Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
july
DOMINIC
I am numb. I have been walking for what feels like hours, and it’s not until I hear the tinkle of the bells that I realize my feet have brought me to the book shop.
It’s busy again. It’s been so damn busy lately. Pen handles multiple customers at once while Grace works the register.
I don’t say a word to either of them, just drift over to my favorite couch in the corner and sit.
It could have been minutes or hours, but Pen comes to me, a concerned expression on her face.
“Dom? What’s wrong?”
It takes me a moment to process her words. Opening my mouth to speak, I realize I can’t find the words. Or is it that I have the words but I’m too scared to say them out loud? Fuck if I know.
“Baby, you’re scaring me,” Pen murmurs as she steps closer to me, cupping my face in her hands. “Say something, please.”
“Excuse me, miss?” a woman says from behind me. “Are you the only person working here? I need some help.”
Pen glares at someone over my shoulder. “Just a minute, ma’am.”
Damn. I love when she calls the bitchy customers that, it riles them up so good.
She returns her gaze to me, eyes softening. “Dom, baby, please—”
"Gloria is gone."
The words escape my lips, void of any emotion or inflection. It's as if the reality hasn't fully registered, and I find it hard to believe what I'm saying.
Pen’s eyes widen and she shakes her head. “What?” she mumbles. “Dom, what do you mean?”
“Miss? Are you serious right now? I need some help!”
The comfort of Pen’s hands on my face disappears as she stands up straight. “Get out,” she says, eerily calm. I notice her hands trembling at her side and it’s just a matter of time before—
“What the hell did you just say to me?”
Give this woman hell, Pen. I can’t help the smirk that forms on my face, despite this being the worst fucking day of my goddamn life.
I give myself ten seconds of morbid satisfaction as my girl goes off.
Six months ago, Pen wouldn’t have the courage to speak back to a customer like this woman. And now?
“Get OUT!” Pen shouts the words next, whipping her arm to the door. “The store is CLOSED. Everyone out, now!”
There’s grumbling and mutterings of confusion from the customers, but most of them leave without much complaint. The woman who triggered Pen is the last to leave and she pauses at the door. She thinks she’s going to get the last word. That’s cute.
“Get the hell out of this store,” Pen grits out, stalking toward the woman.
The woman hurries out the door, as if she’s afraid Pen might be walking toward her to get physical, when really she just wants to lock the door.
“Uh, what the actual fuck just happened?” Grace asks, darting glances between Pen and me.
Pen takes a deep breath before walking back over to me. She sits next to me on the couch and pulls my hands into hers.
“Say it again,” she whispers.
I should look her in the eye and tell her the awful truth, but I can't bring myself to do it.
If she falls apart, so will I, and I don't know how to recover from that right now.
My gaze drops to a stain on the carpet— a coffee stain Aunt Gloria left in January.
I had promised to hire someone to clean the carpets in spring, but I never did.
Tears prick my eyes painfully.
"Aunt Gloria passed away. In her sleep. She just… didn’t wake up this morning," I whisper, my voice cracking.
"Oh shit," Grace exclaims from the counter, her hands flying to her mouth.
"What can I do?" Pen asks, surprising me. I expected her to ask how this could possibly happen or if I’m making this shit up, so I glance at her to see if I heard right.
Her hands hold mine warmly in her lap, her thumb soothingly caressing my skin.
Emotion clogs my throat. She nods, understanding I have no answer.
Without breaking eye contact, she tells Grace to count the drawer and secure the money in the safe.
We sit in a heavy silence, thick with grief, as Grace closes up. I must have zoned out because suddenly the bells tinkle, and Grace is gone. Pen and I remain, alone in a store steeped in the memories of my aunt. She was just here yesterday, talking with customers and laughing with us.
The realization hits me like a wave once more. She’s gone, yet we remain. This store was her passion, her dream. It brought her immense joy, and the fact that it still stands when she does not…
I struggle to breathe. Pen pulls me into her embrace, and though I'm larger than she is, her comfort surrounds me entirely.
She says nothing, as no words could possibly ease the pain of this moment. She just holds me, gently stroking my hair and back, while I cry into her shoulder.
Whether it's an hour later or just a few minutes, when we've both cried enough to feel drained and stiff, Pen softly speaks words that gather up my shattered pieces, binding them into something messy, yet whole.
“I’m here with you, Dom. Whatever you need, I’ve got you.”