Holiday In the Hamptons (From Manhattan with Love 5)

You’d be the luckiest woman on the planet.

Her stomach gave a lurch. “That wouldn’t happen. You’re not going to bump into him, but if you do then you smile and say hello. I suppose.” She shrugged. “If I knew what to say, I’d be saying it myself. I don’t think you’re going to run into him.”

“It’s because you’re afraid of running into him that you’re leaving.” Harriet gave her a pointed look. “And I use that vet practice all the time.”

“Then maybe you will run into him. But you’ll be fine. So will you hold the fort while I go to the Hamptons? I promise I’ll still do all the paperwork, handle the accounts and make any phone call that makes you feel nauseous.”

“All right.” Harriet walked toward the bedroom and paused in the doorway. “But don’t burn the house down.”

“No cooking. I promise.”

She’d promise anything. Anything. She couldn’t live here with Seth working just a few blocks away, knowing that she could bump into him at any moment.

She needed to get out of town.

* * *

“MOM WANTS TO know if you’ll be joining us in Vermont for the Fourth.” Vanessa’s voice held a trace of irritation.

Seth knew his younger sister well enough to know it was best ignored. She was an organizer, and no one else ever did things to her satisfaction. If she’d been an animal she would have been a sheepdog, rounding everyone up the way she wanted them. “I can’t get away. I’m working.”

“On the holiday weekend?”

“This may surprise you, Vanessa, but pets don’t always get sick according to a schedule.”

“You’re not the only vet in the state of New York. Can’t you switch with someone? We need to plan. We’ve rented two cabins at Snow Crystal Resort and Spa, right by the lake. It will be idyllic. And so good for Mom. This is all new. Nothing we’ve ever done before. It’s the land of maple syrup, applesauce and great hiking. The place has the best restaurant for miles around. I keep reading about the chef. She’s French. You know how much Mom loves everything French. And, best of all, there will be no reminders of Dad.”

Seth felt a wrench in his gut. His father’s sudden death was recent enough that he saw reminders everywhere. He wasn’t sure if they were painful or precious, but one thing he did know was that traveling to Vermont wouldn’t make the loss any easier to bear.

“Plan without me.”

“I’m planning with you, that’s why I’m calling.” There was a pause. “I thought you could invite Naomi.”

It was Seth’s turn to feel irritation. “Why would I do that?”

“Because she’s still in love with you! You dated her for almost a year, Seth.”

“And we broke up ten months ago.”

“Dad died and it was a terrible time. None of us were ourselves.”

It was more than that. So much more. “Drop it, Vanessa.”

“I will not.”

Families, he thought. “Why are you bringing this up now?”

“Because I don’t understand what’s going on with you. You meet the perfect woman and then you break up with her?”

“This isn’t your business, Vanessa. You don’t need to understand. It’s my relationship. My life.”

“What relationship? That’s the point, Seth, you don’t have a relationship! You had a dream rela

tionship, the perfect relationship, and you crashed it. And I just don’t get you. I love Naomi. Mom loves Naomi.”

“Yeah, well, this may come as another surprise to you, but it’s not enough that my family loves the woman I’m dating. I have to love her, too.”

“How could you not? Naomi is the sweetest person on the planet. What is wrong with her?”