I zipped four sundresses into a hanging bag, knowing that I absolutely loved the Summer Splash. I was just in amood.
“You said, like, a million times that you weren’t going to this thing this year. What made you change your mind?”
I shrugged noncommittally. So, yes, maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that I hadn’t been able to get Parker out of my mind since he showed up on my doorstep two days ago and shone in that board room, damn it. I saw him in a brand-new way, one that combined the charm of our history with fresh feelings for a real man at the top of hisgame, one who could command a room but also listen, who could make rules but also take criticism. I had known Parker was cute and smart and all that. But it had eluded me that the man was acatch.
But Parker meant baggage. He meant backstories. He meant mothers who were best friends. Most of all, he meant living in the shadow of a dead woman, because Parker would never get over her. And I wasn’t willing to put myself through that.
Fortunately, Martin either didn’t notice my pause or simply decided not to press me on it. “Traveling with a hanging bag seems like a nightmare,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “It is. It totally is, but Mom will be mad if I’m wrinkled.” I sprayed the perfume that Harris got me in the air and walked through it, feeling my annoyance dissipate. “I owe you big-time,” I said, turning back to look at my friend.
He nodded. “I know. And don’t screw this up. If you throw him out like last week’s garbage, it will not do great things for my career.”
I smiled. “I won’t” I said. And I meant it. I couldn’t count the number of times over the months since Thad and I had split that I had said I wasn’t going to move on, that I wasn’t going to get serious with anyone. And, while Harris and I weren’tseriousper se, we were heading in the direction of serious at a rapid clip. “I think I’ll probably stay at his place tonight,” I said. “That okay?”
Martin groaned. “Is it okay not to have to sleep with my noise-canceling headphones on? Yeah. I’d say that’s okay.”
I gasped, flushing, and put my hand to my mouth.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” Martin said, even though he wasn’t.
I bit my lip and said, “Well, let’s just say if I had slept with Harris a little bit earlier, I would have realized a lot of things about my marriage sooner.”
I looked at my watch. Five fifteen. I couldn’t wait to get to my date, but Harris wasn’t meeting me until eight thirty. There was something decidedly less pleasant I had to do first.
I checked my hair and lip gloss in the mirror and adjusted the high waistband of my pants. Martin said, “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
“Of course I want you to come with me. But I think if I have you there as a crutch and a decoy, I’d just be delaying the inevitable.”
Martin stood up, kissed me goodbye, and said, “You look fabulous. Knock ’em dead.”
As I walked outside, I realized that I still mostly felt like a tourist in New York. And that was a good thing. Every little detail still seemed magical and new. The world was a different place than it had been; I was a different person than I had been. My thoughts wandered to Cape Carolina and to Parker. But I pushed him out of my mind, as I had been doing more and more these past few days.
It distracted me so much that I almost walked right past the Plaza. Abruptly adjusting course, I made my way up the steps and through the revolving gilded door with the pristinePs. And as I entered the lobby, my eyes fixed on the intricate,gilded ceiling. I passed a giant arrangement of peonies on my way into the Palm Court. I thought I was cool, calm, and collected, but when my eyes met his across the bar, I realized that, sex or no sex, great dates or not, seeing Thad again, here, in what was my town now, felt like a sucker punch. At least he was alone.
When he saw me, he stood up, ever the gentleman—except, of course, when he was sleeping with other people while we were married. He pulled me to him, and I felt his body go limp against mine, the way it used to, even after everything, even after all of it. We weren’t in love. I knew that now. But our bond hadn’t disappeared overnight.
When I finally pulled away, he wiped his eyes, and I realized the shoulder of my top was wet. I climbed up onto my bar stool, and Thad followed suit. He took my hand and said, “I just miss you so much, Amelia. Every day.”
I made eye contact with the bartender and said, “I’ll have whatever you’d make for Eloise if she was all grown-up.”
He laughed, and Thad sniffed and laughed, too.
“I miss you, too, Thad. I really do. I’m angry at you, but I’m happy for you. And I hate going through what we’re going through, but I love you for all the things you taught me about myself.” I paused. Then I finally asked, “Why are we here?”
When Thad had called and said he’d be in New York and asked to meet, I couldn’t imagine why. Our divorce was all but done. The papers would be filed next week. In Florida, they get the job done quickly.
He smiled nervously, which made me nervous. I wasgrateful a martini glass appeared in front of me with something that tasted like pink lemonade. Cute. This was what a grown-up Eloise would drink for sure.
“First, I wanted to apologize for everything with Kitty that day in our apartment.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. What in the world was that?”
He shook his head. “I feel guilty saying that it has been hard for me because I know it has been hard for you. But I didn’t come out. I didn’t plan or prepare for it. I was just sort of pushed out with no warning. My entire life changed in one day, and I wasn’t ready.”
I wanted to say—snarkily—that we were both pushed with no warning, to ask him if he thought my entire life hadn’t changed.
“I wasn’t prepared for Kitty being so upset, and you know I can’t stand it when Kitty is upset.”
