I rolled my eyes as I lifted onto my toes to reach the clock on the wall. Though Sage was all about finding Mr. Right, she thought Seth was an entitled pain in the ass with a cocky attitude. Some of that probably had to do with her even worse opinion of Seth’s brother.
And, yes, Seth was most of those things, but even when he was being a complete jackass, he was still better than most men I knew. There were some rose-colored glasses involved. I could admit that much, but then he went and did things like the flowers.
I fought the urge to touch them again. No. I wasn’t going to dwell.
Instead I brought the clock with me as I crossed the room. Carefully, I tucked the old starburst cabinet between two of the blankets. It might be hideous, but she’d loved the rose-gold clock. We’d moved a few times over the years and it always went with us.
In fact, she’d stolen it from a tacky hotel when I was seven. Back when my dad had still been around. We’d stayed in places like that most of my life until he finally disappeared for good. She’d taken that clock and the fifty bucks he’d left us and we’d driven east until we landed in the middle of New York.
And that was where we stayed.
Our life had been penny pinching and extra shifts and crappy little apartments until I’d scraped together enough to get us this house. When the doctor had told me—told us—that she didn’t have much time.
She’d survived for five more years just because of Crescent Lake. Looking out the sagging screen windows of the four seasons room had been her little piece of perfection.
I crossed to the La-Z-Boy chair she’d lived in for the last six months. Getting in and out of a bed had been too difficult for her, but she’d always wanted to be by her window. So I had made sure she had all her blankets and her window and her lake view.
It had been worth all her savings and mine too.
Every damn penny.
I jumped when Sage tipped her head against my shoulder. I rested mine against the crown of her head. “Today sucks.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said softly.
We stayed like that for I don’t even know how long. Until my belly started howling its distress. Food didn’t sound good at all these days, but man, the idea of something that wasn’t on the Rusty Spoon’s menu sounded glorious.
“What did your mom pack for us?”
Sage grinned. “Chicken and dumplings.”
“Oh, man.”
“Comfort food at its best. Still have plates?”
“I can scrounge some up if you go get the food.”
Sage waggled her eyebrows. “Deal.” She crossed the room and paused at the threshold to the living room. “I didn’t forget my question, even if you’re ignoring it.”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t give me that innocent face, Alison Marie Lawrence. I’m not done.”
“Plates!” I said in a singsong voice.
She blew raspberries before she banged out the front door.
I sagged against the ledge of the half wall beneath the screen window. The problem with having a friend like Sage was that she liked to talk about feelings. Especially of a romantic nature.
The girl was in love with love.
So much so that she’d had a parade of boys, then eventually men, in her life. They never stuck around long because they invariably couldn’t live up to Sage’s high standards of romance. You just weren’t going to find a Prince Charming in Crescent Cove.
I certainly hadn’t. Though my issues might have had something to do with my caretaker status since high school. And meeting Seth.
He didn’t even know he’d ruined me for other men. Without a touch other than a platonic hug or a game of touch football, I’d been his.
Pathetic.