Chapter Twenty-Four

“Maybe you could come here on the weekends? We could hang out. Chip’s mom would let you stay with them.” Noah leaned against the kitchen counter.

“Maybe. I don’t know if it would be okay with your mom.”

“She’s super mad at you. Madder than she ever was at Molly.”

Mai shrugged. “She doesn’t think I’ll come back. And I think she thinks I’m going to stiff her for the costs of the renovation. I can at least take care of one of those worries.” Mai held out the bank envelope with the counter check in it. “Give her this. It’s the rest of what I owe her plus twenty percent to cover my room and board.”

“You mean couch and board.” Noah frowned as she took the envelope from Mai. “You know this is going to make her mad angry?”

Mai placed both hands on the countertop. “I can’t help how she feels. At least she doesn’t have to worry about any bills.”

Noah studied her. “If you had the money why did you take the job teaching me? And sleep on our ratty couch? The cat won’t even lay on it.”

Mai bit her lip. “I only have money because of three things. One, I never say no to a job, and two, I’m careful how I spend it. And three, my sister is genius at finance.”

Noah placed the envelope on the counter. “You’re coming back, right? To open the restaurant?”

Mai shifted her gaze from Noah’s eager face. “That’s the plan.”

Noah’s brows drew down. “But plans can change.”

Mai glanced up at his sharp tone.

“I get it. I’m not a little kid.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Thanks. For teaching me all the stuff you did. Mom said I had to wait until after graduation to look for a restaurant job. Would you write me a reference?”

“Of course, let me know where to send it.”

A silence, thick with loss, rose between them. Mai crossed her arms over her aching chest. “Hey, maybe you could visit me? I’d pay for your trip. Show you the studio.”

“Maybe.” The blare of a car horn sounded from outside. “Gotta go.” He waved awkwardly. “See ya.”

Mai waited until the door closed behind him to wipe her eyes.

*

“Deal me in.” Dale ruffled Noah’s hair and sat down opposite Eli.

The cacophony of the brewpub irritated Dale as did most things since Mai had left. The Mai-shaped empty space in her life being the thing that irritated her the most.

Eli dealt Dale seven cards.

Thomas leaned back in his chair. “I think we should order the steak bites tonight.” He waggled his eyebrows. “We are officially debt free.”

Seth lifted his beer. “To being free and clear.” The unsaid “thanks to Mai and her generous final payment” hung unsaid in the air between them.

Dale lifted her glass of water half-heartedly and took a sip.

“You heard from her?” Eli flipped the top card to start the game.

“No.” Dale studied her hand.

“I did.” Noah played a skip card and the round passed to Dale.

“What?” Dale placed her cards face down on the table. She contacts my kid and not me? What the fuck is that all about? “What’d she say?”

“Would you like to order your meal?” The fresh-faced waitress appeared at Dale’s elbow.

“A stout, please. And no, we’re not ready to order our meal yet.” Dale turned back to Noah. “When?”

“She emails me.” He lifted his eyebrow. “’Cause I don’t have a phone.”

Dale drummed her fingers on the table. She had texted with Mai only once since she had left for New York. A curt exchange, thanking her for paying in advance and telling her how unnecessary her extra payment for room and board had been.

And maybe a bit about how she wasn’t a whore. And who could blame Mai for not responding to Dale’s texts with anything but a short explanation and nothing else. The silence between them had been what hurt the most.

Dale had picked up her phone a dozen times to text her and put it down again every one of those times because she couldn’t figure out what to say. Why did she leave like she did if she loves me? And paid off her bill? Because I stonewalled. Like I do. And why? Why did I fall for her anyway?

Dale had managed to keep it together, managed to keep going, but every night she lay in her empty bed and scrolled through the Hit Me Up app to see if Mai had opened her profile again. Stalking her, like the pitiful lovesick woman I am. Fuck me.

“Mom.” Seth bumped Dale’s shoulder with his own.

“What?”

“Your turn.”

“Oh.” Dale scanned her cards not seeing any of them.

Seth tilted his head at her. “It’s okay if you don’t want to play.”

Dale tossed her cards aside. “Sorry guys, Dad. I’m not—I’m not feeling well. See you at home.” She leveled her gaze at Seth. “Noah drives. And no arguments.”

“Got it.” Seth shuffled Dale’s cards into the draw pile.

Eli caught her arm as she walked by his chair. “You could call her, you know?”

“I know.” Dale pulled free from his grip. “I know. I don’t know what to say.” She pushed her hair back from her eyes.

Eli tilted his head and peered into Dale’s eyes. “How about the truth? Tell her you miss her. And you love her.”

“I told her I loved her. She still left. It won’t change anything.” A server bumped into Dale’s hip and she shifted closer to her father.

“Tell her again. You need to at least give her a chance. Talk to her. Don’t pretend you don’t care when you do. You might not get a second chance. She’s up there with a lot of young ladies who might want to soothe her broken heart and other places.”

“Dad!” Dale flushed.

“It’s true. And if I were you, I’d make the trip to tell her in person.”

Dale turned away from her father “I’ll think about it.”

Across the table Seth and Noah bumped fists. She rolled her eyes as the possibility of a road trip began to shape up in her mind.