Love Is Gone, So Am I novel · Chapter 13 of 24
Chapter 13: Upstairs
"Then stop," I said.
Gus went still.
"Stop what?"
"Waiting." I took a step closer. "I'm done being married. The paper just hasn't caught up."
Behind me, the inn's front window glowed gold.
I knew without turning around that Davis was standing in it. I could feel him.
I didn't turn around.
I took two fistfuls of Gus's flannel shirt and pulled his mouth down to mine.
It wasn't like the dock.
On the dock I'd been shaking and sorry.
Now I wasn't sorry about anything.
He made a rough sound against my lips.
Both his hands came up to hold my face.
A car went by slowly. Somebody in it whistled.
Neither of us stopped.
When I finally pulled back, I looked over my shoulder.
Davis was in the window with his napkin still in his hand.
His mouth was open.
Seven years, and I'd never once seen him look at me like that. Like I was something he could lose.
I turned back to Gus.
"You're cold," he said.
"I'm fine."
"You've got goosebumps on your goosebumps."
He unbuttoned his flannel and put it around my shoulders, over the green work dress. Underneath he wore a gray thermal with a hole at the cuff.
The shirt was warm from him. It smelled like coffee and metal polish.
"Your ex-husband is watching," he said.
"Not ex yet."
"I'm aware." He took my hand. "That's why I'd like to walk very slowly, so he gets a good look."
We walked down Front Street the slowest anybody has ever walked down Front Street.
He stopped once, outside the diner, and kissed me against the newspaper box.
He stopped again outside the hardware store with the Sold sign, and kissed me there too, on purpose.
"That one was for Celia," he said.
"She's in Boston."
"Somebody'll tell her."
I laughed into his chest.
The jewelry shop was dark.
He unlocked the door and the bell rang over our heads, too loud.
Inside it smelled like velvet and brass and the lemon oil Avis used on the cases.
The ring sat in the corner case in the dark, its tag propped against it. Not for sale.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Love Is Gone, So Am I are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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