“Soon. Call me.”
He gave her a wave as she pulled out, then made his way in a daze back to his truck, which was parked a block over. He wasn’t quite sure what had happened tonight. Somehow, during the course of the evening he’d fallen hard for Cassie Linden. A lawyer from New York. A beautiful, strong, resilient woman who’d likely be gone in a month.
But he couldn’t help grinning as he fired up his truck. He wondered whether tomorrow was too soon to call.
Chapter Twelve
On Friday, Cassie drove to Manhattan to meet Phil at the apartment. She hadn’t been back to the city in a whole month. When she’d left, the trees were just leafing out and now here it was May. She felt a sudden yearning for her old life as she headed south on the West Side Highway. To her right the Hudson frothed in the brisk breeze and cyclists flew along the river path. She missed the city’s relentless energy, the spike of adrenaline the minute you set foot on pavement. The sheer immensity of it all. You had to be up for New York.
She exited the parkway at Seventy-ninth Street, hitting the brakes when a car cut in front of her.Thatshe didn’t miss. She tightened her grip on the wheel and kept her eyes peeled for a parking garage. She pulled into one on Seventy-seventh and had just handed over the keys when her phone lit up.
“So how was it?” Her sister launched right in. “Did you sleep with him?”
Cassie glanced around, but the attendant wasn’t paying attention. “No I didn’t sleep with him! It was our first date. We went to dinner. I had a nice time.”
“Nice, that’s it?”
Cassie laughed as she exited the garage into the bright sun. “Okay, more than nice.” She still had a lovely fizzy feeling in her stomach from her date with Glenn. What hadhappenedlast nightanyway? “He’s great. Smart and considerate. Funny in a quiet sort of way.” To tell the truth, she’d been thinking abouthim all day. His adorable confession that Lilah had picked out his shirt. The careful, respectful way he listened without telling her what she ought to do. She wished she hadn’t babbled on about Alzheimer’s, but telling him had felt safe. Like it was okay to be scared.
“What, not good-looking?”
“Oh, he is. Very. I don’t think he realizes it though.”
“Send me a picture.”
“I don’t have a picture.” She smiled to herself, imagining the two of them taking selfies like a couple of kids. Oops. She swerved to avoid stepping in something unsavory. You had to watch your step in the city.
“Will you see him again?”
“I think so.” Something fluttered in her stomach. “I hope so.” She most definitely hoped so.
“What about when you move back to the city?” As usual, Shelly had zeroed in on the heart of the matter. If she hadn’t been a photographer, she would have made a good lawyer.
“Oh Shel, I don’t know. I can’t think that far ahead. Right now, I’m meeting Phil and a real estate agent at the apartment. We’re going to list it.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m ready. I mean I don’t have a choice. Phil told me he can’t carry half the mortgage anymore. I’d have to buy him out, which I can’t afford.”
Shelly sniffed. “I bet Natalie put him up to this.”
“Whatever. She’s got two kids, and what woman wants to move into the ex-wife’s apartment anyway?”
“At least you have Glenn to distract you.”
Shedidneed a distraction, but was Glenn just a distraction? She had a good feeling about him, but it had only been one date. She couldn’t factor him into her thinking. But the thought of himtugged at her. Their surprising connection. The way her body rose when he kissed her. And kissed her.
“Gotta run,” she told Shelly. She was coming up on the apartment building now, a leafy street on the coveted Upper West Side that had once seemed so promising. Elegant stone façade, detailed moldings. A beautiful building. She gave the doorman a wave and rode the elevator up to the sixth floor. She felt a soothing familiarity in the plush stillness, the way the carpet gave as she walked down the hall. Each door marked by a discreet gold number. So different from her father’s house where chaos ruled.
She unlocked the door, surprised to see Phil already there, making himself at home on the couch.How did he still have a key?
“My meeting got canceled,” he said by way of greeting, “so I got here a little early.”
“Hi to you too.”
“Sorry.” He looked up from his laptop. “Just finishing some email.” It threw her to see him there, his suit jacket casually slung over a chair like he’d just popped home for lunch, although when had he ever done that. He hadn’t set foot in the apartment since he moved out a year-and-a-half ago. She wasn’t oblivious, she’d realized they weren’t connecting but figured they could make it right once Andrew left for college. They would make time to talk, spend some lazy mornings in bed, and if their marriage had deflated surely it hadn’t gone completely flat.
But a week after they dropped Andrew at Tulane—one week!—the apartment so empty and quiet, Phil announced he was leaving. She’d just stepped out of the shower, an ordinary weekday morning, but the way he met her eyes in the mirror stopped her.
