Nina woke up on Sunday morning, stiff and sore from sleeping in a fetal position, her eyes nearly swollen shut from crying. After taking a long hot shower, she felt somewhat refreshed, but she couldn’t quite shake the sense of sadness that had plagued her ever since Alex had left.
Although she was used to being alone, she had never felt more alone in her life. She couldn’t lean on her best friend for support because Liz would want details that Nina couldn’t share. She couldn’t call her mom for a pep talk, either, because she promised not to bother her unless it was an emergency. Her melancholy mood wasn’t exactly a crisis, and calling her mom would just put a damper on her parents’ trip of a lifetime.
Right now, the only thing talking to her was her stomach. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast the day before, which seemed like forever, and her stomach was scolding her for making it stay empty for so long. Coffee and leftover cornbread muffins weren’t as delicious as having a naked man in her bed, but they would satisfy her stomach’s hunger.
Downstairs, as she filled the coffee pot with water, her eyes landed on the colorful fabric of Alex’s still-damp shirt that was bunched up on the counter next to the sink. A sense of regret washed over her, just like the water that washed over the rim of the over-full coffee pot. Maybe it had been a mistake to send him away like that. But what was done was done.
While the coffee brewed, she decided to reheat the muffins. That was when she noticed the folded piece of paper under the Ziploc bag. With trembling hands, she picked it up, knowing in her heart that it was from Alex. Tears stung her eyes as she read his words on the page.
—
Dear Nina,
Thank you for...everything. I’ll never forget your warm smile, hot lips, soft curves, and what might have been. I swear to you on my grandfather’s fiery grave that nothing I told you was a lie, but I do understand that, sometimes, the truth is too painful to believe. Please know that I never meant to hurt you.
Faithfully Yours,
Alex Andreas
—
A single tear fell on the note, smudging the ink on the paper.
Oh, he was good.
Nina blinked back the rest of her tears as she shoved a plate of muffins in the microwave. Well, at least she knew his last name now.
Andreas. Alex Andreas. Nina Andreas. She had to admit that that had a much more exotic ring to it than Nina Parks.
“Ohhhh!” she yelled at herself for letting him get to her so easily and for falling into his well-played trap. Crumpling up the note, she threw it in the trash.
Enough with the tears already! It seemed like she had cried more over Alex than she did when Bruce had left her for Hannah, which was ridiculous. Well, she was done with all that. Taking her plate of muffins and a cup of coffee to the table, she sat down to eat breakfast.
Reaching for the honey that was still on the table from the previous day, she hesitated. Instead of wrapping around the jar, her fingertips drifted up to her lips as her memory flashed back 24 hours earlier, to the crumbling, sticky sweetness that was left after Alex had fed her a bite of muffin dripping with nectar.
Honey no longer had the appeal it once did. So she ate her cornbread muffins dry and finished her coffee while doing her best to put Alex out of her mind. Tomorrow, she would have work as a distraction. Today, she would fill the rest of her waking hours with housework, grocery shopping, and more packing. Grabbing Alex’s wadded-up shirt from the counter, she headed upstairs to get the laundry going.
~~~
Nina crawled into bed Sunday night physically exhausted but not quite ready to sleep. It had been a busy day. She had cleaned the townhouse from top to bottom, ran a few errands, packed up half the kitchen, and did more loads of laundry than she wanted to count.
After pointing the remote at her bedroom TV and turning on the ten o’clock news, she slipped her hands under the covers and rubbed them over the soft flannel that caressed her curves, wishing it was Alex’s body instead of his shirt that skimmed over her flesh.
She wasn’t sure what had prompted her to sleep in his freshly-laundered shirt instead of her pajamas. After it was washed and dried, she had meant to put it in the donation pile, along with the few items of clothing that Bruce had left behind when he moved out. But when it came time to do that, she just...couldn’t. Against her better judgment, she decided to keep it, just like someone might keep a cherished memento from a past lover.
Grabbing the pillow that Alex had used when he had slept in her bed, she pulled it toward her chest and inhaled deeply, her body responding to the faint scent that was uniquely his. She ached for what might have been, for what almost was, for what could never be.
Not wanting to cry herself to sleep again, she put the pillow aside and turned her attention to the TV. A reporter was live on the scene of a suspected arson, summarizing the day-long investigation and explaining that, so far, the police and fire department had little to go on.
Nina’s stomach flipped and flopped as she turned the volume up.
—
“...Investigators say that a dozen or more homes were burned to the ground and the badly charred remains of countless victims were recovered from the scene. So far, there are no leads on who, or what, may have started this horrific blaze.”
The TV screen cut back to the weekend anchor, Paulette Samson, who had a very concerned look on her face. “Chet, have the authorities identified the owners of the property, which might provide vital clues to this tragic mystery?”
A split screen displayed on the TV to more readily show the conversation between the anchor and the field reporter.
“Yes and no, Paulette. All they know at this point is that the large parcel of land is registered to an off-shore corporation and none of the nearby neighbors were familiar with the residents living there. So it will take some time to figure out who was actually in the homes that were basically burned to ash. This is Chester Case, reporting live from Snohomish County.”
The split screen faded away and the camera switched back to the news anchor. “Thank you for that live update, Chet. Whether this fire was just a tragic accident or a shocking crime remains to be determined. We’ll have another live update on this top story later in the broadcast. For now, our hearts go out to the unidentified victims and their families.”
The look on Paulette’s face slowly transitioned from serious to smiley and the corner of the screen displayed a wildlife scene of a bear frolicking in a river.
“The Department of Fish and Wildlife would like to remind hikers, campers, and all the other outdoor enthusiasts out there to be on the lookout for hungry bears, which will soon be coming out of hibernation. Washington is home to nearly thirty-thousand black bears that primarily live in our state’s forested areas. For the Department’s complete list of do’s and don’ts in Washington’s bear country, visit www...”
—
Nina turned off the TV and huddled under the covers, her mind and heart racing. The fire on the news couldn’t be Alex’s fire, could it? If yes, that would mean he was telling her the truth. Well, at least the part about there being a fire. Only time and the investigation would reveal whether he was the one who started it, and whether the people that died were killed by hunters, like he claimed, or the actual blaze itself.
Either way, it didn’t matter now. Alex was gone and all Nina had left of him was his slowly-fading scent on her pillowcase and the warm flannel that was wrapped around her naked body.