Chapter 9 Esme #2
Hunter returned with the bottle of wine and three glasses, opening it in front of them and pouring a taste for Lila.
She nodded approval, prompting him to pour for the others.
This time, Seraphina looked up at him—really looked—and the most amazing thing happened.
A flush crept up her neck and bloomed across her cheeks, turning her almost the same shade as her hair.
She dropped her gaze back to her phone, but her thumbs had gone still.
Whatever brilliant idea she’d been chasing thirty seconds ago was gone.
He lingered for half a second, then reached into his back pocket and pulled out a dark green silk scarf. “Oh, Seraphina, you left this here last night.”
Seraphina took the scarf from him. Their fingers brushed for a beat too long and neither of them corrected it. She wound the silk between her hands, pressing it briefly to her lap as if steadying herself.
“Thanks,” she said. Her voice came out half a register lower than normal. “I didn’t even realize it was missing.”
“Yeah, well.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It smelled really good, actually. So I hope it doesn’t smell like the bar now. Or like—” He stopped. Cleared his throat. “I’ll send the server over to take your dinner orders.”
He turned and walked away before anyone could say a word.
Seraphina stared after him. She’d twisted the scarf around her index finger without realizing it, and her other hand had drifted to the base of her throat—that unconscious gesture she made whenever a scene in one of her own books surprised her.
Her lips were slightly parted. She looked like a woman who’d just had the wind knocked out of her and wasn’t entirely sure she minded.
“He smelled your scarf,” Lila whispered. “How interesting.”
“Very much so,” Delphine said.
Seraphina blinked, as if remembering we were all sitting there. “I’m glad he thought it smelled good,” she whispered. “How embarrassing would that have been if it had smelled bad.”
“Like your writing sweater?” Delphine asked, laughing.
“You’re so mean,” Seraphina said, but she laughed too. She picked up her wine glass and took a sip that was more like a gulp. The flush still hadn’t faded.
“I wish that man would just ask you out,” Delphine said.
“I wish Dorian would ask you out,” Seraphina retorted. But her comeback was automatic, reflexive, as she was still glancing toward the bar, where Hunter had his back to us, polishing a glass with an intensity that suggested the glass did not require that much polishing.
“That makes one of us. I told you I’m not interested,” Delphine said.
“But why aren’t you? He’s perfect for you,” Seraphina said.
“I already told you, I’m not interested in dating,” Delphine said.
“How are you, sweet Esme?” Lila asked, clearly trying to change the subject. “The night at the hospital must have been awful. You should have called us, you know. We could have come and sat with you.”
“No reason for all of us to be exhausted,” I said.
“Any word from dumb-dumb?” Delphine asked, her pet name for my ex-husband. “Let me guess. He was too busy to make it but still unemployed.”
“You nailed it. Here, I’ll show you what he said.” I scrolled to Jeff’s texts and handed the phone to Delphine. She read them, her jaw tightening with every line. Then she passed it to Lila.
“Did they really need to do surgery or is that just a way to gouge us for money?” Lila read aloud, her voice flat with disbelief. “This man has a child in surgery and his first question is whether it’s a scam.”
“And then blaming you,” Delphine said. “‘I thought you said she wasn’t ready for the big playground equipment yet. Why was she even up there?’ What a total butthole.”
“Typical.” Seraphina took the phone, read it, handed it back. “Blame the mother. Jeff, you’re so classy.”
I took the phone back, scrolled down to show them his parting shot. “And then he said this.”
Always the martyr. Some things never change.
“I want to punch him,” Lila said, with a quiet intensity that was very unlike her.
“Get in line,” Gillian said.
I tucked the phone away. The wine was warm in my chest and the company soothing. My friends were the best.
The server came by with a basket of bread and told us about the specials. We ordered and she hurried off to her next table.
“Where’s Grady tonight?” Delphine asked, reaching for a piece of bread. “I’m surprised he didn’t insist on staying with the kids.”
“He’s out of town,” I said. “Unexpected trip.”
“Where is he?” Delphine asked, buttering the piece of bread.
I drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
“L.A. You guys aren’t going to believe this.
” I told them everything, starting with Grady’s strange behavior when the news announced Sean Hale’s death.
“So of course I had to ask Robbie to do a little digging.” I recounted how Robbie found the connection online.
“He came here to start fresh. Gave up his job. Sold his condo and moved here. He said he didn’t want anyone to know because we’d all see him differently. ”
“I mean, he has a point,” Delphine said. “And I kind of get it. I’m always going to be the woman whose husband took his own life. In this town, anyway.”
“His dad’s Sean Hale,” Seraphina said slowly, setting down her glass.
“The brief meeting I had with him concerning my book being made into a movie was a bit weird. And I heard other stories about him. The crew talked about him while I was on set last year. A few of the actresses had a few run-ins of their own with him.” She shuddered. “Horrible, horrible man.”
One of Seraphina’s books was being made into a limited series that was airing in the new year. We couldn’t wait. She’d spent time on location while it was being filmed and entertained us with stories when she returned to our sleepy little town.
