would be scaaarrryyy,” Mandy agreed, scraping the last bit of ice cream out of her bowl.
“I’ll call Jonah to pick me up,” Natie responded as she began dialing.
He had driven back to their hotel right after dinner using the excuse that he had a long drive tomorrow and needed to rest-up for it. Good riddance as far as everyone else was concerned.
Natie had enjoyed a carefree evening with her family and had also enjoyed the eye-candy on the scene. She had not had an opportunity to talk privately with Sean though, and she was somewhat bummed about that. She would never actually cheat on Jonah. She didn’t play those games; however, spending time with someone who treated her with respect and kindness had forced her to take a good hard look at her current situation with Jonah.
Their “relationship” was actually a “non-relationship”, very onesided…his side. Sure, he gave into her if she bitched long enough, but that was getting old. Yes, Jonah was in for a big surprise when he got back to Indiana; “stick-a-fork-in-her” she was done with his crap.
Natie smiled thinking that Becki would be soooo happy. She tried to hide it, but Becki seriously detested Jonah.
“We will follow you home, Becki,” Royce said as he finished picking up the folding chairs to secure them in the garage for the night. The winds might get strong enough to blow them around, so it was better to be safe than sorry. The weather reports ranged from predicting heavy rains and strong winds to light showers with a strong breeze. This particular storm was proving to be extremely unpredictable.
“Right, because your sports car is so much bigger and heavier than my Bee,” Becki said with a lot of sass and a flip of her hair. “I have managed to drive all over this city and beyond before you came along. I’m sure I can make it across the connector just fine all by myself.”
“That may be so, but we will follow you just the same,” Royce said with enough authority to end the discussion.
“Well that’s just great,” Natie said pressing the end call button. She had tried to call Jonah five times but could not get him to answer his phone.
Kurt had noticed the way Natie and Sean glanced at each other when they thought the other was not looking. He also noticed that Natie had relaxed tonight and spent most of the evening laughing, which was a rarity these days.
“Sean, why don’t you run Natie back across the bridge,” Kurt said. Feeling a little like cupid, he tossed Sean his keys. “Landon and I will meet you and Royce for breakfast in the morning; I can pick up my truck then.”
Sean caught the keys as they sailed toward him and quickly said, “Sure. I will be glad to. Are you ready to go, Natie?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Natie said tightly.
She said her goodbyes a little tearfully. It was always hard to leave. Natie had wanted to move closer to her family, but Jonah would never agree to it. Of course, that wouldn’t be an issue much longer.
“I love you all,” she called as she walked out through the gate and climbed into Kurt’s truck with Sean.
As they drove away, Sean glanced at her and asked, “Are you ok?”
Natie nodded, but a big fat tear gave her away as it rolled down her cheek and plopped onto her lap. She sniffed, and Sean could not stop himself from reaching over to drag her across the seat toward him. When she was satisfactorily settled at his side, he wrapped his arm around her and kept it there.
“We have a little time before the storm hits. Do you want to stop and get a latté, maybe decompress a little?” he asked.
When Natie looked at him, Sean was struck by her big blue eyes and spikey lashes.
“Yes, please,” she said in a quiet voice. He fell a little in love right then and there.
“We’ll cross the bridge and find a coffee shop downtown, ok?”
Natie nodded her head in agreement and wiped her tears away.
“That sounds great,” She said snuggling close to him. Just for a minute.
#
Royce had stowed the rest of the furniture in the garage, and Kurt was carrying the last load of left-overs into the house.
Becki had run inside to tell the girls she was leaving and happened to be exiting as Kurt was entering. She reached out to hug him as they passed each other in the doorway.