we weren’t even engaged. I think she just wanted to get married, not necessarily married to me, if that makes sense.”
Kate nodded. It did make sense. Nantucket was a small island and the pool of available men even smaller. Jack, with his family business and overall good looks, was considered a catch. He’d be a catch anywhere though, and he deserved someone who was madly in love with him.
They chatted a little while longer, but when Kate suddenly yawned, Jack jumped up and took it as his cue to leave.
“Thanks so much for dinner. I’ll call you on Saturday, and we can make a plan.”
“That sounds good. Oh, take some of this with you. I can’t eat all this quiche myself.”
“If you insist.” Kate packed up most of the leftover quiche, saving one big piece for herself and handed it to Jack.
“See you on Saturday.”
Chapter 16
Kristen spent most of Wednesday afternoon carefully wrapping the paintings that Andrew had chosen for the show on Saturday. He had called earlier and said he’d be by around four to collect them. She was a little surprised and disappointed that she hadn’t heard from him since the first time he’d stopped by and they’d gone for burgers.
She’d enjoyed his company and thought that she’d sensed interest. But she’d also told Andrew about her breakup, and he’d told her he’d be happy to ‘hang out’ whenever she was up for it. But she hadn’t reached out either. It wasn’t her way to call up a man she barely knew and invite him out, even as a friend.
She hadn’t thought much of it until this past week, as she had been busy and was still trying to get over Sean. He didn’t make it easy though. She had several missed messages from him and finally a voice message asking her to please call, that it was important.
Once all her paintings were safely wrapped and waiting in the living room for Andrew to arrive, Kristen called Sean. She had a half-hour before Andrew was due to arrive, and she didn’t imagine the call would take long. She just wanted to make sure she was done and ready before she let herself get distracted. Sean answered on the first ring.
“Kristen?”
“Hi Sean. You called? It sounded important.”
“Yeah, I…I appreciate the call back. I miss you. It’s been a few weeks now, I’m just hoping that maybe you’ve missed me too. We can start over. It will be different this time, better.” She liked what he was saying, but she knew him by now.
“Does this mean you’ve filed for divorce? That’s great news.”
There was a long, heavy silence. “Well, no. Not exactly.”
“Not exactly? It’s a simple yes or no question, Sean. Are you getting a divorce?”
“It’s complicated. We’re separated, almost as good as divorced.”
“It’s a world of difference, Sean. I don’t do complicated anymore. Complicated is messy. I like simple. Divorced is simple. Single is too. Simple is good.”
“If you could just be patient and trust me.”
“I’m all out of patience Sean. And I have to go. Please don’t call me again.”
“But, Kristen….”
“Bye, Sean.” Kristen ended the call and walked into her kitchen. A few weeks ago the conversation would have reduced her to a pile of tears, now she felt sad, but there were no more tears for Sean. She made herself a cup of hot cinnamon tea and breathed in its heady, sweet spice.
As she took her last sip, she heard footsteps outside the door and then a polite knock. Andrew had arrived.
She opened the door and felt her spirits lift when she saw him. His smile was easy and big, reaching his eyes as he saw her.
“It’s almost the big day,” he said as he stepped inside. “Are you excited?”
“Yes. A little nervous too,” she admitted.
“Nothing to be nervous about. I’ll be there, and I expect we’ll be packing them in. Daffodil weekend gets crazy.”
“It does. Are you going to the parade?” There was a vintage car parade in the afternoon, and people planted their blankets along the side of the road to tailgate and watch the cars and people go by.
“Probably not. I’ll be in the gallery all afternoon and evening.”
“Of course.”
“What about you, will you go?”
Kristen shook her head. “Probably not. That’s not really my kind of thing. Too crowded.”
“How’ve you been? I thought about calling you a few times, but I didn’t want to be a bother. I was hoping you might reach out to me if you wanted to hang out.”
“I’m good. I’ve