Page 27 (1/2)

Maybe it was best that she wasn’t here He needed ti short but nice It was hi to cry The thought twisted his guts into knots She’d think it was her fault Because of hoard she was in bed and out Because of the unintentional debacle tonight

He walked to his car and got inside After he turned the ignition, he sat with his hands on the wheel He didn’t knohere to go Her place or his? They needed to talk, but he wasn’t ready for her tears on top of his ht his eye He’d bought countless such boxes over the past three years He hadn’t looked forward to opening any of them as much as this one--because Stella was different Now, he’d be back to using the contents of the box with countless Fridays of wo a sie of anyone That was better than what his dad did Michael could do that and still be himself Too bad he didn’t want any of those women like he did Stella

He pushed the box onto the floor and out of sight before heading to his own apart tomorrow

Chapter 14

Stella completed her bedtime routine in a numb haze It wasn’t until she laid her head down on her pillow that she started crying

It was over now He’d asked her to be good to his fa like that

Her gut deh he wasn’t aware of the true extent of them, he already knew about her issues: sensitivities to smell, sound, and touch; her obsession with her work; her need for routine; and her aardness with people What he didn’t knoas there were labels for that, a diagnosis

But was pity any better than hatred? Right now, he thought she was insensitive and rude, but he still viewed her as a regular person who happened to have soht beher as Stella Lane, aard econometrician who loved his kisses In his eyes, she’d becoirl with autism She’d beless

With other people, she didn’t care what they thought

With Michael, she desperately needed to be accepted She had a disorder, but it didn’t define her She was Stella She was a unique person

There was no way to salvage this situation No way to keep hiize to his mom She’d neverHis mom’s evasiveness made sense now that she knew about his dad Stella wished she could have understood earlier, before she hurt the wo, but all she could control were her future actions, not the past

As the night dragged on, she constructed and reconstructed her apology, recited it over and over in her head When the sun rose, she dragged herself out of bed and got ready to tackle the day

She drove to the saone to yesterday and parked in front of Paris Dry Cleaning and Tailors As soon as they flipped the sign, she’d apologize and leave

A night of sleeplessness had left her head clouded, and her heart ached froers had been clenched around the wheel so long the joints were locked She was drained and wanted to get this over with so she could go to the office and lose herself in work

Five n flipped fro a deep breath, Stella picked up a second box of chocolates and a bouquet of peach roses and exited her car Inside, Janie sat behind the front counter

She lifted her attention from the textbook on her lap and blinked in surprise at Stella Froood kind of surprise "Hi, StellaMichael doesn’t work on Saturdays"

"I wasn’t looking for him" What was the point? They were done She held up the roses and chocolates "I brought these for your mom Is she here?"

Janie’s expression softened "Yeah, she’s here"

"May I speak to her, please?"

"She’s working in back I’ll take you there"