“Why not?” I frown.
He snorts a laugh. “You? Living in a town in the middle of nowhere?” He barks a laugh and it irritates me. “You wouldn’t survive a week.”
“Those three days I was there… they were among the best days of my life. I don’t know exactly what I’m suggesting, but all I know is, if Lorna’s not a part of my future, I don’t want it.”
The corners of his mouth twitch upwards slightly before throwing his head back and downing the rest of his drink. “Then I guess you know what you have to do.”
10
“Holy Cow! It’s busy in here today. My feet feel like they’re gonna drop off,” Maeve complains, clinging onto the edge of the counter for dear life.
“It’s a good thing.”
“What? That my feet are gonna drop off? Thanks for the sympathyfriend. Love you too,” she says sarcastically with a wink.
I slap her playfully on the arm. “I mean how busy it is, silly. Full tables is what we need to survive.”
“We’re gonna be okay, you know.Wright’s Dinerlives on! Plus the money Royce gave you. You don’t have to worry yourself sick over your finances anymore.”
The sheer mention of him has my heart squeezing so tightly in my chest that I can’t catch my breath. It’s been eleven days, five hours and thirty three minutes to be precise since I watched him disappear down the road and I haven’t been able to shake him from my mind since.
My thoughts are plagued with the memory of him and my dreams consist of a future that will certainly never happen.
I still hate the fact that I took his money, but I’ve come to the realisation that as he said, there’s no shame in accepting help, but I don’t think he was going to take no for an answer anyway, it’s one of the things I loved about him.
“You still miss him don’t you?” Mae asks, pulling me out of wherever my mind was just at.
“Is it that obvious?” I run a hand through my hair and heave out a laugh. “God, look at me, pining over a guy I knew all of three days and will likely never see again. Does that make me an idiot?”
“Absolutely not. It’s called being in love, and who knows, he might surprise you.”
“What do you mean?”
She gives me a knowing smile. “If it’s meant to be, you two will see each other again.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.” Mae goes to say something else but is called over by a customer.
What was all that about?
The door bell chimes and the second I look up, my heart sinks, the bitter tang of bile filling my mouth. Trav saunters into the diner, his strides cool and confident as they make their way over to me.
“You’re not welcome here.”
“Yeah, what else is new?” He sits himself down and taps on the counter.
“Ugh, don’t you know how to take a hint?” Maeve sidles up to me, crossing her arms over her chest. “You blew your chance with my girl the second you decided her money was more important than her love. She gave you everything, more than your sorry ass deserved, and you know what, you’ll never be good enough for her. So why don’t you just fuck off, yeah?”
“Oh, Mae. How I love that dirty mouth of yours. Your husband’s a lucky guy.”
“Leave her out of this, Trav and just go,” I say, trying to keep my cool, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a reaction.
“Come on, babe. Don’t be like that.” He reclines in his seat.
Mae turns to me, “go on in the back, I’ll get rid of him,” she whispers, nudging me away and I nod, taking off into the room in the back of the diner.
I slump down into the sofa, leaning forward on my elbows, wishing that Royce was here. I need him. I need him here, with me. I’ve never needed anyone like I need him.
