Pieces of You(72)

My first instinct is to call her and tell her I’m coming home, but I don’t know if she’ll even answer her phone. For all I know she’s changed my name in her phone to “Not Worth It” or “Asshole” the way Lindsay’s friend Michelle did when she broke up with her boyfriend. Just the possibility of Claire ignoring my calls or giving me a shitty nickname makes me anxious. I can’t call her. Besides, I want my arrival to be a surprise.

I take a picture of the lab results and text them to Lindsay and Nathan then I delete the text messages and their numbers from my phone. Next, I call the airline and book a flight to Kauai so I can get my stuff and hop on a plane back to the mainland tonight. Then I’ll arrange for Tina and Cora to help me plan the surprise for tomorrow, Friday, when Claire has the day off.

Just thinking of finally seeing Claire again after four weeks apart makes me ache inside. I hope I haven’t fucked things up too badly.

I pull out of the parking lot and head straight for the airport. My suitcase is already packed and tucked away in the trunk. As I head down the highway with the green mountains on my right and the Pacific Ocean on my left, all I can think of is the gift I left for Claire in my apartment.

I actually left it in my apartment the night before I left to Kauai, but I had to ask Tina to go into my apartment to attach a note to the gift a couple of weeks later. I hoped that I could get Claire to go to my apartment and search for the gift while I was gone. I thought that if there were anything that would make her wait for me, the gift and the note would be it. I never expected to be coming home to so much uncertainty. I guess I’ll have to save that surprise for another time.





Chapter Thirty-Four





Claire




I LAY MY FINISHED QUIZ on top of the stack on Mr. Collins' desk and scurry out of the lecture hall. I am so glad it’s Friday. All week long, I’ve had butterflies in my stomach anticipating tonight. I can’t believe that after so many years together, Chris and I feel new again. I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

I head back to the dorm to get some clothes and the rest of my textbooks so I can spend the night at home, but when I enter the dorm Senia is sitting on her bed looking totally bummed out. I drop my backpack onto the floor and take a seat next to her.

“What’s wrong?”

She looks up at me with an expression that says she’s about to tell me something I don’t want to hear. “Tina just called.”

My heart stops as I think of the worst news that Tina, Cora’s caregiver, could deliver.

Senia notices the horror in my face and shakes her head adamantly. “No, Cora’s fine, but Tina asked if I could go check on Cora this weekend because she’s going to be out of town and….”

She doesn’t have to finish this sentence. If Adam weren’t in Hawaii, he would be the one checking up on Cora. The way he cared for Cora was one of the things that made me fall in love with him.

“I know you’re going home this weekend so I offered to go,” Senia continues as she stares at her hands in her lap. “I guess I’ll miss the party.”

Senia’s family is having yet another party, but this one is for her parents' 25th wedding anniversary so it will be huge. I would have gone with her, but I had already made plans with Chris when she asked me to go a few days ago. There’s no way she can miss this party.

“I’ll go.”

She looks up at me with so much hope, I try not to let her see the utter disappointment I’m feeling.

“Really? I know you had this weekend all planned out. I don’t want to mess that up for you.”

I roll my eyes. “Please. I can see Chris and Jackie any time. If Cora needs me, I need to be there.”

“Thank you.” She hugs me hard and I give her a few pats on the back. “I’ll help you pack.”

She helps me empty out my backpack and toss in some clothes and toiletries. When we’re done she looks me up and down, raising one of her perfect eyebrows as she takes in the jean jacket I’m wearing over a dress and some leggings.

“What?”

“Lose the leggings. You’re going to the beach.”

“I’m not going to the beach. I’m going to Cora’s.”

“Even more reason to lose them. Do you really want Bigfoot rubbing himself all over those leggings?”

I immediately pull off the leggings and put my ankle boots back on, silently thanking myself for shaving my legs this morning.

“Beautiful,” Senia says, pulling me in for one last hug. “You can pass this hug on to Cora for me.”

She slaps my ass then pushes me toward the door where she hands me my backpack.