“I will,” I said, and even though his young charges had FaceTimed me with Bryce yesterday, I added, “Please tell Teddy and Finn hi from me.”
His words were the equivalent of a salute. “You got it.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, aware I initiated a goodbye but not wanting to be the first to say it. “And let me know if they share any funny sound bites from dinner, okay?”
“Sure,” Connor said, then took a breath. “Have a good rest of your night, Olivia.”
He hung up before I could whisper it back.
Twenty-seven
Christian went back to Elkins the next day to see Annie again before he drove back to Massachusetts. I took the elevator down to Finlay and got there right after he’d been buzzed through the maximum-security doors. His eyes were red, like he’d been repeatedly wiping away tears. I didn’t need to ask to surmise that Annie probably hadn’t recognized him.
“Please keep in touch, Miss Lupo.” He gave me a hug. “If you ever want to talk, or if anything…” He trailed off, and I was grateful. I could imagine, but didn’t want tohear, the rest of the sentence. “Let me give you my phone number, okay?”
After airdropping me his contact information—Christian was skilled with a smartphone—he asked about my “young man.”
“Oh, Connor’s not my young man,” I said, flushing a little. Had Connor not mentioned I’d taken his heart and stomped on it? “I’m not sure he was ever my young man.”
But he wanted to be, and it felt like he could’ve been.
If I’d only let him in.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that last part,” Christian said smoothly. “As I don’t believe it to be true.”
I folded my arms over my squirming lungs. “Our timing was off,” I told him. “It couldn’t have been worse.”
Christian considered. “One thing about timing,” he finally said, “is that it is fairly malleable. You can play with it, reshape it to your advantage. That doesn’t mean it’s always easy, of course. Your grandmother and I had perfect timing, but it ended the way it did because of an obstacle. We could not surpass my parents’ disapproval.” He paused. “But from what your dad told me about Annette and your grandfather… He told the timing to screw itself.”
My heart twisted. Annie and Pops had met in Grand Central Station’s oyster bar a few days after her twenty-third birthday. She was having lunch with her uncle while Pops was waiting for his train…because he had gotten an exciting new job and apartment in Washington, DC. He was leaving for his new life.
He never left.
I knew what Christian was insinuating. Everything was pushing my grandfather into his next chapter, but after he met Annie, he flipped back pages to stay in New York.
But how could I do that with Connor? It’s not like I could go back to the beginning of vacation, that was impossible.
God, I’d madesucha mess.
I reached into my purse and handed Christian an envelope; his eyes widened when he pulled out a picture: the Polaroid of Annie standing barefoot by the tractor. “No.” He started shakinghis head, but I caught his grip on the photo tighten. “Olivia, you must keep this.”
“Don’t worry,” I told him. “I made copies, and I have a feeling this was your photo first.”
His smile was nostalgic. “It was tacked above my desk at Georgetown, and she and Andrew helped me pack up my room after junior year. I guess she stole it.” He slipped the photo back in the bag. “Thank you—thank you very much.”
The corners of my eyes prickled as I gave him one last hug goodbye.
* * *
On Sunday afternoon, my dad went to pick up Erica and the twins at the airport, and when they got home, it looked like the last thing my stepmother wanted to do was unpack.
Luckily, I gave her an excuse not to.
“Do you want to walk?” I asked her, Swede already leashed and ready to roll. “Get some fresh air and feel the breeze in your hair?”
Erica loved a stroll to stretch her legs and unwind after a day of travel. “Sure,” she said, releasing a deep sigh. “That sounds perfect.”
I was too nervous for nuance, so once we were two houses down, I apologized. “I’m so sorry, Erica,” I said. “I’m sorry for putting glue in your shampoo.”
