“Sorry to hear about your Gran,” he said. His mother had come to the funeral. I’d mentally prepared myself to face him again but he’d not come. The blow hadn’t been as hard because Griff had been by my side. Part of me was relieved he hadn’t come to the funeral.
“It was sudden. As hard as that was I’m thankful she didn’t suffer,” I told him. That had been how I had dealt with losing her. Reminding myself that although I hadn’t gotten a chance to say goodbye at least she didn’t suffer from a terrible disease that killed her slowly. “She was asleep. It was peaceful.”
He studied me a moment and I felt self-conscious having his focus on me. The line moved and we moved up with it. One of the girls did another glance back at Creed then me before turning around. I was sure she was trying to figure us out. We didn’t look like a couple. There was too much space between us for starters. If he were Griff, I’d be snuggled up to his side.
“When was the last time you were there?” he asked.
“To see Gran or in Portsmouth?”
“Both,” he clarified.
“I saw Gran three months before she passed away. She came to Nashville for Christmas. The last time I was in Portsmouth was for the funeral.”
“I was there last month. My mom decided to move back. She and her husband, Chet’s uncle, bought a house on Dearborn,” he told me even though I hadn’t asked. The line moved again.
His parents had divorced and moved from their home beside Gran about six months after Cora’s death. Although I hadn’t come back to Portsmouth that next summer, I knew they’d moved that winter. Gran had told me. Before Cora’s death, our plan for that summer had been for the three of us to hike the Appalachian trail. Not the entire thing but start in Maine and go as far as we could before we all went to college that fall. I’d forgotten that until now.
“Where did y’all move after…” I couldn’t finish the question. I glanced up at him, wishing I hadn’t asked that or mentioned it.
“My dad moved to Simsbury, Connecticut. Mom moved to Burlington, Vermont, to live near her mother,” he replied but said nothing more. There were so many things I could ask him but I didn’t. I didn’t need to know about his life. He was no longer a part of mine. We would rarely see each other after I left tomorrow. I didn’t need to know which parent he lived with after the divorce.
When the line moved again, we were finally inside the warmth of the Bagel Hut. I sighed from the pleasure of it. A small grin lifted the corners of Creed’s mouth. The girls in front of us both turned around this time. The blonde was smiling at Creed, but the other girl’s focus was on me. They must have listened to us enough to know we weren’t a couple and were ready to make their move on Creed.
“Excuse me but I need to know,” the brunette asked, looking directly at me. “Are you Sailor Copeland?” she asked. The other girl was looking at me now too.
This wasn’t new. I was used to this, in Nashville. It had never happened in New England. I’d loved that about coming here in the summers. I opened my mouth to respond, but Creed spoke first.
“Who?” he asked.
The brunette looked more unsure now than she had before. She studied me again then glanced at him. “Sailor Copeland. Denver Copeland’s daughter,” she said, and I saw a couple people turn to look at us. Crap.
“Whose Denver Copeland?” Creed asked.
The girl looked at him like he was crazy. “The country singer, CMA entertainer of the year, several times over,” she said the words like he should know this.
He laughed loudly then and nudged my arm. “Does your pops sing, Nyx?” he asked me.
I wasn’t used to denying who I was. Not because I wanted attention but because I was a terrible liar. However, a few of the other people who had turned to look at us had turned away now. Creed was a much better liar than me.
I shook my head but didn’t say anything for fear I’d mess up this ruse.
“Last I checked her pops sat at a desk all day balancing books,” he told the girl then flashed a smile that I was sure could melt any female in a hundred-mile radius. She turned her attention to him then and gave him a seductive smile.
“I’m Sierra,” she told him.
“Dan,” he replied with a nod. The line moved then and it was their turn. “Better order up,” he told her then winked.
He had her so flustered she forgot her order and her friend kept giggling. I shot him a grateful smile and waited for them to get their order in so we could finally make ours. Before they moved out of the way the blonde turned around and handed “Dan” a napkin. “Call me,” she said then licked her lips before walking over to the pickup window. The extra sway to her hips as she walked was slightly over the top.