No Love Allowed(56)

They pointed at the large digital board to their right. Didi thanked them and jogged toward it. Her gaze frantically searched for his flight number, which she had gotten after giving Natasha a call to reschedule their posing appointment. There were so many flights arriving and departing and delayed and canceled that it took her forever to locate the one she was looking for.

In big bold letters, the board declared the flight DEPARTED.

It sure felt like someone had died.

Her heart sank like a concrete block thrown into the ocean. It didn’t matter how sorry she felt for pushing him away when she needed him most. It didn’t matter that she loved him. That she had fallen in love with him when he’d kissed her on the lakeshore. All of that was as useless as the countless paintings she had painted of their time together.

Strong hands pulled her into a tight embrace before she could drop to the floor. She buried her face in her mother’s chest as the first tears fell.

She was too late.

Caleb was gone.





Twenty-Six


BRINGING IN THE mail after coming home from her new job at the art store two weeks later, Didi kicked the front door closed with her heel. “Mom!” she called as she sifted through bills and junk mail. She headed straight to the kitchen, then stopped. “Are you actually cooking?”

“What?” Her mom waved a wooden spoon coated with sauce as she spoke, cheeky grin in place. “Can’t a mother do something nice for her daughter for a change?”

A genuine smile tugged on Didi’s lips. Ever since she had come home from the airport a mess, her mother had cut back on her work hours. She could be found at home more often. With Didi’s job at the art store, they would be able to make ends meet. Her boss even knew some gallery owners who might be interested in looking at her paintings. Everything seemed to be looking up in her life—except for one part.

She must have frowned, because her mother lowered the flame on the stove with a deft flick of her wrist and wrapped Didi in her arms in seconds. She sank into the hug.

“Thanks, Mom,” she said.

“For what?”

“For everything.”

“Oh, Didi. . . .” Her mother loved saying her name like a sigh. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened in my life. Always remember that.”

Heart warm, she hugged her mother tighter. Cutting back at work looked good on her. “You better get back to your cooking before you burn the house down.”

Leaving the mail on the kitchen table, she moved toward her room and froze at the doorway. A white box and a note on top of it lay on the bed. Her heart punched the wall of her chest. Her throat closed. It couldn’t be what she thought it was. It just couldn’t.

Swallowing, she asked, “Mom? What’s that on my bed?”

“Oh! It completely slipped my mind. That came for you today.”

Slowly, like she was approaching something wild and dangerous, Didi moved closer. She was afraid to blink; if she did, the package might disappear. Once she reached it, she ran a shaking hand over the edge of the box. The smooth texture of the lid seemed real enough beneath her fingertips. She refused to smile. To hope. For all she knew, this was someone’s idea of a sick joke.

Drawing a squiggly line over the lid toward the note with her fingertip, she picked up the envelope and set it aside. Not yet. She couldn’t bring herself to read what was written on the high-quality paper. Placing a hand on each side, she took a deep breath and lifted the lid. Delicate white tissue covered the contents. But beneath the translucent paper something pink stood out. Her heartbeat reached her ears, and she couldn’t seem to get enough air into her lungs.

With just her thumb and index finger, she lifted the tissue—first the one on top to the right then the one beneath to the left. Her breath hitched as she placed a hand against the frantic beating in her chest.

A dress the color of a sunset greeted her. She ran her fingers over the silk—so soft, so smooth. When she lifted it out of the box, the strapless bodice had a sweetheart neckline and the skirt overflowed with tulle.

Her mother gasped, causing her to whirl around.

“Didi, that’s gorgeous. Who would send you . . .” She trailed off when she realized the answer to her question.

Hugging the dress against her, Didi picked up the envelope and slipped out the note. The familiar curling scrawl simply said: Be ready by six.

She practically jumped out of her skin. “Mom!”

“Didi, no.” Her mother shook her head. “Don’t do this to yourself again. Please.”

Placing the note with the dress neatly on the bed, she went to her trembling mother and hugged her. “I don’t know what this means, but I think I owe it to myself to see this through, like you said that day we drove to the airport.” She drew back and looked into her mother’s eyes. Worry was etched in the lines of the older woman’s face. “You just have to trust me, Mom.”

At exactly six, the doorbell rang. Didi jerked in surprise, dropping the gold hoop earring she had been in the process of putting on. She straightened and took a deep breath, then picked up the earring again, looking at herself in the mirror. Her hair had grown out a little, so she used clips to keep the strands away from her face.

“Didi!” her mother called from the living room.

“Coming!” she called back, adding the final touches to her makeup. She added one more swipe of gloss on her lips, then rubbed them together with a smack. She fussed with the skirt of her dress. Did one last check. This was it. Nothing more she could do but actually show up.