationship with Nate on a strictly friendshiplevel. She had to keep reminding herself that the decision she’d made was for the benefit of both of them. Given the type of man he was, Lily knew he would never have agreed to end things once he learned of her diagnosis. He would have stuck by her whether he wanted to or not. She just couldn't have borne the weight of that.
"Ready?"
She looked over to see that he had joined her. When she nodded, he began to push the cart toward the exit of the store. Though he said nothing, she could feel the questions he had about her conversation with Crystal. Unfortunately, there was no way she could share it with him without having to delve into their past.
Once at the truck, he opened her door for her and closed it once she was settled. Lily leaned her head back against the seat. She heard him open and close the back door on the driver's side before sliding behind the wheel.
"Here."
Lily looked over and saw him holding out a chocolate bar. Chocolate with almonds. Her favorite. She met his gaze briefly before reaching out to take the bar from his hand. Her fingertips brushed across his palm. "You didn't have to do that."
"I know. Consider it a thank you for helping me out with this monitor."
Clutching the chocolate bar in her hand, Lily said, "You're welcome."
"Aren’t you going to eat it now?" he asked as he backed out of the parking spot.
"I'm not hungry at the moment." That wasn't the real reason though. In the past when he'd bought her a chocolate bar, she'd always shared with him. It wasn't that she didn't want to share, it was just that it would bring an intimacy to the moment that she couldn't handle right then. "I'll save it for when I need a break from your bookkeeping."
"Well, I'm sure you'll need that sooner rather than later."
They drove in silence once again, but as they headed north out of Collingsworth, Nate said, "Want to share what you and Crystal were talking about?"
"No. That's going to have to stay between her and me." Lily slipped the chocolate bar into her purse. "She seems like a nice woman."
"She is."
And that was the last of their conversation for the duration of the trip.
"Are there directions on how to set this up?" Nate asked as he freed the monitor from its cardboard and Styrofoam prison once they were back in the library.
"I don't need them." Lily undid the cords that were bound by a plastic zip tie. "I've done this a time or two before."
