still hadn’t texted or called me back.
Frowning, I picked up my wine and took another drink. I was sharing my good news and celebrating over drinks with Creed. Not Griff. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. I set my glass back down onto the table gently and lifted my gaze to meet Creed’s. “Yeah, he’s thrilled,” I said, instead of admitting he hadn’t called me back yet.
Creed lifted the almost empty bottle of wine. “Want the last little bit? I can open the bottle I brought.”
As tempting as drinking my sadness away over Griff not calling was, I shook my head no. “I have had too much already. You can have it.”
He didn’t question that and poured the rest into his glass. It was so odd seeing him at Gran’s table; yet at the same time, we had sat here hundreds of times before. We had been kids excited for her cookies, we had been awkward preteens unable to stop looking at each other, and we had been teens in love determined to spend every moment we had of the summer together. Our history was deep, and although that meant something, there was still the darkness at the end. The pain came with it. Now he was here and I didn’t know why.
“Why did you come back, Creed?” I asked him. I hadn’t the last time he stopped by, but now I wanted to know.
“While I finish up my Master’s in Architecture, I am lucky enough to be working with a group of architects that are restoring the Frontsman Lighthouse, just off the coast in Portsmouth.”
That was not what I was expecting but then it made sense. Architecture fit Creed. He’d always been interested in old buildings and the history in New England.
“That sounds amazing,” I told him.
He nodded. “It’s pretty damn cool.”
“I thought you were going to be in Boston this week,” I said, remembering he had told me as much Sunday when he stopped by.
He shrugged. “Things came up here and I reworked my schedule.”
We sat there a moment and I wanted to ask him more questions. I wanted to know all about how he decided on architecture. I enjoyed having him here. I enjoyed it all too much. A warning bell went off in my head. This could lead to nothing good. I was missing Griff and I didn’t need to fill that void with Creed.
“I’ve got an early morning tomorrow and I want to do some reading on the exhibit we are working on. I have to stay ahead of Albert and not let him intimidate me.” That was the truth. I needed to do both those things but I also needed Creed out of my Gran’s house. Having him here messed with my head in ways I didn’t want it messed with. Creed was my past.
He didn’t question it. Instead, he stood up and finished his glass of wine then walked over and set it in the sink. “You keep the bottle I brought. Might need it after another day with Albert tomorrow,” he said then winked at me.
I stood up and followed him to the living room. “Thanks for coming. I didn’t want to be alone after all it seems,” I told him.
He turned back to look at me with his hand on the doorknob. “I wanted to hear about your job and you gave me a good reason to send Stormie home,” he said with a smirk. “Goodnight, Sailor Moon,” he added then opened the door and stepped outside.
He hadn’t called me Sailor Moon since I was sixteen years old. The emotions that came with that memory were so strong I found it difficult to respond. Words clogged in my throat along with the lump that had formed. He wasn’t the only one who had called me Sailor Moon. Cora had called me that too when she was teasing me about her brother. Those memories were bittersweet and it had been a long time since I let them in.
“Goodnight,” I managed to say.
He gave me a nod and headed into the darkness toward his silver Jeep.
twelve
November 7, 2019
It took Griff twenty-four hours and three minutes to call me back. He apologized profusely saying he had a test to study for and then spent the next ten minutes telling me about his class, the questions on the test, how important it was, and in the end, the grade he’d made. When he was done, he’d forgotten about my new job and asked