Chapter 16 #2
He’d lost the capacity for speech, so he just shook his head.
She took a book off the shelf and handed it to him. “One of my favorites.”
He watched her leave the room, then sank onto the sofa and laid the book aside. His ability to concentrate on a book, speech, or his grumbling stomach had been completely shattered. His pulse raced and his hands were sweaty as something unexpected knotted in his gut.
We’re just friends.
He closed his eyes and remembered the kiss they’d shared the night before. Well, maybe more, but not much more. Even as he tried to convince his heart, something on the inside cracked open, and he knew there was no going back.
***
MONICA FASTENED HER earrings, added a stroke of lip gloss, and studied her reflection in the mirror.
Disappointment over this morning’s botched fundraiser lay across her heart like a shroud.
She refused to let that failure color her evening.
After ups and downs, starts and stops, misunderstandings and out-and-out cattiness, it seemed as if she and Sean were finally on even footing.
There was nothing she could do to change what’d happened this morning, but she did control the aftermath, and she refused to drag Sean into her problems.
With a final fluff of her hair and a deep breath to strengthen her resolve, she stepped back into the living room. Sean was right where she’d left him. His eyes were closed and his mouth moved as if in prayer. She rushed to his side and sat next to him. “Are you OK?”
Sean’s eyes came open with a start, and she leaned away from the intensity of his gaze.
“I’m fine.” He tilted his head. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”
“Yes.” It wasn’t much of an answer for such a lovely compliment, but there was something in his voice that threatened to make her own voice unsteady. He looked like a man awakening from a long sleep, but she’d only been gone for five minutes.
“It bears repeating.”
Sean took her hand. His touch felt almost...reverent. What’d happened to him while she’d been gone?
She worried over that thought as they drove to the restaurant, were escorted to their seats, and ordered their meals. Oakleigh’s was a pleasant surprise. She just hoped that this meal would end on a much better note than the last.
Sean cut his steak, swirled it through the accompanying sauce, and took a bite. As he chewed, Monica followed suit with her crab cakes. The tender meat and the tangy spices of the remoulade sauce carried an explosion of flavor.
“How’s your dinner?” Sean asked.
Monica closed her eyes and lifted her face to the ceiling. “I’m struggling to find words. I love a good crab cake, but so many places get them wrong. These are heavenly.” She motioned to Sean’s plate. “Your steak?”
“Probably every bit as good as your crab cake. You wanna share?”
Monica looked down at her plate. She wasn’t kidding about the quality, and she only had three patties.
Well, two and a half now. Her gaze traveled across the table to Sean’s steak.
The meat looked tantalizing, sliced into thin, juicy strips and laid across a bed of polenta.
She wasn’t a steak person, but she had to admit that the sight made her mouth water.
She took the little bread plate, laid one of her crab cakes on it, and passed it across the table.
Sean slid it onto his plate and handed Monica three slices of steak in return.
It didn’t take long for her to decide that it was an even trade.
The steak was tender with just the right amount of pink in the center, and the seasonings on the outside carried just enough bite to keep it interesting.
She knew Evan and Piper from church. She’d be wheedling some recipes at her next opportunity.
After a few moments of quiet while they savored their meals, Sean laid his knife and fork aside.
“You can’t be done already,” Monica said.
“Not even close, but this is a meal that deserves to be savored. Besides that, you’ve barely spoken a word since we left your apartment.”
Monica wanted desperately to control the conversation. She wanted to steer it far away from any mention of the bombed photo sessions. “Did you make much headway today? I hoped that with everything we got done yesterday, you wouldn’t have to spend all day unpacking.”
Sean shook his head with a smirk. “Have you ever tried to unpack boxes with a one-year-old running rampant?”
Monica could actually picture the little boy “helping.” She didn’t see it as being very productive. “Was it bad?”
“Not bad, just interesting. You know that old story about if you want to catch a cat all you have to do is put out a box? Did you know that works with little boys?”
Sean told her about the endless games of hide and seek. But despite the frustration he must’ve felt, there was a smile on his face. It was easy to see how much he loved his son. That was one of the reasons she was so attracted to him.
“You should have called. I’d have been happy to come get him for a little while.”
Sean looked at her quizzically. “I would’ve been glad for the help, but didn’t you say you had a fundraiser today? How’d it go?”
Monica snapped her mouth shut. She’d walked face first into that. While she searched her mind for something to say, the little internal voice that narrated her life took over. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“Well...I...it...” She stumbled to a stop. All she was doing was digging the hole deeper.
“Tell me what happened.”
The sympathy in his voice and the compassion in his eyes undid all of Monica’s self-made promises. The story poured out of her like the water over Niagara. By the time she was through, there were tears in her eyes, and Sean had scooted his chair around the table to sit close to her.
He gently pressed her head against his shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I know what this day meant to you.”
Monica swallowed. He had no idea what this day had meant to her, and she wasn’t about to tell him. What purpose would it serve?
Sean continued, “What can I do to help?”
His words opened up a safety net she hadn’t expected to find.
Monica knew that he and Matthew Wright had been close at one time.
There was nothing she could do to salvage her lost job opportunity.
She wasn’t selfish enough to ask for herself, but she’d move heaven and earth to save the veteran’s event.
Half a win was better than no win at all.
“Do you mean that?” she whispered.
“Of course. I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked. If there’s something—”
“Can you talk to Matthew for me?” The words left Monica’s mouth in a rush, like yanking a Band-Aid off a wound.
He stiffened. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
Monica sat up and dried her eyes with her napkin. She scooted away from Sean so that she could look at him. “Would you talk to Matthew for me? I know it’s a lot to ask, and I wouldn’t ask if there was any other way, but—”
“You know I can’t do that. You know how I feel. There’s too much water under that bridge.”
“I thought we’d talked that out. He’s not responsible for anything that happened between you and Brittany.
You said he’d reached out a time or two.
I know it’s a huge ask, but I really need your help.
” Monica looked him in the eye. “Talking to him might be the final peace in the puzzle of your healing. If you can’t do it for me, I’ll understand, but maybe you need to do it for yourself.
” Monica clamped her lips together. A piece in the puzzle of his healing.
Where had those words come from? They didn’t even sound like her.
I have a plan.
Monica swallowed. It was a good thing God had a plan because she was out of ideas.
Much like the ending to their first outing at Oakleigh’s, Sean stood, picked up the bill the waiter had dropped at their table a few minutes earlier, and fumbled in his wallet for cash. He held out his hand.
“We should call it a night.”
Monica kept her seat and looked up at him. “You haven’t answered my question.”
Sean avoided her gaze. “I can’t.”
His words closed the door on her dreams.