Page 70 of Stay for Me

“Where do we—How do we—”

“When you’re here, I’ll be out of sight,” he declared.

“But—”

“They’re your family too, Diana. They love you and want to see you. You deserve to see them. It would be easier for us both if I stayed clear.”

“You did that anyways,” I countered.

He said nothing, and I thought about all the times I’d run into him.

When I was there, Mags never stayed clear. He was always around, lingering, watching.

“Hi, Diana!”

My head shot up to find Martha Shelly walking her dog. She was in a cream tracksuit, her hair twisted back and out of her face, her hand in the air, casting me a wave.

“Hi, Martha,” I greeted softly, smiling.

“What are you doing on this side of town?” she chirped.

If my heart wasn’t in the process of breaking, I might’ve laughed at her silly question. My office wasn’t far from here, and she knew that. She was just being a nosy old lady.

“Visiting a client,” I answered, hearing Mags move on the other end as I gestured to the flower shop.

Martha looked at it, recognition hitting her. “Oh! This is belongs to Denver Langston’s wife, right? I heard a rumor about her opening a floral shop.”

I nodded. “Yup, that’s the one.”

She looked at me and then to my phone, clearly reading the silent message. “Well, I’ll let you get back to it. See you at book club!”

Crap, I’d forgotten about book club.

As she walked away, Mags cleared his throat.

“Sorry about that. I’m standing outside,” I muttered.

“Don’t you ever apologize to me, Diana,” he clipped. “Ever.”

My bottom lip wobbled. “Okay,” I rasped.

Minutes passed before he broke me again. His words came out as a guttural, jagged whisper. “I’m sorry, baby.”

I sucked in a gulp of air, pain shooting through me. “You can’t call me that either.”

“After I say goodbye, I’ll never call you anything again,” he promised. “Just have to right now, okay?”

I tipped my head back, the sunlight hitting my face as my eyes closed. “Just do it,” I begged.

Silence.

My face crumbled. “Do it, Mags.”

“Goodbye, Firefly.”

I hung up before he did, and it took everything in me not to fall to my knees on the sidewalk.

Chapter Thirteen

---