Page 72 of Loss and Damages
“He was more, wasn’t he, Jemma?” she asks, reminding me that she’s not just a nosey woman who happens to be my mother’s best friend. Reminding me that underneath the wrinkles and the pounds and the greying hair, she’s a woman who has a heart, who has fallen in love and has been loved in return.
“Yeah, he was.” I force a smile and pour coffee. “I’m going to box up the paintings of Leo’s I have here and run into St. Charlotte and look at the ripped ones the Tattered Canvas fixed for me. They said they turned out lovely, but I want to see them before I have them shipped to Dominic’s.”
“You’re not keeping any?” she asks, accepting the coffee mug I offer her.
“I have the one he painted for me, and that will be enough. Dominic didn’t seem too surprised his brother was an artist. It fit Leo’s personality...maybe he suspected something.”
“Maybe because you’re an artist too, and you had that in common?” Gloria raises an eyebrow and sips her coffee.
For the first time since Dominic left, I laugh. It doesn’t feel good, but it feels like it could feel good. If that makes sense. “Maybe that’s what it was. Anyway, back to the same old, same old, only without Leo driving out every day.”
“No, but there’s someone else who’s been driving around here lately. I can’t bike down this road without seeing his car.”
“I’m not ready to date, and he knows that.”
Nick’s been driving past the gallery as often as he possibly can, sometimes stopping and popping his head into the store if his schedule allows. Since the break-in, all the cops in Hollow Lake have been watching the gallery and my cottage, and Nick was here when a company from St. Charlotte installed the security system. If anyone tries to break into the gallery, or my cottage, they’ll be met with a squealing so loud they’ll go deaf before the cops can get here.
“I think he’ll wait.”
I sigh. “Yeah.”
He’s said as much. He also mentioned that while he’s been watching to make sure those jerks don’t come back, he’s been keeping an eye out for Dominic whom he caught skulkingaround my yard one evening. Nick threatened to arrest him if he didn’t stay away from me.
After that, I couldn’t get Dominic out of my head, the lonely man who doesn’t know what he’s searching for. If Nick thought he was endearing himself to me, it had the opposite effect. I wanted to tell him to leave Dominic alone, that he’d never hurt me, but of course he has and Nick knows it. Wisely, I kept my mouth shut, and when Nick asked me out, I declined saying I needed to paint. Which was true then and it’s true now. I haven’t gotten so much painting done as I have this past week. It’s a relief to focus my mind and heart on something else.
Gloria rinses out her mug and leaves it in the tiny strainer to dry. “I better get to the store. Is Ashley helping you today?”
“Yes. I won’t be here tonight when you go home. I’m driving into the city to run errands, and after I’m done, I’m going to have dinner with Mom and Dad, Jeremy, Tara, and Maya. Everyone has been so protective of me since the break-in. I appreciate it, but I’m glad I live in Hollow Lake.”
The corner of her mouth lifts up, and she opens the door letting Coco, who’d been snoozing in the sun on my living room floor, outside. “Some people can only dream of the support network you have, young lady, Dominic Milano included. Don’t take us for granted.” She winks to soften her words and lets the screen door slap shut behind her.
The family I have is a blessing. So are Ashley, Nick, Gloria, and the other shop owners in Hollow Lake who are my friends.
If Dominic doesn’t want to be part of my circle, he doesn’t have to be. I can’t force him to be, but somehow, I can let him know there will always be a seat open for him at my table.
Maybe, and that’s a big maybe, but maybe, one day he’ll join me.
He knows I have plenty of wine.
Chapter Nineteen
Dominic
I know what’s in the crate before I open it. With my help, the courier slides the box made of particle board and nails off the cart, and I sign the electronic pad acknowledging my receipt of the package. The kid hands me an envelope that has my name and office building address written in elegant script on the front, and I tip him a hundred dollar bill to reward him for struggling with the box and hauling it up to the executive floor. Had I known how big the crate was going to be or when it would be arriving, I would have asked one of the security guards to help him bring it up.
There’s nothing I can do about it now, and the courier hurries away, pulling the empty cart behind him, happy with the largest tip he’ll get all day.
I open the light pink envelope, and the soft scents of honey and vanilla embedded in the paper remind me of Jemma. It’s only been a week since I’ve seen her but it feels like a lifetime, and I wish with every ounce of will I have that my life could somehow be different and I could be a man she’d be proud to be with.
Dear Dominic,the note starts, and I have to clear my throat and blink before I can continue.I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to let you know that I don’t hate you, or blame you, really, for the choice you made. I’m not what you had in mind, and it was only by luck Leo found me online. We never would have met otherwise, and I know that. I wasn’t meant to be a part of your life, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be. I’m sorry about your mother, and you may not want to hear it, but she’s had her struggles too. It doesn’t excuse the way she’s treated you, but it could ease some of the pain in your heart if you speak with her. I’m assuming you’re going to give her a few, if not all, of Leo’s paintings. Will you talk to her then? If you do, will you stop by and let me know how it went? I’m sure Edgar would be happy to see you. All my best, Jemma.
PS: The Tattered Canvas did an excellent job repairing the ones that were ripped. I bet you won’t be able to tell the difference.
She doesn’t hate me.
Everything else falls away.
Relieved, I sit at my desk and stare into space.
