Chapter 14

The high school parking lot was crowded when Tony pulled in Thursday evening. The fall sports award ceremony always drew a large group. After a drive through the parking lot turned up no empty spaces, Tony exited and parked on the street rather than drive down to the extra parking lot behind the football field.

Normally, when he attended this event, he left work early so he could get to the auditorium before all the parents and athletes arrived. Tonight, he’d made a detour to the mall on his way back to town. As a general rule, Tony avoided the mall, especially at this time of year. Just about everything he needed or wanted could be ordered on the Internet and delivered right to his front door. Only when he had no other options did he venture into the busy mall. Tonight, he’d made an exception and now a wrapped present sat in his trunk.

He’d gone back and forth all week about whether or not it was a good idea to get Cat a birthday gift. Part of him knew he shouldn’t do it. He’d cut all ties with her the day he left her apartment, and he should leave it that way. Unfortunately, no matter how much he told himself to forget about her, he couldn’t do it. He still cared about her, and although he knew it would hurt like hell, he wanted to see her one last time before she moved. A birthday present struck him as a good excuse to stop over.

Now that he’d picked something up, he was reconsidering his decision again. They were no longer dating and Cat had made it clear she didn’t want to be friends. He had no business giving her any kind of present. Tomorrow on his way home, he’d brave the crowds at the mall again and return it.

Chicken. His conscience once again decided to add its two cents. Much to his dismay, it had been speaking up a lot lately, especially at night when he walked into his empty house and he couldn’t shake the memories of Cat being there with him. It was then that his conscience insisted he’d made a colossal mistake and urged him to rush over and beg her to take him back.

He pushed open the auditorium door. What would she do if he showed up at her apartment? There was only one way to find out.

No. He wasn’t going to ask her to stay. He let the door slam shut behind him and several people turned in his direction.

“Hi, Coach Bates,” Hunter Greerly said as he leaned his crutches against the seat in front of him.

“How’s the leg, Hunter?” Tony had stopped by the Greerly’s the day after Hunter broke his leg, but he hadn’t seen the teenager since then.

“Still broken.” He laughed and pointed to the cast on his leg. “I see the doctor again in two weeks.”

“If you need anything, you know where I live.”

Tony continued down the aisle. Striker and his dad already sat in the front row with the other high school coaches, and he assumed the empty seat next to Striker was intended for him.

“Glad you made it Tony,” Coach said before he turned back to the conversation he was having with his son.

“Did you get a chance to talk to her today?” Coach asked Striker.

Although Coach hadn’t said her name, Tony somehow knew the man was talking about Cat. And even though neither man had included him in their conversation, he couldn’t help but tune in and listen.

“I called her at lunch time to see if she needed anything. She said everything was fine and she promised to call when she made her first stop.”

“I tried to convince her to wait until the morning to leave, so she wouldn’t be on the road so late tonight,” Coach said.

Tony stopped breathing and gave up pretending he wasn’t listening.

“Cat wanted to avoid traffic. She figured she’d hit more if she left in the morning.”

She couldn’t have left the state already. It was only the first week of December. She didn’t need to be in California for several more weeks. Maybe she was going to another conference like the one she’d gone to in New Jersey for a few days. On Monday or Tuesday, she’d be back.

“At least she got her car all checked out last week, but she should’ve let me drive out there with her. I’ve got plenty of vacation time and a lot can happen between here and California.”

An invisible vise squeezed his heart. No, she couldn’t have left without him seeing her one more time.

“Your sister is as stubborn as you and your mom.”

From the corner of his eye, Tony saw the high school principal approach the podium on the stage. The ceremony was about to start, and if he was going to speak, he needed to do it now.

“Cat’s leaving today?” Tony had trouble getting the words out.

Both Coach and Striker looked at him, each man wearing vastly different expressions. Striker appeared ready to tell him to mind his own business, while Coach looked at him with pity.

“She probably already left,” Coach said and Tony heard the sadness in the man’s voice.

Probably meant maybe, not definitely. She might still be home. Tony stood. He had to see her.

“Where are you going? The ceremony is about to start,” Striker said.

Tony didn’t stop to answer. “You don’t need me here for that.”

The lights dimmed inside the auditorium and the speakers crackled to life as he sprinted up the aisle and out the doors.

She has to be there. He repeated the statement again and pressed down on the accelerator, running the stop sign at the four-way intersection.

“Come on, move it.” Tony shouted at the car that pulled out in front of him and then proceeded to do ten miles an hour under the speed limit. Without even looking, he suspected it was some ninety-year-old man who could barely see over the steering wheel driving the car.

