He also kind of wanted to strangle himself.
Because in the few weeks he’d known her, Maddy had managed to fill every corner of his life. He’d fallen so hard and so deep. How had he let that happen?
Why hadn’t he stopped himself, somehow?
He entered through the front door of his half of the main house and went on through the empty great room all the way to the wall of windows that faced the sea. The clouds had cleared off and the sky was a pure, uninterrupted blue.
Four short weeks they’d had together. And now he could not imagine his life without her in it.
* * *
“Where’s Madison?” Karin asked when Sten went downstairs for dinner.
He explained in a rational, calm voice that Madison was worried about all the photographers that had been showing up. She’d decided to go. “She’s leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow.”
Coco jumped up. “I need to go see her.”
“Sit down, honey,” said Karin. “Eat your dinner. I’ll give her a call later. We’ll all say goodbye before she goes.”
“But, Mommy. I don’twanther to go.”
“She can’t stay forever,” said Ben in his best Little Professor voice. “She’s a movie star. She has acting she has to do.”
“But we didn’t even get to finish our sandcastle.” Coco’s big eyes welled with tears. “It’s not fair. It’s just not fair!”
“Honey...”
“It’s not fair!”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Karin held out her arms.
Coco flung herself into them. “Mama. She’s my friend. She’s my friend and now she’s going.” The tears overflowed.
Karin got up. Coco clung to her, lifting her legs and wrapping them around her waist as she sobbed against her neck. “We’ll be back,” Karin said, and turned for the hallway that led to the bedrooms.
Sten’s dad asked gruffly, “You tell Madison that you love her?”
Across the table, Ben’s eyes were big as Frisbees.
“Dad, come on,” Sten replied and had no idea what to follow up with. He finished lamely, “Time and place, man.”
“So that’s a no?”
“It, um, didn’t work out.”
“That’s a no.” His father seemed to stare right through him. “Pass the broccoli,” he said, adding, “fool,” so low it was almost inaudible.
But Sten heard him. And judging by the way his nephew’s eyes got even wider, Ben heard him, too.
* * *
Karin flopped down in the deck chair next to him. She handed him a beer and then tapped it with her can of Hansen’s Natural Grape Soda. It was twilight, the last sliver of the day vanishing out there over the waves.
For several minutes, they just sat there, staring off at the ocean.
But his sister’s silence couldn’t last. “I talked to Madison. They’re leaving for Executive Airport at eight in the morning.” The small airstrip where the private planes took off was about five miles outside of town. “Dad and I and the kids will go over to the cottage at seven thirty to say goodbye.” She stopped talking, probably waiting for him to admit what a blockhead he was to turn Maddy down.
He said nothing.
