How hard it must have been to celebrate the beginning of his life with his new wife while being terribly worried about his father. Abbey led Nick back to the sofas, her eyes on him, still listening. They both sat down, and he continued.
“We had a two-week stay in the Turks and Caicos. I wanted to postpone it, but Sarah had talked me into going. She said it would be good for me to get my mind off my father’s battle. We spent Tuesday of the second week at that waterfall, just the two of us enjoying ourselves completely. Meanwhile, here in Richmond, my father was dying. I never got to say goodbye. I will always regret it. It makes my day at that waterfall feel completely selfish. I should’ve been with him.”
“There was no way to know, Nick.”
“What upsets me most still is that I allowed Sarah to sway me. I knew in my gut that I wanted to stay with him, and I permitted her to change my mind.”
“I’ll take it down as soon as I get here tomorrow. Or I can take it down right now…”
“It was nothing but a memento that we picked up while we were there. At the time, it reminded us of somewhere wonderful. You can leave it up. Like I said, I won’t see it anyway.”
“But don’t you want your home to be a sanctuary where you can relax and unwind? Knowing that photo was on the wall in my home, I’d want to take it down.”
“I relax and unwind when I’m sleeping. And I don’t sleep in that room. Having you decorate is merely an exercise to appease my grandmother and keep my family quiet. The last thing I need is everyone giving me flak for having an empty house. For them, it would mean that I wasn’t settled or happy, neither of which should they be worried about.”
“They probably just care about you, that’s all.”
“My home is the very least of my worries. Now, I’ve kept you long enough,” he said gently. “I apologize for upsetting you. I’ll let you get home to Max and to bed.”
He stood up. She didn’t want to but she didn’t want to keep him up all night either. She followed him out. Her pile of things was still at the door with Richard most likely off for the night. She picked up her coat and put it on. As she slipped on her shoes, she thought about how Nick had opened up to her tonight. He’d told her a very personal story about his father. She looked up at him, and in that moment of quiet, that big house all around them, it felt intimate.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said as he opened the door. A gust of frigid air blew in.
She smiled at him.
“I enjoyed our talk.”
Even though she’d driven all the way out there for only that short amount of time, she was glad she had. “Me too,” she said, wishing she could stay but knowing that she shouldn’t. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes.” He smiled then, a big, affectionate smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She headed to her car, the excitement of tomorrow already zinging through her.
Chapter Nine
“How’s life treating you?” Gramps said as Abbey took a seat next to him at the kitchen table.
“Okay,” she answered, not sure what he wanted to hear.
“Glad you could stop by.”
“I had a free hour before I have to take Caroline Sinclair to the doctor to run some tests.”
“How is she doing?”
“I’m not sure. She’s complaining about shortness of breath. It could be a lot of things. I’m hoping it isn’t an arrhythmia.”
Gramps nodded, his head wobbling involuntarily. Señor Freckles darted across the room, rubbed up against his leg, and, as he put his hand down to pet the cat, he ran away before he could touch him. Gramps’s movements were slower these days.
“Crazy cat,” she noted.
“He’s all right.”
“Why do you keep him around? He’s the worst pet ever.”
Gramps looked over at the cat. He had climbed to the ledge of the window overlooking the backyard. His black fur was so shiny, and if she didn’t know better, she’d think he was just any other domesticated cat. “He needs me. Remember when I found him? He was skin and bones. When I started putting food out for him, he’d never let me get close, but I could hear his purr. It made me happy.”
Abbey could understand that. She’d felt the same way with Vince, wanting to give him a better life. She was a lot like Gramps. And now, given his health, caring for that cat was something he could still enjoy, and he was successful at it.
“He did just rub your leg,” she said, seeing the cat in a slightly different way now. “That’s the most affection I’ve ever seen from him.”