A car pulls into Noah’s driveway, capturing our attention.
“Noah,” I breathe, scooting to the edge of the chair.
Charlotte places a hand on my leg, silently telling me not to go after him, but when I see Nova, all bets are off.
She catches sight of me, and before Noah can grab her, she comes bounding across the yard. I leap off the porch and run straight for her. We slam together, her arms wrapping around my neck with so much force that it takes my breath away, but I don’t move or ask her to loosen them because I just need to hold her.
Finally, she lets go, and she’s all bright eyed and smiling. But her smile dims when she sees my tears.
“Why are you crying?” she asks, wiping my face.
“Because I missed you,” I say, giving her a tremulous smile.
“I missed you, too!”
Noah walks up behind her, and I gaze up at him, just waiting for him to look at me, but he doesn’t. His eyes are locked on the back of Nova’s head, his hands shoved in his pockets as he lets us have our moment. Eventually his eyes slide to mine, and I see the slightest slip of his armor. For a brief second I see the grief and pain he’s feeling, and I also see love. But just as quickly as it appears, the look is gone.
“Come on, Nova.” Noah places a hand on her shoulder. “We’ve got to get you ready for bed.”
“Can Lennon come over and tuck me in?” she asks, and I know he hasn’t told her a thing.
“You know what?” I say, pulling her in close like I’ve got a secret. “I can’t come over tonight, because I’ve got something really special I have to do.”
Her eyes grow big. “What is it?”
“I have a princess dress to make,” I whisper, smiling when her smile grows as big as her eyes.
“It’s gonna be so pretty.” Her voice is filled with wonder, and emotion crawls up my throat because that’s one of the many things I’m going to miss about Nova—her youth and innocence.
“Nova, we’ve got to go.” Noah’s tone leaves no room for argument, and my beautiful little princess wraps her arms around me one more time with a promise that she’ll see me later.
I hope so, sweet girl.
Slowly I stand, watching the two people I love with every last piece of my heart walk away. The front door shuts, and I stare at it for several seconds—or maybe it’s minutes or hours. By the time the sun dips below the horizon, wrapping my bleak world in a dark blanket, I’ve convinced myself Charlotte is right. Noah just needs time. Once he cools off and really thinks things through, he’ll come to his senses.
And if he doesn’t… Well, that’s just something I’ll have to deal with when the time comes.
For now though, there’s no way I can live in this house day after day, watching Nova and Noah, and not want to be a part of their lives. Completely defeated and not at all ready to move on, I turn toward my house. Charlotte is standing on the porch with her hands clenched in a ball under her chin.
Sucking my bottom lip between my teeth, I walk toward her.
“What do you need?” she asks.
I shake my head. “I can’t stay here. I can’t look at his house day after day and not want to go over there and beg him to talk to me.”
She nods her head, a sheer gloss covering her eyes. “I understand. What are you going to do? You’re more than welcome to come stay with me for a while.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that, but I’ve got to go back to New York anyway. I have to finish getting things ready for the Children Everywhere auction.”
Charlotte knows all about the auction, and considering she worked her way through the system as a child, the charity holds a special place in heart as well.
“Want me to come with you?” she asks. “I can close up shop for a few days, help you get started, see New York.”
“Thank you, but I would never ask you to do something like that.”
“You don’t have to ask. I’m offering.”
“I know you are, and I love you for that. But I refuse to let you close your shop for me. I’ve got a full staff in place to help with the event. Plus, I’ll be crazy busy with more than enough to keep me occupied. The auction’s in three weeks.”