Page 9 of Roman and the Hopeless Romantic
His eyes found her again, and she suddenly felt self-conscious in her stained shirt and holy pants. But the Roman she’d known never cared what she wore. She pushed a few loose strands of hair out of her face and hung back as her dad made Roman coffee. The laughter in his eyes—a hallmark of his personality—was gone, replaced with a sadness she couldn’t take her eyes from.
The front door opened again, revealing Mary in all her Mary Poppins glory. When Cassie was young, they wondered if she too had magic. No, instead she had a kindness few others possessed.
“Hi, Cass.” She brushed her arm on the way into the kitchen. Setting her purse on the counter, she put her hands on her hips. “Roman Sullivan, isn’t it a little early for you?”
Roman’s lips curved up as if attempting a smile. He failed. “I wanted to talk to Jesse before school.”
She clucked her tongue. “You know full well he leaves early on Mondays.”
“I forgot.” He looked down at his feet, an unusual move for a boy who normally stared the world right in the face.
“All right, young man. I’m not Jesse, but I have some time before getting the boys to school.” She looked down at Will and Eli. “You two go get dressed.” As they ran off, she yelled after them. “Brush your teeth!”
Roman took the coffee. “I’m okay. I think I just needed to get out of my house.”
Cassie’s dad backed away. “I’ll be in my office.” He was never one for deep conversations.
Cassie couldn’t move. All she wanted to do was go to Roman and tell him whatever was bothering him would be okay. Once upon a time, she’d have done just that. But it no longer mattered what she wished could happen in her life, not when the words clogged in her throat.
Her heart rate kicked up as he looked to her again.
“Cassie,” Mary began. “Don’t you have work to do?”
Without a word, she gathered her computer and went into the living room, just within earshot of the kitchen.
Mary’s voice drifted out to her. “Have a seat, Roman. What happened? And don’t tell me it’s nothing. I can see pain written all over your face.”
His sigh seemed to stretch out for minutes. “I’m leaving.”
“Leaving? What do you mean?”
“My parents have come home to pack up the house to sell. They’re moving us to Estonia.” Cassie sucked in a breath. Estonia? She tried to envision a life without Roman dropping by their house, without him sharing secret looks with her she didn’t know the meaning of.
“I’m sorry, kiddo.” Mary’s voice held the same kind of warmth Cassie’s mother’s once had. “When do you leave?”
“This week. They just told me two days ago. Until now, I couldn’t even say it out loud. Now they expect me to pack everything I own into boxes and move to a different country.”
“Change is hard, but sometimes it’s for the best.”
No, that wasn’t the right thing to say to him. If Cassie still knew Roman at all, she knew it wasn’t what he’d want to hear. At that moment, he’d probably stand to leave, knowing Mary wouldn’t have what he came for.
Cassie clenched her fists, forcing herself to stand. They were friends once; she could do this.
She walked into the kitchen where she found Roman readying to leave, just as she knew he would. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Come on, Cassie. Talk to him.
Swallowing waves of anxiety, she sucked in a breath. “This sucks, Rome.”
His eyes snapped up at the sound of her voice, widening when they locked onto hers. That was what he needed to hear in that moment. He needed someone to be on his side, to tell him he wasn’t a selfish jerk for feeling the way he did.
Mary smiled at Cassie’s words, not because of what they were, but because she’d said them at all. Annie would call this progress. Cassie didn’t know what to call it. She tried saying something else—that she’d miss him, that his parents were awful for making him leave—but none of that made it past her lips.
“I’m going to go check on the boys.” Mary slid out of her seat and left Cassie all alone to face Roman.
Her fingers tapped against her leg as nervous energy raced through her limbs. Roman closed the distance between them, pulling her into a hug. They made quite the pair. His perfect appearance, and her sloppy un-showered one.
“Thank you for saying that,” he whispered. Anyone could have told him it sucked, but until that moment, she hadn’t realized how much her silence hurt him.
