I braced my hand against the cold, white wall with every step forward. “I can see it’s mutual.”
“So this time I got you something different.” He fished a long, narrow, rectangular box with a black bow on top out of his suede jacket. “Happy birthday, Maggie.”
“Jim, you shouldn’t have.”
“I really hope you like it.” He opened the box for me. A bracelet made of silver and black pearls nestled inside. So simple. So elegant.
“It’s beautiful.” I looked at his grin. “But I can’t take it.”
His forehead creased. “Why not?”
“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
“Maggie.” He smiled again. “Even though I don’t know the details, I’m aware that you’ve been through a terrible tragedy. I also know that you only broke your engagement with Gennaro a few days ago. I’d be an idiot if I was looking for anything other than your friendship.”
My eyes moistened.
“No. No tears on your birthday.” He took the bracelet and hooked it around my wrist. “Looks beautiful on you.”
“Thanks.” I didn’t have any strength to resist. I just wanted to hide in my room and be left alone so I could cry my eyes out in peace. “Can you take me to my room now? I’m really tired.”
“Hold on a sec.” He checked his phone. “Yup. I can do that now.”
My eyes narrowed. “What are you up to, Cassidy?”
“You’ll see.”
At my room, I found a huge cluster of people and a cake and festive noises.Dear God. Another surprise party.
My eyes traveled through the familiar faces. The loving faces. The old friends. The new friends. Faces of people continuously showing me I was loved and that I mattered. The people who not only believed I deserved to be happy but who would go out of their way to help me be happy.
Yet when the face I yearned to see was missing, happiness went missing too.
Scene 86
Maggie
I approached Samantha’s ear. “Mike arranged this?”
She licked some whipped cream off her fork. “Not that I know of. It was Cassidy’s idea.”
I frowned, the laughter and chatter falling annoyingly on my ears. “Do you know where he is?”
My manager shook her head. Then her eyes flicked to the side. “Ex alert. Do you need help?”
I looked to the side and saw Kyle coming my way. “Thanks, but I gotta deal with this.”
“Good luck.” She edged away.
Kyle’s pestle green sweater made his eyes look like a turquoise sea. Beautiful yet drowning. “I hope you don’t mind me coming to visit you.”
I shuffled to my bed and slowly sat on the edge. “I don’t mind, but I’d like to know what you expected to find here.”
The bed sank next to me as he sat. “I didn’t expect anything. Maybe I did when I saw you a couple of days ago, but not now.”
“Why’s that?”
He bent his head. “Your father told me the truth.”