He didn’t have time for this tonight. Cat might be getting in her car right now. Without bothering with a directional light, Tony turned left and down Elm Street. He could take that around to Chestnut and over to Cat’s street. Let the old geezer take all the time he wanted.

He pulled alongside the curb. From where he’d parked, he couldn’t see Cat’s windows. In one movement, he pulled the key from the ignition and opened the door.

He couldn’t be too late.

A blast of cold wind whipped around him and he bent his face to protect it from the onslaught. When he reached the top of the concrete stairs, he looked up and caught a glimpse of Cat through the window in the door.

She’s not gone. Happiness and fear collided head-on in his chest.

She pulled open the door and stopped, her mouth hanging open as she stared at him.

“Cat.” Getting to her had consumed him. Now that he was with her, he didn’t know what to say.

“You didn’t leave anything here. If you’re missing something, you’ll have to check someplace else,” she said, her tone cool and impersonal.

Another gust of wind picked up around him, blowing her ponytail in his face as she passed by him. “Cat, wait.”

She paused, but didn’t stop. Instead, she went down the last two steps and started walking down the sidewalk.

He watched her walk away and an unimaginable pain sliced through him. Go after her. Tell her the truth. Tell her you love her.

Rather than go down the stairs, he jumped over the side railing. “Please stop.”

She froze and spun back around. “What do you want, Tony?” she asked, her voice polite but cool.

“To talk.”

“Now? I need to go. I’m hoping to make Pennsylvania before I stop and rest.”

“I need to talk to you.”

She looked skyward and then back at him. “Fine. Talk, but be quick.”

He didn’t want to pour his heart out on the sidewalk. “Can we go inside?”

She shook her head no and opened her mouth to speak.

“Please. It’s cold out here.”

While the temperature had dropped, the cold air around them didn’t compare to the cold loneliness that had taken root in his heart weeks ago. The same loneliness he’d tried to ignore every minute of the day.

At first, he expected her to say no. After the way he’d acted, he deserved that.

“Fine.” She stalked back up the sidewalk, but stopped when she reached the stairs. “But not for long. I still need to drop the key off with the owner of the building tonight.” She pulled a white envelope from her purse as she went up the stairs.

Tony followed her up to the third floor in silence. He’d never seen anyone less pleased to see him.

When she unlocked the door and pushed it open, she walked in without saying a word and switched on the overhead light, revealing the empty kitchen.

The last time he’d been there, the room had been filled with her personal touches. Now it looked like she’d never lived there. The visual reminder of the fact that she was about to leave his life forever made his eyes burn, and he couldn’t speak.

Cat moved into the space where the kitchen table had been and crossed her arms. “Okay, we’re inside. Say what you need to say so I can go.”

He’d seen her angry, but he’d never seen her look so unapproachable and closed off. Maybe he’d waited too long.

Tony ran a hand though his hair and her fingers remembered doing the same thing. What did he want? She’d hoped to escape the state without seeing him again. When she’d walked outside and saw him standing there, she’d cursed fate for interfering in her life again. Hadn’t it already caused her heart enough grief? Couldn’t she get away without leaving anymore of her heart behind?

Cat gritted her teeth and watched him pace. He’d insisted they talk, and now he remained silent. She had places to go. She couldn’t waste anymore of her time on him. “You said you wanted to talk. We’re inside and I’m listening. If you changed your mind, can we go? It’s getting late, and I’ve got a lot of driving to do.”

He stopped and faced her. “I’m sorry for the way I acted. For the things I said that night.” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “For everything.”

He’d stopped by to apologize. She wished he’d left her a voice mail message instead. “No need to apologize for anything. I knew what I was getting when I got involved with you.” She mentally patted herself on the back. She’d spoken and not shed a single tear.

“There are things you don’t know about me.”

Words like that would capture anyone’s curiosity, but they didn’t change anything. Nothing he told her would. “Whatever it is doesn’t––”

“I need to explain,” he said before she finished telling him she’d rather just leave now. “Before I do, I need to know if I’m too late or not.”

She saw the tears in Tony’s eyes and her own dam holding back her tears threatened to burst. If she spoke now, they’d start falling and never stop.

“Cat, am I? Can you forgive me? Give me another chance?”

Traitorous tears leaked from her eyes and down her cheeks, and she shrugged as she wiped them away with her hand.

“I’ll take that as a maybe. Let me tell you everything before you decide anything else, okay?”

She sniffled and reached for the roll of paper towels, she’d left on the counter.

