toward the inn. Greg stayed in the driveway for several minutes and then backed out and drove away.
I didn’t know if I’d hear from him again and suspected I wouldn’t. That was a bitter disappointment.
Both Rover and Emily met me once I was inside the inn. Emily took one look at me and asked, “You okay?”
“Not especially.”
“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
I shook my head and then jerked my shoulders with some form of amusement that was more sad than funny. “Greg’s taking some time to assess if he wants to continue our relationship.”
“What? I thought you two had really hit it off.”
“He learned about Mark.”
“And that upset him?” Emily asked.
“Yes. I understand where he’s coming from. I really do.” In like circumstances I would feel the same. “Greg’s not sure I’m emotionally available to him and he needs time to weigh the risk.” Getting involved with me would be taking a chance, and like me, he’d already suffered one loss; another could be emotionally devastating. I was speaking from experience.
I didn’t bother to eat lunch and decided the best thing for me to do was to find a project and keep busy. I’d been wanting to paint the kitchen and decided there was no better time than the present. Before I could talk myself out of it, I made a run to the local hardware store, purchased a soft lemon-yellow-colored paint and returned with everything I needed.
“Can I help?” Emily asked when I started clearing everything off the kitchen counters.
I wouldn’t mind the company. That would help me keep my mind off Greg. My one concern was her injury. “What about your ankle?”
“I might not be able to stand for long, but I could get down low without a problem as long as you can help me up again.”
“I can do that.”
“Good, then you’ve got yourself a partner in crime.”
I smiled for the first time since Greg had dropped me off and refused my invitation to lunch.
“It seems we both have man issues.” I carefully broached the subject of Nick. Emily hadn’t said much, but I could see that she was troubled over a lot more than the pain in her ankle. Late afternoon on Saturday, Nick had stopped by and Emily had asked me to tell him she was resting. He’d looked disappointed but hadn’t returned since then.
“Men aren’t worth the hassle,” she said.
“Amen,” I agreed and then grew concerned. “You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I…I don’t think it’s going to work out for me and Nick, but I’m fine with that.”
From the disappointed look he had when I’d told him Emily was unavailable, I wasn’t convinced he felt the same way. It seemed to me that he would like to settle whatever it was that had come between them. When it came to romantic advice, I was no expert and so I said nothing.
I laid an old sheet out on the floor to protect the tile and noticed Emily was lost in her thoughts, staring off into space.
“He stopped by, you know.”
Her head swiveled toward me. “Again? More than that one time?”
“No, just that once.”
“Oh.”
I was unsure how to interpret that and decided to drop the subject.
While Emily might have had a fatalistic attitude, I wasn’t convinced this was what she wanted. For the last four days she’d moped around the inn and hadn’t once eaten a decent meal. She wanted me to believe her mood and lack of appetite were due to her injury, but I’d suspected otherwise. She was strongly attracted to Nick and evidence told me he felt the same. I couldn’t imagine what had gone wrong.
We worked together all afternoon, and by dinnertime we’d basically finished the job. The kitchen looked great, the soft yellow was warm and inviting, just the way I wanted my home to be for my guests.
When we’d finished cleaning up and washed our supplies, I heated up the homemade tomato soup and grilled us toasted cheese sandwiches. We each made a show of eating.
Pretending I was tired, I went to my room and Emily bid me good night and left for her own room. It seemed we both had things we needed to mull over.
—
I didn’t hear from Greg again on Sunday or Monday. Actually, after some soul searching I was fine with his decision. It was better to snip whatever was growing between us early in the relationship. I was disappointed, but it would hurt far less now than it would at some point