Page 28 of Married to Her Yeti
“Me too, but you say that like you’re heading out the door.” She frowned as his smile turned sad.
“I’ve already been in Wildwood longer than planned,” he said, his hand on his chest as if his heart might ache as much as hers. Did he mean he’d be leaving town? So soon? That possibility transformed her dull ache into an acute stabbing pain. “I only have a few things to grab, then I’ll be out of your way.”
“But, Nima...” He didn’t respond to Mari as he left the room, and she turned to jab Kat with the end of a crutch. “Be nice to him,” she hissed.
Her sister looked incredulous. “Be nice? Benice? Mari, he left you and broke your fucking heart. You are not the same person you were before your big, failed trip to the Lower Forty-Eight with Nima.”
“No, I’m not. But neither is he. You don’t knowwhat happened in Nevada. And I never said he left me.”
Kat rolled her eyes. “You didn’t have to.” She lowered her phone again. “You lost a boyfriend, and I lost a big brother.”
Mari blinked, tears stinging the back of her eyes.
No wonder Kat was cold toward Nima. Not only was she angry on Mari’s behalf, but she felt betrayed, too. Ugh, what a mess. “There’s more to it—” Mari began before being interrupted by the smoke alarm blaring. “Shit, the pizza!” she yelled.
Mari rose from the bench and lurched for the oven, but Kat beat her to it, pulling out a blackened pie. With her crutches under her armpits, Mari waved papers under the detector, wincing at the twinge in her ribs as she attempted to clear the smoke and silence the shrieking alarm.
Nima came flying around the corner as the alarm stopped, freezing when he saw the heap of charcoal that had been pizza. “I forgot to set the timer.”
Kat turned off the oven and mumbled, “Some caregiver you are.”
Mari jabbed Kat with her crutch again. “Stop.”
She feigned an innocent shrug. “What, should I tell him ‘well done’ for burning your Christmas Eve dinner? Whatever this was, it’s good and dead now.”
Mari scowled. Kat knew it had been pizza. And shit, Nima’s favorite too. “We’ll get a white pie another time, Nima.”
“I look forward to it,” he said, though his tone made it sound like they’d share a pizza again when fireweed bloomed for Christmas—which meant never. Then he held out his hand as if expecting something from Mari.
When she stared at him blankly, he gestured to the envelope in her hand. “I believe that’s for me?”
Mari had been fanning the smoke with the water-stained, manilla envelope that contained their divorce papers. She’d felt empowered when Helen had given her the documents. But after spending nearly forty-eight hours with Nima and understanding how they’d become separated in Nevada, they now filled her with... sorrow.
Mari swallowed a rising lump in her throat. Now wasn’t the time for those thoughts. She and Nima deserved a fresh start. “Right. Yes. Here you go.”
He tucked the envelope under his arm and grabbed his jacket from a hook by the door. “It’s been a genuine pleasure to spend the last two days with you, Mari.”
Had his voice cracked? It sounded like it. Mari’s damn eyes welled up, and she opened hermouth to respond, but confused emotion tied her tongue.
“Merry Christmas, ladies,” he said, then pushed out into the cold winter evening.
The right words still wouldn’t come. All she wanted to say was, “Don’t go.” But Nima was already gone.
Mari turned on her crutches, watching him walk away into the dark night. His boots crunched on the packed snow, and the colorful holiday lights around the house reflected off the hood of his truck.
Kat brushed a lock of Mari’s loose hair behind her ear. “Are you really okay, Mar? And I don’t just mean physically.”
Mari blew out a breath as tears continued to threaten. She couldn’t even force a smile. “I will be.” One day. Soon, hopefully.
Why did that feel like a lie?
“Please do me a favor and cut Nima some slack the next time you see him?” she asked, not able to disguise the weariness in her voice. “I’m going to lie down for a little while.”
Kat blinked at her. “Oh, okay. Call me if you need anything. We can watch some of those holiday romances you love and eat pizza when you wake up.”
As Mari hobbled to her bedroom on her crutches,she thought back to last night and the movie she and Nima had started. Her lip trembled.I won’t get to finish movie night with Nima. As she settled into bed, she wasn’t sure if she was truly tired or if she’d wanted to lie down because she craved Nima’s scent, which still clung to her blankets and pillows. Either way, Mari cried herself to sleep.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
