Moon over the Bay (Moonlit Nights) by Morgan Emerson Page B

chimed letting him know he had an email. Nathan jumped
over to his email account on the laptop and saw the latest message was from
Kyle.

 
    Hey brother,
    Look what a local Chicago news
guy caught with his camera. Sadie and I thought it was fairly telling. Call me
when you get a chance.
    Kyle

 
    Nathan downloaded the photo that
was attached in Kyle’s email and opened it immediately as his curiosity was
piqued. What he saw was a gorgeous photo taken during Sadie’s show in Chicago.
The image struck him so profoundly he was reaching for his phone to make that
call, never once taking his eyes off the screen.

 
    _____

 
    Jess swallowed the last of the
wine in her glass, her third for the evening. She was sitting in her wonderful
tub, soaking in the wonderful essential oils. Wonderful!
    If everything was so freakin’
wonderful then why the hell did she feel so miserable?
    Letting out a deep sigh, she
acknowledged that she knew exactly why. It’d been a week since she’d heard from
the man. Since he sent his “needing time to figure things out” text. It’d been
ten stinking days since he walked out her door . . . leaving her
alone in her big, sad, empty apartment. It felt so cold now, as if he’d taken
the warmth with him when he left her. Even the melodic tones coming through her
speakers were sad; Train was singing “This ain’t goodbye.” Pfft. It totally
was.
    Hell, she’d turned into a hermit
these last ten days. Not helped by the fact that Sadie was gone too; she’d left
a couple days ago with Kyle for Los Angeles to help him pack.
    That’s where he was. Blast
him all to hell!
    Jess knew she was acting like a
heartbroken teenager, but she couldn’t help it. She felt like one. Jess wanted
to call him and yell at his voicemail, or send him a scathing email about how
awesome she was and how lame he was. She resisted . . . because
maybe it was the booze talking.
    An hour later, she was wandering
listlessly around her apartment, unable to settle, when her house phone rang.
It was the security guard from the front desk telling her she had a delivery
from a department store. She didn’t remember ordering anything but allowed the
delivery anyway. It might be from her parents or a client. The man knocked on
the door once to let her know he’d arrived, and when she opened it, handed her
a note as well as a garment bag before running back to the elevators.
    She walked to her room and hung
the bag up in
her closet, and then she opened and read the note in her hand.

 
    Jess,
    You looked so beautiful the
night of the viewing that I regretted tearing your dress in my haze of lust.
Please forgive my Neanderthal behavior and accept this gift as an apology.
    Nathan

 
    She was at a loss for words.
Nothing from him in ten days and now this? Jess shoved the note in the pocket
of her robe and unzipped the garment bag. She gasped when she saw the dress
inside, running her hand over the silk material. It was just like the dress she
wore that night except this was dark purple instead of gray.
    What an infuriating, endearing,
stupid man!
    Jess was in shock. She lay on her
bed and thought about what this gift meant. Why send it now? It had been a week
since she last heard from him. At least she took comfort in the fact he’d
thought about her enough to replace the dress. How in the world had he known
who had designed the dress? How the hell had he afforded this on a struggling
actor’s salary? Weren’t they all broke? Should she call him and thank him? What
if this was a goodbye gift?
    Debating about how to handle this
new development with Nathan, she was relieved to get a text from Sadie asking
her to come to dinner tomorrow, so they could catch up. Jess quickly shot back
a reply saying she’d be there. She’d ask Sadie for advice then.

Chapter Nine

 
 
    Jess took
a deep breath before climbing out of her car in front of Sadie’s apartment
block. Today had been a long day. It started with nursing a