Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Kate
“Are you sure this isn’t a bother?” I ask him as I stare at his profile.
Sebastian Wolf turns to look at me, his blue eyes scanning my face. “I just finished a training exercise with a handful of rookies. I was on my way to headquarters to drop off the car when Matilda called and said you were in trouble.”
I’m grateful that Tilly called him.
He shifts his gaze back to the road as he goes on, “I almost came racing down here with my gun drawn.”
“When Tilly said she was sending a car, I had no idea it was a police car.” I manage a soft laugh. “I left my store without my purse.”
“How did you get to Greenwich Village?” He stops the sedan at a red light.
“When I got to the subway I realized I didn’t have my MetroCard, or my wallet, or my keys.” I rest my head against the headrest.
“Are you a jumper?” He laughs. “Tell me you didn’t jump the turnstile and ride for free.”
“In this skirt?” I smooth my hands over my lap.
“You busked for change? I’ve heard you sing at karaoke, Kate. It must have taken hours for you to make fare with that voice.”
I laugh at his repeated jokes. I know he’s trying to cheer me up. The text message I sent to Tilly was ominous.
I told her I was falling apart and needed her.
She replied that I had to get in a taxi and head out to her house in Queens.
That’s when I responded that I didn’t have my wallet or my keys.
“I gave Natalie money to get us coffee this afternoon. When she came back to the store, I shoved the change in my pocket. It was just enough.”
“It’s your lucky day.”
I shake my head. “I wouldn’t say that.”
My phone chimes. I glance down at the text message from Natalie in response to the one I just sent to her asking if I can stop by her apartment to pick up her set of keys to the boutique so I can get my things.
Natalie: I’m still at work. I’m getting a head start on inventory.
“Good news?” He asks as he drives through an intersection.
“Very good news.” I breathe a small sigh of relief. At least something is falling into place for me tonight. “Can you take me to my store?”
“On one condition.” He flicks on the right turn signal.
“What’s that?”
“Let Matilda take care of you tonight.” He flashes me a smile. “My wife is worried about you. I don’t know what you’re dealing with, Kate, but we’re both here for you. Have dinner with us. I’ll do the cooking.”
“You two are the best.”
“Matilda is the best.” He sighs. “I have no idea what I did in my past life to deserve that woman.”
I stare out the window as we drive through the city. He doesn’t push for more conversation. Sebastian knows instinctively when to give someone time with his or her thoughts.
Once he pulls up to the boutique, I unbuckle my seatbelt. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
“This is a no parking zone so make it quick.” He chuckles.
I step out of the car and glance down at the blue NYPD logo on the side. “I think you’ll be all right.”
“Dinner was delicious, Sebastian.” I place my linen napkin on the table next to my empty plate.
There are always two things I can count on when I come to Tilly and Sebastian’s home for dinner. Good food is never in shortage and there are plenty of hugs.
Sebastian got a big one when we stepped in the door after taking a taxi from Manhattan to Queens. After we dropped off the police car, Sebastian grabbed an umbrella from his office and we set out toward the subway stop that is nearest police headquarters.
He spotted a taxi and since the rain had picked up again, he told me the ride was his treat. It didn’t take long until the driver was parked in front of the house in Queens where Tilly, Sebastian and their dog, Lunar, live.
Lunar lunged at us when Sebastian unlocked the door. Tilly ran to her husband, launching herself in his arms and diving her fingers into his black hair.
After they kissed and whispered something to each other, she pulled me into a tight embrace.
It was the first time I felt truly comfortable in hours.
“I’m going to take Lunar for a walk.” Sebastian pushes back from the table. “If you need anything, I’ll have my phone with me.”
He leans down to kiss Tilly softly on the lips.
I stare at her face as she watches him walk to the front door before he pushes it open after grabbing Lunar’s leash and the umbrella he brought home from his office.
The slam of the door behind him breaks the spell she’s under. She turns to look at me.
“I love him a little more each day,” she confesses. “He’s worried about you, Kate. I am too.”
I know that it’s because of the text messages I sent her earlier.
I told her that my ex-fiancé had dropped a bombshell on me and I needed her.
I wasn’t surprised that she leapt into action after I told her that I was stuck in Greenwich Village with only my cell phone.
“What happened?” She asks, tilting her head.
She’s wearing one of Sebastian’s T-shirts and a pair of denim overalls. Her face is freshly washed. She looks like she’s twenty-years-old, even though she’s only a year younger than me.
I take a sip of the water I’ve been drinking throughout dinner.
“Is it too hard to talk about?” Her hand inches across the table to cover mine. “We can talk about work or watch a movie. I’m going to paint the extra bedroom this weekend. If you want we can start on that tonight.”
Active hands quiet a busy mind.
My mom would say that to me daily after Gage left. Tilly follows that advice when she has too much to think about.
“You finally decided on a color?” I ask with a smile.
Ever since Tilly and Sebastian bought this house and moved in, they’ve spent a lot of their free time working to make it their own.
It’s quaint and charming with a brick fireplace in the corner of the living room and a kitchen with white cabinets and gray granite countertops. It’s a mesh of both of their styles.
“Yellow.” She sighs. “We picked it together. We’re going to make it into a guest bedroom for when my folks come to visit.”
“I’ll come back on the weekend to help you paint,” I offer.
Her blue eyes scan my face. “I’m worried about you.”
I squeeze her hand before I slide mine onto my lap. “He has a daughter.”
She sits back in her chair. “Gage has a daughter?”
“Kristin,” I say her name. “She’s nine. Kristin is nine.”
“Nine?” Her brow furrows. “She was born before you two met?”
I nod. “He didn’t know about her until the day he broke up with me.”
She shoves a hand through her hair. “Wow. This is just…wow, Kate.”
My gaze travels past her shoulder to a framed picture of her and Sebastian on their wedding day.
Regret bites at me. I didn’t get to have that with Gage. I now know why but it doesn’t change what I felt back in those moments. I had to tell my parents, and the three hundred guests who had RSVP’d that there wasn’t going to be a celebration of the love that Gage and I shared.
“Is he married to the little girl’s mom?”
I turn my attention back to my best friend. “No. She lives in London with her husband and Kristin.”
Tilly pinches her bottom lip. “He told you all of this tonight?”
“He sent flowers to the store. I went to throw them in his face, but then he told me about his daughter.”
She inches the wooden chair she’s sitting in closer to me. “You must be in shock. I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now.”
“Numb,” I say with a heave of my shoulders.
I don’t add that a small part of me feels relief; relief that I finally know what took Gage away from me days before we were set to say our I do’s.