“Smash Cakes?” H interrupted.
“It’s Hash Pants.”
“That can’t be his real name,” Harper mused. “Actually, it could be. I once had a piano student named Shishka Bobby.”
Libby cocked her head to the side. “You mean shish kebab, like the food?”
“No, Shishka Bobby. Interesting family.”
“I bet.”
“So, what does Smash Cakes want?” Harper asked, plunking down on the bench.
“He texted that his great aunt wanted to meet at the rec center. She found something of mine in the apartment and wants to give it to me in person.”
“Any idea what it is?” H asked.
“None at all.”
Harper nodded, and for the space of a breath, the woman looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.
What was on H’s mind?
There was a good reason she didn’t know. She’d been so engulfed with life in Rickety Rock over the last several weeks, she’d barely checked in with her friend. “How are you, H? I’m sorry I haven’t asked in ages. Anything exciting on the piano teacher front?”
H glanced away. “I’ve got a conference in Las Vegas next week.”
“And your grandmother? How is she?”
Harper’s momentary flash of vulnerability dissolved, and the snarky glint returned to her expression. “You’re stalling, Libbs. I’m here for you.” H glanced over her shoulder. “And by the way, Penny and Char just pulled up. They should be here any minute.” Her friend toyed with the hem of her miniskirt. “Before our besties living their best lives and rocking diamonds that cost as much as a two-bedroom condo in Crystal Creek arrive, tell me, after everything that happened in Rickety Rock, are you sure you want to be here? You’ve been dealing with some heavy stuff, and I know this place reminds you of your mom. It’s a lot, even for our resident yoga queen.”
Libby drank in the outdoor space.
Harper wasn’t wrong.
Her mother had taken a class at the community center across from the playground. She’d babysat Anders and Alec here, keeping one eye on the boys while glancing into the building to try to catch a glimpse of her mother through the windows that lined the exercise studios.
But they weren’t all heavy memories.
She’d played at this park with Charlotte, Penny, and Harper. They’d each take a swing and pretend they were flying through air back when they were just a pack of pig-tailed schoolgirls.
“I’m okay, H. I am.”
But was she?
She sat back and looked on as a pair of children pumped their legs, sailing through the air on the swing set. The creak and whine of metal rubbing against metal as the children swung back and forth hung in the air above the chatter of boys and girls playing tag and venturing across the monkey bars. She twisted the jade beads on her bracelet and pictured the day she’d met Sebastian and brought him here—to this park, her park. He was a shy kid clutching a sketchbook, and now…
Now, she didn’t know if she’d be a part of his life anymore.
She closed her eyes and focused on the scent of lilacs in the air.
“Hey, Libbs, hey, H,” Penny said, sitting down next to her as Char sidled up next to Harper. “I was happy to see you texted about meeting up. I’ve been worried about you. Is everything working out with the Gale Gaming apartment?”
Libby opened her eyes, grateful to be with her girls. “Yes, Penn, thank you.”
When she’d returned to Denver, she’d had nowhere to go. And even though she was certain Raz wouldn’t be at his mega-mansion in the Crystal Hills neighborhood, she couldn’t return to the place where they’d made love for the first time, where the like cures like experiment started, and where her world had been turned upside down by one hell of a handsome slice of beefcake. When she’d texted the girls, asking for hotel recs, Penny mentioned there was an apartment in the Gale Gaming office building. She’d said that the entire place would be empty for the annual weekly summer shut down and that she’d be welcomed to stay there.
It was as if the universe had known exactly what she needed.
Sure, she could have tucked herself away in a hotel. She wasn’t penniless anymore. Thanks to the generous nanny salary, her healthy checking account could have covered the cost to stay at any of Denver’s glitziest of boutique hotels, but the empty apartment inside an equally empty building offered ensured solitude.
“I know you want to be alone. I get it. But I wish you would have agreed to stay with one of us, Libbs,” Char said. “I still can’t get over what happened with Erasmus. But don’t count him out yet, honey. You never know with these guys.”
Char meant well, but Raz had made his choice, and her heart couldn’t endure another broken promise. She’d structured her life precisely so she wouldn’t have to feel that ache.
But nothing seemed simple or cut and dry anymore.
Could Raz surprise her and come to terms with the fact that he was going down a dangerous path? She understood that he harbored guilt and even blamed himself for Meredith’s death. But how much winning would be enough for him to make up for his self-assigned sins? Could he change, or was he like her dad, chasing some pipe dream that everything would magically be okay after that next elusive victory?
She ignored the heaviness in her chest. “The apartment is exactly what I need. But don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful you guys offered to let me stay with you, but I needed some time alone, and I had to stay hidden away. Raz and I agreed not to say anything to Sebastian yet. He thinks I’m training with his dad, and I didn’t want Phoebe or Oscar to mention something to him if they noticed me at one of your places. And H…”
“No need to explain, Libbs,” Harper said, waving her off. “If I had the choice of squatting in the luxurious Gale Gaming bachelor pad or living la vida geriatric with my grandma Presley, I’d opt for the bach pad any old day.”
Libby playfully bumped H’s shoulder, shaking her head as a genuine smile graced her lips.
Leave it to Harper to lighten the mood.
But her burst of happiness was short-lived.
The mention of her temporary lodgings only reminded her of what led her there.
After she and Raz had spoken in the rain outside the barn, and her heart had disintegrated in her chest, the man looked like the world had chewed him up and spit him out. But he still left with Augie. She’d watched him go, staring at the taillights as they disappeared down the drive. Feeling like she’d been run over by a Mack truck, she’d gone back into the barn and spoke to Sebastian, telling him she also had to leave to help his father. Despite it being a lie, the idea that Sebastian believed she and Raz were training together provided a sliver of comfort.
Or was she simply ignoring the inevitable—that it was over? And that Raz, like her father, couldn’t see what was right in front of him.
She couldn’t wrap her head around it. Her mind felt like a psychic bowl of metaphysical mush.
The last few days had passed in a blur, or perhaps a daze of disorientation was a better descriptor, and her poor chi had been put through the emotional energy grinder.
It seemed unreal to believe that Raz had whisked her away to Moloka’i only a week ago. They’d made love and professed their feelings, sweaty limbs tangled together as they embraced beside the ocean. With salt in the air and the rope swing swaying, she’d opened her heart and given herself to the man she loved.