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Chapter Twenty-Three
Quinn
Alice eyes me skeptically as I stand up from the couch and toss the blanket back down on the cushion. “Are you sure you want to go into work again?”
“Yeah,” I answer with a sigh. “I can’t keep sitting around here, thinking about everything that happened. It will drive me crazy. Besides, Willa said that we’ve had a lot of interest after the charity gala so I’ll have plenty of work to keep me busy.”
“You don’t have to act so strong, Quinn. I know this is killing you.”
I shrug, tears welling up in my eyes. Turning away from her, I fight them back, unwilling to cry over this any more. “What other choice do I have? My daughter needs me and I have a business to run. It’s time to get back to real life.”
“So that’s it? You’re just giving up?”
“It’s been a week since Clay died, Al. How long am I supposed to wait?”
She scowls. “Just because you’re going back to work and getting back to your life doesn’t mean you have to give up on him. Give him more time.”
“It hurts too much. Each morning, I hope that today will be the day he shows up and then each night, I feel heartbroken all over again when he doesn’t show.”
“Have you thought about going to see him?”
I nod. “I have.”
“Then why haven’t you? For all we know, he’s sitting at the clubhouse thinking that you don’t want anything to do with him.”
I press my lips into a thin line and shake my head. “He knows.”
“How?”
“I’ve sent him a few messages, letting him know I was here if he wanted to talk.”
She smiles, hope filling her eyes. “And? Did he ever text you back?”
“No. Like I said, it’s time to move on.”
“Quinn,” she calls as I walk out of the room and I shake my head.
“Enough, Alice.”
She steps into the foyer, calling my name but I ignore her as I start up the stairs to shower and get ready for work. God, I don’t want to do this but I’m just hoping that if I force myself to go, it will slowly start to get better.
“Quinn!” Alice yells and my gaze jerks to her in the middle of the foyer. She’s staring out of the front window and I turn, gasping at the sight of Lucas standing in front of the stairs, looking up at the house. There are dark circles under his eyes and his t-shirt is wrinkled like he’s spent the last couple days in it, at least, but even in his sadness, he looks so damn handsome I could cry.
“What do you think he wants?” I ask and Alice scoffs.
“Only one way to find out.”
My heart thunders in my chest as I stare out the window and shake my head. “No, I can’t.”
“You have to,” Alice hisses. “This is what you’ve been waiting for.”
She runs into the living room and I suck in a breath as I watch him. He hasn’t moved from his place at the base of the stairs and it scares me that he hasn’t moved. Shit, what if he’s here to end things? Alice walks back in with the blanket I discarded on the couch and tosses it to me. I catch it, glancing down at my tank top and sleep shorts.
“Go talk to him.”
My belly flips as I nod and walk back down the stairs before throwing the blanket around my body. My heart races and my palms sweat as I stop in front of the door and suck in a breath.
“Whatever happens, Sis, it’s going to be okay.”