“I was in a committed relationship once. Isabella and I met my freshman year of college. We had an English class together first semester. We were together for a year and a half. My family loved her. I loved her.” Tony’s voice cracked on his last sentence. “I really thought we’d get married after college.”

Cat watched a tear roll down his cheek. She had no memory of Tony dating someone named Isabella, but she’d obviously meant a lot to him.

“The winter of our sophomore year, she was on her way to see me. She never should’ve even been out that night, but I felt like crap and she wanted to cheer me up.”

Tony didn’t need to continue. She suspected she knew what happened.

“A van skidded on ice and crashed into her car head-on. Isabella died instantly and the other driver died a few hours later at the hospital. When her parents called and told me, it was like a piece of me died too. I knew it was my fault that she was gone and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.” He cleared his throat before he continued on. “For months afterward, I existed in this fog. I don’t even remember much of the rest of that year.”

She could only imagine how horrible he must have felt. “It wasn’t your fault. Unfortunately, accidents happen sometimes.”

“Somehow I managed to move on, but I refused to ever let anyone get that close again. I couldn’t go through losing someone like that again. So I made sure I kept my relationships fun and casual,” he said, ignoring her comment.

Put in a similar spot, she may have done the very same thing.

“It was easy to do. Until you.”

She never would’ve guessed Tony played the role of a playboy because he was scared. Like everyone else from town, she’d always assumed he just preferred to play the field. That he liked the chase.

“I know I was a jerk, but I do love you. More than anything. When I heard you were leaving today, everything stopped. The only thing that mattered was getting to you before you left. Is it too late for us? Can you give us another chance?”

“No.” She couldn’t manage any other words thanks to the lump in her throat.

His shoulders sagged, and he bowed his head. “I deserve that.”

How could he think she meant it was too late? “You’ve got it wrong.” Cat moved closer so she could hug him. “I love you. That hasn’t changed.”

Squeezing her tight, he buried his face in the side of her neck. Neither of them spoke for a long time, but, eventually, reality crept back up.

“We have a problem, don’t we?” Tony asked, his arms loosening around her.

Considering the fact all her belonging were on a moving truck to California and her landlord had already found a new renter for her apartment, yes, she’d say they had a problem.

“You’re expected in California and I can’t move right now. Maybe in a few months, but not today.”

In her heart, she didn’t want to move. Everyone she loved and cared about was right here. “Ask me to stay and I will.”

“No, I can’t let you do that.”

“I’m not asking for your permission, and, honestly, I don’t want to go. Say the word and I’ll stay. They can promote Charles instead, and I’ll find a new apartment. Maybe I’ll stay with Striker until I do. He owes me.”

“Are you sure that’s what you really want?”

“Positive.” She pressed a light kiss on his mouth and almost cried again. She’d never thought she’d kiss him again.

“Move in with me.”

Tomorrow, she’d sort out things with work and get a hold of the moving company. Tonight, she only cared about Tony. “I’ve missed you.” She kissed him again. “Let’s go home.”

***

Tony sipped his coffee and looked at the woman across the table from him. The woman he loved with all his heart. The person he wanted to marry and spend the rest of his life with. Both his sister and brother had dated their current spouses for years before getting married. Even Sean and Mia’s wedding was months away. A lot could happen in a few months. Life was too short to wait around for something that important.

“Mom and Dad are glad I’m not moving,” Cat said when she put the phone down. “I’ll call Striker later and tell him. I hope he’s not too disappointed. I think he was looking forward to visiting me in California.” She raised her mug to her lips.

“Let’s get married this weekend.”

Coffee sprayed across the table and Cat started coughing. “Did you just say let’s get married?” She wiped coffee off her chin with a napkin.

“Dad can marry us on Sunday or we can fly out to Vegas.”

“Are you serious?”

“I love you and want to spend my life with you. Why wait?” Maybe she wanted a big church wedding and reception like his sister and brother had. “We can always plan a church ceremony and reception for another time, if you want that.”

“You really want to do this?” She smiled, her eyes alive with excitement. “Okay. Let’s get married.” Jumping to her feet, she wrapped her arms around him, her soft curves molding to his body and his heartbeat skyrocketed. “We’ll need to call our parents. Mom is going to go nuts when I tell her. Can we invite anyone else?”

He didn’t care if she invited the entire town as long as it didn’t mean they had to wait past that weekend. “Whatever you want.” Capturing her lips, he caught a hint of the pumpkin spice creamer she loved so much, but he ignored it and coaxed them apart. In his arms, she shuddered as she returned his kiss with equal enthusiasm. “I love you,” he said, pausing just long enough to speak before he let desire consume him.