I grabbed the food. “I’m starving. You should see what that girl eats.”
“If it looks like this place, I don’t want to.” Finally moving inside, he didn’t stop, roaming Mara’s house. “Ready to get your hands dirty, bro?”
Yeah, actually, I was. I looked forward to hanging out with Flynn and improving Mara’s home.
Chapter 16
Mara
I didn’t want to face Wes. Not after the paradox of last night. The way he’d taken care of me and tucked me in.
Could I be getting through to him or was it still some elaborate ruse to prove…what? Whatever reason had made him introduce himself as Sam was no longer the reason he stayed Sam. I doubted he’d ever watched a movie with a girl and not gotten past first base. The naïve girl inside of me I couldn’t get away from suggested the intimacy we shared was more than just sex. We enjoyed each other’s company, were physically compatible, and had similar interests. How many couples could watch season after season of Star Trek together? That was more than sex.
Yet I was the one who was ultimately behind his troubles with the city, and how could I forget the lawsuit?
Useless. All of it. While he may be deceiving me, I’d had no reason to think he did dirty business. Even Chris’s friend had had to make up a reason to stall Wes’s plans.
But I’d go along with it because it might buy some time for Wes to come around. Dare I wish for him to apologize for how he’d acted? It was the best-case scenario. The opposite outcome could get very ugly.
It was already dark when I pulled up to my house. Wes jogged outside to meet me and climbed in.
Instantly my mood lifted with his ready grin. Then the deep kiss he gave me wiped out the rest of my melancholy.
What was between us was real. Had to be.
“Where to?” he murmured against my mouth. “Or should we sit here for a while and keep each other warm?”
“Groceries first. And then you can warm me up.”
I backed out while he buckled up. As I drove to the store, I wondered if Wes had ever been in one. Was grocery shopping too plebian of a task? Did he have “people” who did these kinds of things?
My question was answered as Wes darted from stand to stand. He stopped to read greeting cards and trotted over to show me the funny ones. “People still send these?”
Then he picked up everything I tossed in the cart and read the ingredients.
“There’s not even real cheese in this.”
“No,” I agreed. “But a box of mac and cheese costs a dollar and a small brick of cheese costs four.”
He grabbed canned green beans. “Look at the sodium in this.”
“I drain and rinse them first. It helps.”
He wandered next to me, more subdued. “But even frozen has to be better.”
“While I could eat healthier on a budget, I’m sticking to dirt cheap until I get back on my feet after Arcadia closes.”
I watched him closely. He scowled and a zing of satisfaction went through me. He had no idea how the rest of us lived. Never wondered where his next paycheck was coming from. Never been run out of business by a resentful real estate tycoon.
What must it be like for him? See it, buy it. No thought of cost. No waffling between canned and frozen, or eating based on the weekly sale ad. A million dollars could land in my lap and I didn’t think my thrifty tendencies would vanish.
We waited to check out and while I noticed all the appreciative glances he received, he inspected the magazines.
“Have you heard of this new movie with the Greek gods?”
I nodded and smiled fondly. “I never read the books but I’m going to the movie. Anything Greek has a fond place in my heart.”
I began unloading my items on the belt and Wes stepped in to help.
“I was thinking that after this, I wanted to make one stop,” I said.
“Whatever. You’re driving.” He dropped his head to whisper, “I’m at your mercy.”
He might not be after I played the last card I had left against Wes’s power and money.
I explained my reasons without telling him where we were going. “I really appreciate you doing this with me. It’s just that I’ve not gotten the chance to visit this place for months. I should have this summer, but with Arcadia closing, I just feel like I need to stop and pay my respects.”
Out of the corner of my eyes, Wes’s expression froze. Inch by inch, he turned to face me.
“Where are we going, Mara?” His tone, so somber, so full of dread.
“I need to visit my friend before the snow flies. You never know when it’s going to come this time of year.” My voice shook.
There was still time to turn around. This errand felt dirty, but Wes had to know how much his father meant to me—and how much he still meant to Wes.
I’d been honest when I’d said I didn’t agree with how Sam had reacted to Wes after the divorce. He’d never come out and said it, but Wes’s mother was indeed a nasty, selfish person.
Still, I didn’t feel much better than Jennifer Robson as I drove under the wrought-iron archway into the cemetery.
Wes had fallen quiet, his mouth clamped shut. His hand twitched like he was going to open the door and dive out with a tuck and roll.
Having been here only once, I found my way without getting lost. His headstone, more like a monument, was in place. It hadn’t yet been erected the last time I’d visited.
I parked with my headlights not directly on Sam’s resting place. “Are you coming out?”
His stricken gaze was glued to the towering gray masterpiece. “Why would I? I didn’t know him.”
Except the