Delphine swirled the wine in her glass. “It does explain a few things.”
“Like what?” Lila asked.
“Like why Grady never mentions his past. Or anything before Willet Cove.” Delphine tilted her head. “I always wondered about that.”
“We all just assumed he was a free spirit,” Seraphina said. “Didn’t want to be pinned down.”
“He was pinned down,” I said. “Only it was with invisible ropes. That’s how shame is.”
Gillian was quiet, turning her wine glass slowly by the stem. “I followed that trial closely. The things those women described.” She paused. “I can’t imagine what it must have been like for him or his sister. Awful.”
“Did they have any idea what he’d done?” Lila asked.
“No. Grady said he and his sister were shocked,” I said.
“Do you believe him?” Gillian asked. Not skeptically. Just honestly.
“Yes.” It came out without hesitation. “I do. Especially since his reaction was to get as far away from it all as he could.”
“I don’t blame him for wanting to start over,” Seraphina said. “But walking away from such a good job? All that money? I couldn’t do it.”
“Me either,” Gillian said.
“Yeah, and there’s more,” I said, gripping my wine glass. “He’s in L.A. to hear the reading of the will. His dad left him something.”
“Do you know what?” Seraphina asked.
“No, and neither does Grady. He assumed it had all been used up with payouts and attorney fees,” I said. “But he said, whatever it is, he’s not taking it.”
“Why on earth not?” Delphine asked.
“He called it blood money,” I said. “It makes him sick to think about what his father did.”
Lila set down her glass. “I cannot believe this. Nothing we thought about Grady is true.”
“Other than he’s a wonderful person,” Gillian said. “We all know that.”
“So he’s just going to walk away from a fortune and continue to live in his hovel of a place?” Delphine asked. “That’s totally ridiculous.”
“It’s not up to me, obviously,” I said. “I’m just his friend. Which means I have to be supportive of his decision, just like I would if it were one of you.”
Delphine leaned forward, elbows on the table. “I need to say something, and you’re not going to like it.”
“When has that ever stopped you?” Gillian said.
Delphine ignored her. “You’ve been telling yourself a story about Grady for years. That he’s flaky. Broke. Unambitious. Not husband material.” She held up a hand before I could interrupt. “I know. You believed it. We all did. But none of it was true, was it?”
“No,” I admitted quietly.
“So what else might not be true?” Seraphina asked, one eyebrow raised.
I knew what she meant. “He doesn’t feel that way about me,” I said. “We’re just friends.”
The silence that followed was so loud I almost laughed.
All four of them stared at me.
“What?” I said.
“Esme.” Gillian set down her water glass with a deliberate clink. “Honey. No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“That man’s in love with you,” Lila said. “It’s so obvious it’s almost painful to watch.”
“You don’t know that—”
“I do, actually.” Lila crossed her arms. “Because I have eyes.”
“We all have eyes,” Delphine said.
“That’s right,” Gillian said. “He’s always there for you, without expecting anything back.”
“I just don’t understand why one of you won’t admit it to the other,” Lila said.
“You know why,” I said. “At least from my side.”
“Right. Not husband material,” Delphine said.
“Which, until we learned the truth about who he is, makes perfect sense,” Seraphina said. “You don’t want another flaky husband. You’ve already done that.”
“It’s true,” I said. “And I don’t know that any of that’s changed.”
“Grady thinks he doesn’t deserve you.” Delphine looked at me with those calm, serious eyes.
“Because of his father. Because of the money. Because he’s built a whole story about why he’s not enough.
” She paused, turning her glass again. “I know something about not feeling worthy. If you tell yourself that, then you never have to act. It feels safe. Reasonable. Like you’re protecting yourself. ”
The table was very quiet for a moment. Delphine rarely opened up to us in this way. I wanted to keep her talking, but our food arrived—salmon for Gillian, pasta for Lila, and steaks for Delphine and Seraphina. I’d wanted a burger but, when I saw the price, I decided on just a bowl of chowder.
“I can’t eat all of this,” Gillian said.
“But you’re eating for two,” I said.
“Trust me, I’m eating enough.” Gillian put some of her meal onto a spare plate and pushed it my way.
“The portions are way too big here.” Lila added some of her pasta onto it.
“We should have split a steak,” Seraphina said to Delphine before they both cut off part of their steaks and sent them my way. I wanted to protest, but it was less embarrassing to not discuss it.
We ate and talked about other things for a while. Lila talked about how well Margot had adjusted to her new school and living with them. Gillian’s pregnancy, which was finally starting to show under her sweater. Seraphina’s latest work in progress. A new artist Delphine had discovered.
But underneath all of it, my mind kept circling back. To Grady. Wondering how it was going in L.A. Was he with his sister? What was she like. Would he be reminded of his former life and decide to go back to it?
My phone buzzed.
Grady
Thinking about you and the kids. How’s Madison?
I didn’t say anything, just stuck the phone into my purse. I’d text him later. But I was more than pleased that he’d texted with his concern about Madison. He was thinking about me, just as I was thinking about him.