Park Avenue Prince(64)

“Have you seen my phone?” I asked Harper as she came back into the living room from putting the babies to bed. Harper had collected me from the hospital, insisting I go straight back to Connecticut with her as soon as I’d been discharged.

“Would you like a glass of wine now that you’re just on Tylenol?” In the three days since I’d last seen Sam, I kept expecting him to turn up, explain that he’d had to take delivery of the bed and take me from the hospital.

But he never came.

“Yeah, that would be nice, but have you seen my phone? I thought I had it right here.”

My purse, with my cell and wallet, had been returned to me in the hospital. I wasn’t sure how and I didn’t care enough to question it. I was just grateful to have it back, even if Sam wasn’t answering my calls.

“You think Sam’s phone was damaged in the crash? Maybe that’s why I can’t get through,” I asked as Harper handed me a glass of wine and my cell.

She shrugged. “Even if it was, why wouldn’t he have come back to the hospital?” Harper had stopped asking if I’d heard from him since we’d been back in Connecticut.

“It’s totally understandable that he needed a break from everything after the accident. It must have been a lot to take on considering what happened to his parents and the car crash. Don’t you agree?” I wanted to know he’d come back to me—I needed to know it was going to be okay.

“Do you need a hand?” she asked as I leaned forward.

My stomach lurched at her so obviously avoiding the question. Surely it was understandable that he would freak out. “No,” I said, pushing myself up. “I’m fine when I’m up. It’s just standing in the first place that’s hard. I’m not used to balancing on one leg.” I took a few tentative steps. “Walking on crutches has got to be good for my core, right?” I was trying not to just sit down all the time. The doctors had told me I was going to be in a cast for a couple of months, so I had to get on with my life. I’d hired a temp to keep the gallery open this week, but I wanted to be back at work on Monday.

“Who cares? I don’t have a core. My children ripped it from my body along with my dignity when I gave birth.”

I laughed and then swayed a little on my crutches. “Stop it. You love your girls.”

She grinned. “I do. But they need to understand the price I paid to have them.”

“The problem is when I’m hobbling on crutches, I can’t drink because I have no free hands.” I leaned on one of the kitchen stools by the counter and Harper brought my glass over and sat down. “You think he’s okay? He could have had an accident . . .”

“I don’t think he’s been in an accident, Grace, and neither do you, if you’re being honest.” She took a sip of her wine.

“You think he’s being an *?”

“It’s pretty weird that he’s left without so much as a word. And it’s been days. You’ve been discharged and he’s still not here for you.”

“He’s hurting.”

“Maybe,” she said. “But so are you. This accident could have been a lot worse.”

“But it wasn’t.”

“I just think you should prepare yourself for the fact that you may never hear from him again. He seems like he could be ghosting you.”

A stab of pain hit me in the chest.

“Are you okay?” Harper asked.

I nodded and steadied myself against the counter. She thought Sam’s silence was him walking away. Ending it. For good. I’d just assumed he was hurting and couldn’t share whatever he was going through with me. I’d expected that in a couple of hours or a few days, he’d come around. But I was getting impatient. And Harper clearly thought he wasn’t coming back.

The thought that I may never see him again, speak to him, touch him, kiss him—it was horrifying. I finished off my wine. “Can I get a top up?” I asked. It wasn’t possible, was it? He’d said he would try to build a future with me. That’s what I thought he’d said. He couldn’t, wouldn’t just walk away from that . . . would he?

“We’re happy together, Harper. Why would you think that he’d just disappear and never want to speak to me again?”

“You know as well as I do that logic doesn’t apply when it comes to men.”

“But Sam’s not like that.” Other than my father, Sam was the best man I’d ever known. He was thoughtful and kind and cared about what should be important in this world. He’d been through so much in his life yet remained decent and honest at his core. He was special. And he loved me. He’d told me and I knew what a huge thing that was. He wouldn’t let me go so easily, would he?

“Come on. We all think they’re not like that until they are. You haven’t known him that long.”

Harper was right, Sam and I hadn’t known each other very long, but she didn’t understand how far we’d come. We were committed to each other—he said he’d try for me. That he wanted to be the man that deserved me.

I knew I just needed to see him, to reassure him. “I need to go to Manhattan,” I said as Harper poured more wine into my glass.

“Let’s see how you feel on Sunday. And when you do go back you should stay at my apartment in the city. Cab fare will be a lot cheaper than if you go to Brooklyn. You can’t take the subway for a while.”