Page 90 of Of Grief And Gratitude

“Maybe later.” I wasn’t going to commit to anything. I just wanted to get away for a little bit. There was no way they’d take me into town, so desperation led me to do something I’d usually consider crazy. “I think I’ll go to the creek.”

“The creek?” Sam asked.

I pointed to the back of the house. “It’s just over the hill and down. Takes maybe thirty minutes. I need some space.”

“Noted.” He nodded and stood with his plate, holding out his hand for my empty mug. I gave it to him and decided I might as well take off before Romeo could give me shit about hiking. He’d been trying hard to get me to accompany him in the mornings, and he’d probably want to go.

I pulled my sneakers on and slipped my phone into my pocket, giving Sam a little wave and letting him know I’d be back in a couple of hours or less. The others had gone upstairs, and I wanted to put some space between them and me.

The sun was starting to take the chill off the air as I set out, heading down the path Romeo and I had taken the day before. It seemed we’d made Antonella’s memorial ages ago. Time lost meaning when you had nowhere to be.

I’d just rounded the first corner when I heard fast-approaching footsteps cracking branches and shuffling dead leaves on the path. Given Romeo’s ability to nearly blend in with the surrounding forest, I had a pretty good idea who’d sent the birds flying from the trees around me. I stopped and sighed as I turned around, crossing my arms over my chest as Sean came lumbering around the corner and halted abruptly when he saw me waiting.

“There you are!” He wasn’t even out of breath after running, and I envied everybody who worked out at a gym.

“Did you think I’d get lost in less than five minutes?” I asked in a monotone. I wasn’t that bad at following a marked path.

He shrugged sheepishly. “I didn’t want to run the entire way to catch up.”

“Right. You can go back now.”

“I figured I’d get some fresh air, and we can chat,” he countered, following me as I resumed my hike.

“And what do you want to chat about?”

He looked over, contrite. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I was just teasing.”

“I know.” I glanced at him and shook my head. He was so clueless for an intelligent man. “Has anybody ever told you it’s not a funny joke if not everybody is laughing?”

“My Ma has said it a time or two.”

“I didn’t think it was funny,” I explained. “I felt violated. If I wanted you to see me naked, I would have stripped for you and invited you into my bed.”

“But you’re not going to do that,” he concluded.

“I’ll never do that,” I said firmly. “In case I was ever unclear, I am not interested in you or any of your brothers that way.”

“It’s a shame,” he lamented. “You’d make a perfect wife. Everybody in the family loves you. You’re Sloane’s best friend. It would make Da’ happy. And you’re hot.”

I laughed at his last comment. “I’m not out to make others happy by sacrificing myself, Sean.”

“I can understand that.”

He fell silent for the next few minutes, then cleared his throat. “So what’s the deal with Neretti?”

“Ettore is pissed, I guess,” I supplied.

“Not the father,” Sean clarified. “Romeo.”

“Oh.” I contemplated what to tell him, but I didn’t know myself, so I shrugged.

He frowned and stepped over a branch. “Is it something serious?”

I’d fucked Romeo. Lived with him. Watched him in his darkest moments. Was it serious? “It’s… something.”

Sean nodded. “Ah. I see how it is.”

“What exactly do you see?”

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