“Ass. Once we get in the car, you can tell me what happened. Now, let me take your carry-on.” He put his arm around my shoulder as we started to walk down the concourse. “Cris would have come, but I left him to tend bar…”
“I’m sorry, Tim. I didn’t even think…I’m putting you out.”
“I don’t want to hear that. You’re family as far as I’m concerned, and you’ll never put me out. Besides, it’s good experience for Cris to handle the bar on his own. I stopped at the store before I drove to the airport. I didn’t think United would appreciate it if you brought a litter box on board.”
“I’m sorry…”
He gave me a shake. “None of that, I said. I had fun shopping for my godkitty.”
When I’d first told Tim and Cris about Wills giving me Miss Su, Tim had declared himself her godfather. “And is Cris supposed to be her godmother?” I’d snickered.
“No, that would be Paul.” And we’d both laughed.
I didn’t think I’d ever laugh again.
“We can order something for dinner,” Tim was saying. “There are a lot of good take-out places around the Pub. You’re our guest, so I won’t ask you to cook for us. However, if you feel like it…I have very fond memories of the blueberry pancakes you made us that first day, and I wouldn’t say no to them for breakfast.”
I wasn’t hungry, but it would keep my mind off what a shambles my life had suddenly become. Besides, it was the least I could do for him for taking me in on such short notice. “If you have pancake mix and blueberries, I’ll make them for you.”
“Sounds good. Now, tell me about Miss Su.”
I talked about my kitten until we reached Tim’s convertible, a ’66 Corvette Cris had had restored for him, but I wasn’t paying much attention to what I said. I didn’t want Tim to realize how stupid I’d been, falling in love like this. He’d warned us…
“It’s a good thing you didn’t bring a lot.” He swung my carry-on into the narrow space behind the passenger seat. Next to it were a couple of large plastic bags with the logo of a pet store chain on them, and I peeked in. As well as the litter pan and litter, there were bags and boxes of treats, flutter balls, faux fur mice. My eyes widened. A laser light, teasers, a stuffed Garfield that squeaked…
“Geez, how much did you buy her?”
He just laughed. “Do you want to put Miss Su back there too?”
“No, I’ll keep her on the floor by my feet.”
“Okay. Get in.” He waited until we were on the road to West Bryan Street. “Now, start talking.”
“Nothing to talk about. It’s over.”
“Something must have happened to make you this upset.”
“I’m not upset.”
“No, your eyes are always red and puffy. C’mon, babe. Talk to me. I can’t help if I’m in the dark.”
“No one can help. It’s beyond that.” I bit my lip, then burst out, “He sent me flowers, Tim! A dozen roses. Red.”
“That doesn’t sound like something to break up a relationship over.”
“There was a card.” I’d put it in my pocket, in case I was stupid enough to consider forgiving him. Not that I would.
“And?”
“It said, ‘I’m sorry. Forgive me. I was a fool.'” I didn’t need to see the card. The words were etched on my brain.
“Ah, shit, Sweets.” Tim had been around long enough to know what that meant. “I’m sorry.”
Not as sorry as I was. “Well, that’s the way things go,” I said, my tone breezy. “You know the old saying. I got along without him before I met him, and I’m gonna get along just fine without him now.”
“You sounded so happy with him…”
I shrugged, even though his eyes were on the road and he couldn’t see me. “That’s the way the cookie crumbles. You know as well as I do nothing lasts forever. I was getting tired of him anyway.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I waited a second to see if the skies opened up over that lie, but nothing happened, so I told another one. “Anyway, I’m not the settling down kind.”
“Sweets—”
“No, really,” I hurried to assure him. “This was just a fling, a passing fancy. I thought I’d give it a try, I did, and now I’m ready to move on to someone new. A whole bunch of someone new’s. You know all the different men I’ve had.”
“I know.” He laid a hand on my knee, and I knew he meant it to be comforting. I just didn’t know whether I was comforted or not. “I also know that like most of us, if you’d had the choice, you wouldn’t’ve had them.”
“Don’t go all existential on me, Tim.”
“Fine. Tell me something. Is it likely he’s gonna come after you?”
My heart leapt with a sudden flare of joy, and I couldn’t catch my breath. “No,” I said stonily, squashing it. “He’s found someone new. Else, I mean.”