Chapter Fifty-Six
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
The party is in full swing now. Someone has turned on music, and there are some funny pairings on the dance floor: Gordon is trying to teach Naomi, Deborah, and Edwina Flasher the Cha-Cha Slide, and Pippa Grange is dancing cheek to cheek with the village chiropractor.
I head over to the kitchen to find Dev. When a waiter comes by with a tray full of dirty dishes, I ask if he’d get Dev to come out.
“Who?”
“Dev Sharma. The bar owner. The gin guy?”
“I know who he is, but he’s gone.”
“Back to his bar?”
“Nah. Said he had to go down to London tonight.”
Would he leave without saying goodbye? I was a weepy mess the last time we were together, when he brought me back to the cottage. Maybe it’s all too much for him.
I find Dev outside, closing the trunk to his car.
“Hey, I was just about to come find you,” he says. “There’s a plumbing disaster at my flat, and my tenant’s away. I’m afraid I’ve got to head down to London.”
“And I’ve got to shuffle off to Buffalo.” I hate that I’m joking with him, but I’m afraid to be serious.
“Buffalo. Right.”
“Do you have any idea where Buffalo is?” I ask.
“Kind of?”
“It’s on Lake Erie. Does that help?”
“Geography’s not my forte.”
“It’s very far away,” I say.
“So, this is goodbye, then?” Dev takes a step toward me.
I don’t have to try to remember his face.
It’s etched into my memory. I put out my hand, like I’m ready to shake and close a deal.
Dev laughs and gives my hand a decisive, businesslike squeeze.
And then he pulls me toward him. For a goodbye kiss, it’s a great one.
I put my hand on his chest, and feel the rhythm of his heart in my palm. I push him lightly away.
“Go,” I say, and turn around quickly.
If this were one of Amity’s romances, Dev would start to drive away but then I’d dash out and leap in front of his car.
He’d get out yelling that I was crazy, that he could’ve run me over.
I’d shout back something charming and nonsensical, and then we’d be kissing and crying, in each other’s arms again, vowing to never part.
But these days Amity can’t do happy endings, and apparently neither can I.