Page 108 of Sweet Caroline
“Care, you have to tell him,” Adrian said. “This doesn’t sound one-sided.”
I know he’s right. But hesitation twists at my stomach all the same.
Miles had been clear from the start that he couldn’t get into a real relationship; he even said on Halloween he needed a clean break. So what’s the point of laying my heart at his feet when I know he’s gonna walk away? Hehas towalk away.
Still, I feel like I’m losing something incredible in slow-motion and I’m powerless to stop it.
When I finally drift back into the gallery space, there’s a shrewd look in Sunny’s eyes that reminds me of Grandpa. She closes the binder. “Have I ever told you about how Julian and I got together?”
“What?” I say, almost on reflex, then remember myself. “Uh, I mean, no?”
“Believe it or not, he wasn’t always a stuffy old grump.”
I stifle a laugh at her unexpected bluntness and tuck my hands into my trouser pockets.
She leans closer, dropping her voice a little and peering up at me over her glasses. “He was a stuffyyounggrump once upon a time.”
This time, I do laugh. “Okay?”
“Our families didn’t approve. And not just because of his mumbly grumbling.” She winks. “My parents wanted me married off to a good Korean boy, and his parents, well, I don’t think they knew what to make of me, swanning about the place with myemotions.” She clutches her chest, her features drawn and dramatic. “It wasn’t easy being an interracial couple in the eighties,let alone being such polar opposites. But you know what they say…”
“Opposites attract,” I finish for her, unable to resist a quick glance across the street.
She nods. “Julian wouldn’t even propose for years. He loved me, don’t get me wrong, but he didn’t think we’d ever be accepted. We came from different worlds, you know. And the more I badgered him, the more he dug in.” She rolls her eyes. “You know how he is. God love him, but the man moves slow as molasses.”
I smirk, almost to myself.
Ain’t that the truth.
“But, little by little, he saw things were changing. He eventually came around. And darling,”—she pats my arm—“it hasn’t always been easy, but he wasworth waiting for.”
A tight sensation squeezes my throat and I can only nod.
“Now!” Sunny claps a hand on the binder in her arms, and I almost jolt. “Let’s sort out this infernal table chart, shall we?”
In a trance, I drift to her side and peer over her shoulder as she flips to the registration list for tomorrow night, blinking to clear my vision when the names blur. I try to steady myself as Sunny’s words sink in.
She’s all sweeping arms and jangling bracelets as she gestures about the gallery, talking through her thoughts on where everything will go. Once we’ve agreed on a physical setup, she snaps the binder shut and passes it to me.
“Thanks,” I say, hugging it against my chest. “For your help, obviously, but also for sharing with me about you and Julian. I had no idea you’d had a whole star-crossed lovers backstory.”
“Yes, well, thankfully ours didn’t end in tragedy.” Her face suddenly lights up. “Speaking of good news, though, Julian said he’d be open to looking at suggestions for a few new artists. Theones you’ve been following?” She waves vaguely in my direction. “The young local artists.”
My eyes widen. “What, really? Are you serious?”
“Yes! But remember, darling,” she says, a note of caution in her voice at my obvious excitement, “molasses. I promise nothing immediate. You’ll have to give him time.”
“Of course,” I rush to say. “But it’s a first step.”
Sunny pats my arm again. “It’s a first step.”
I don’t hearMiles come into the bathroom; everything is drowned out by the hiss of water, the overhead fan, and the ache in my lower belly. I’m turning under the shower spray, trying to angle the heat to take the edge off, when I hear a distinct clink of metal on tile. A few moments later, he drags the curtain open and I look up.
Oh, hello, beautiful naked man.
I may be in pain, my brain exhausted and my emotions raw, but I’m never too tired to drink in the sight of this man without his clothes on.
He climbs in silently, then hisses at the temperature I’ve adjusted to, scrambling to lower the heat to something more human-friendly.
