For some stupid reason that brought hot tears to Veronica’s eyes. Besides Nellie all she had was Noah and something deep inside her knew it was just a matter of time before he was gone, too.
“I know you would,” she said willing her voice not to break.
“I won’t be back until after the New Year, hon but we’ll make a date and go shopping then okay?”
Veronica nodded and wished her a safe trip. She sat there feeling as pitiful as ever. She stood up reminding herself that soon she’d be back at work and in touch with everyone she’d lost track of in the last two years. She’d had more friends. They just stopped calling when she never returned their calls.
Her phone was a slider and she slid it up and down, again and again, staring at it as she stood at the kitchen counter. She slid it open again and scrolled down to her last text from Derek.
Happy New Year to you too.
Her thumb swirled over the send button a few times before she hit it. Almost in a huff, she set the phone down on the counter, walked over to the stove and pulled out a saucepan from the cabinet. This was ridiculous, it was just a simple text. She pulled the Abuelita hot chocolate from the pantry. She was working on breaking the pieces of chocolate apart when she heard the ping from her phone. Her fingers continued to break the pieces apart but her mind was on her phone so she set the chocolate down and walked over to the counter and picked it up.
Hey it’s good to finally hear from you. How are you?
Weird things were going on in her stomach but it wasn’t for good a reason. She had a bad feeling about this from the moment she’d considered responding. Things of this nature were the very reason why she feared Noah would not be in her life for much longer. Just the thought of mentioning to him that she’d been in touch with Derek again put a huge knot in her stomach, but the reality was she owed him no explanation. In fact, if he was truly her friend she should be able to talk to him about this right? So why was she seriously considering not responding to Derek?
With a deep breath, she shook her head. Nonsense. She was a single woman.
I’m good. Thanks for asking. I’ve just been busy. I go back to work next week.
Her thumb tapped against the screen of her phone as she waited for a response. The phone suddenly rang and she nearly dropped it. It was an eight hundred number and she answered it knowing it would be the auto club. The service rep informed her the tow truck was out front. Veronica hurried out the front door and saw the truck backing up into her driveway. She pointed to let the driver know the car was in the back.
She set her phone in her pocket as she dealt with explaining to the driver where he should take the car and signed papers releasing it. Finally she pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw she had two texts from Derek. The first:
That’s great I’m happy to hear it. And I’m glad you’re staying busy.
The second:
So what have you been up to?
She took a picture of her car being hauled onto the flatbed of the tow truck and laughed softly as she sent it to him with no caption. Whenever things that couldn’t be helped happened her mom always used to say, “You just gotta laugh. What else are you gonna do? Kick and scream?”
His response was immediate.
What happened? Are you okay?
She explained to him about her car and her shopping day being shot. They went back and forth for a while as the tow truck driver finished securing her car. Once inside the house she was just thinking about the silliness of texting. All this time she could’ve been talking to him but there was something about hiding behind the safety of a text that felt so much easier. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to talk to him. It’d been almost a year. And then her phone rang. It was Derek.
Shit. There was no way out of it. She’d just sent a text so he knew she was near her phone. The knot in her stomach got tighter and she answered. “Hey.”
“Veronica, it’s good to hear your voice.” His voice was exactly as she remembered. It brought back painful memories but in a weird way she was glad to hear him again.
“It’s good to hear you, too.”
“So you’re stranded for the day?”
“Yeah, looks like it.”
“I was gonna say, since your plans are shot how do you feel about getting together for some coffee?”
No way in hell was she inviting him over for coffee. “I uh… I dunno.”
“We don’t have to be out the whole day, just an hour or so. We can grab a cup of coffee and check out the latest exhibition at that photo gallery you like downtown. When’s the last time you did that?”
Veronica smiled running her finger over the grout between the tiles on her counter. “It’s been forever.”
“That’s what I figured. Let’s go Roni, for old time’s sake. I can pick you up in ten minutes, have you back before noon.”
Hearing him call her that made her stomach lurch. She knew it was irrational to think that she shouldn’t go because Noah might… hell who was she kidding he’d definitely be weird about it. She remembered how the mere mention of her working on her social life had struck a nerve with him. Maybe this is just what she needed to do. Go have coffee with a friend and break the ice. She was bound to get a life eventually and he was just going to have to get used to it right?
“Just an hour?”
“I’ll be there in ten.” She could almost hear the smile in his voice.
The moment she hung up she felt the urge to call him back and cancel. What was she thinking? She paced back and forth in the kitchen for a few minutes chewing her thumb nail. Twice she picked up the phone to call him back then put it down again. God she needed Nellie.