Chapter 33
Cora
Saar
I don’t understand why you don’t want to come.
Celeste
The house is beautiful. We would have so much fun.
I have revisions to work on.
Saar
House in Tuscany is the perfect place for that.
Tessa might need me at the bistro
Celeste
I call bullshit.
Lily
I couldjoin you.
Saar
If Lily can work remotely, so can you.
I’ll think about it.
Celeste
That’s what you’ve been saying for two weeks now.
Pitt dances around my legs as I make my way to the kitchen, his tail brushing against my calves.
The cat hasn’t left my side since I moved back home. It’s like he senses something irreplaceable is missing from my life, and he’s determined to fill the void with fur and neediness.
“If you don’t stop this, I will end up stepping on you, silly cat,” I mutter, scooping him up before the guilt of accidentally injuring him is added to my emotional load.
He purrs, loud and steady—an instant balm for the storm inside me. Placing him gently on the counter, I reach for a mug and turn on the coffee machine.
They say we should collect memories, not things.
But things hold memories. They haunt you with them.
Like this espresso machine with all its fancy, over-engineered functions. The one that Xander boughtwhen he lived here. He didn’t keep it. He sent it back to me with the rest of my stuff.
As if brewing coffee could cure heartbreak.
I left it in its box for a while, but two days ago I unpacked it—because apparently I’m a masochist, with a taste for caffe crema and regret.
The hiss and hum fill the silence of the apartment. The rich aroma curls through the air like a ghost. I close my eyes and breathe in deeply, willing it to settle the ache inside me.
Too many memories in such a short time.
