Page 33 of The Lake House

“Later, Declan.”

The line goes dead and I place my cell phone back on the nightstand. When I got home last night, I raided the fridge for the leftover Chinese takeout and then passed out in bed. It had been a long day, so Rachel couldn’t have taken Lily for the night at a better time.

But even though it had been a crazy long day, it had been a good one. The appointment at Charleston and Cinders took a hell of a lot longer than I wanted it to, but we secured the account, and that was the most important thing.

I should get up and move a little bit. I hate feeling lazy like this. The only time I like it is when it’s gloomy weather, and you can chill on the couch with a loved one watching movies.

These days, when that happens, Lily cuddles with me.

But I miss having that special someone where we could just chill on the couch while it thunderstorms outside and the mood turns romantic, and it ends by making love right on that couch.

Damn, I miss that. Am I ever going to get that back?

Shaking the thought out of my head, I rise from the bed and head to the bathroom. I think I’m going to head to the park and get a run in.

* * *

Damn, it feels so good right after you finish a run. I honestly don’t think I could take another step, but this was exactly what I needed to get me out of my funk.

The breeze swishing through the trees feels so good. It’s warm out, but that breeze makes it all right. It’s the perfect day to be out enjoying the weather. Lily would have loved to be out here if she weren’t having the time of her life with the girls.

There’s quite a few people out here today, enjoying nature and hanging out. A ton of kids are riding bicycles, scooters, and skateboards. Joggers pass the people seated at benches every couple of minutes.

“Declan, how are you?” a male voice from behind me says.

I turn around and am greeted by Greg Abner’s smiling face. He walks up to me and stands a few feet away.

I smile back. “Hey, Mr. Abner. I’m good, thanks. How about yourself? How’s Mrs. Abner?”

“She’s very well, thanks. How’s your little girl?”

I shift my weight to my left foot. “She’s great, having a girl’s weekend with Roger’s fiancée.”

He nods. “Rachel. The wedding’s going to be nice.”

Of course, he and Anna are invited. I nod. “Yeah, it should be really nice. Lily is going to be the flower girl.”

“That’s nice. She’s going to be so cute.”

I smile. “Thank you.”

He places a hand on the bench to our right to hold himself up. He looks like he’s tired. “I came out about an hour ago. It’s been such a gorgeous day, but I should go back to the store soon before Anna disowns me.”

I chuckle. “She would never, but I understand.”

He takes his hand off the bench. “All right, I’ll see you—oh! Before I forget, you know who’s back in town? Giuliana Bianchi.”

The mention of her name brings thoughts of her to come running to the front of my mind. Damn.

“Yeah, I saw her a few days ago.” I don’t know what else to say to him about her. I want to say how gorgeous I find her, how incredibly amazing she is, but I can’t go there.

He nods. “She’s just coming out of her marriage to that guy, thatTodd,” he says his name disgustedly.

“Oh…”

He takes a step forward, tapping me on the chest, “You know, I neverdidthink he was right for her.”

Yeah, you and me both, Greg. You and me both.

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