Let It Be Me (Triplets book 1)

Chapter 22

A few days later, Hank asked Ophelia to go with him to the art store again. He needed to pick up some large canvas and would need help loading them. Annsa had said he could use the company van to collect them.

Ophelia agreed. She hadn't left the office since the inventory. It had taken her days to sort out the mess they had made of it. The ride took almost an hour with traffic, and Ophelia was glad once they arrived and could stretch their legs.

"How long is this going to take, and are you going to buy me lunch afterward?" she asked as he followed Hank into the store.

"Nope, I said nothing about lunch, and it's too late to negotiate," he said over his shoulder as he approached the salesclerk to get his custom order.

"Cheapskate!" Ophelia called as she let her attention be drawn to all the vivid paint colors on display. Not for the first time, she wished she had some artistic talent. Hank knew the clerk, and they talked about a few common friends as he paid for his order.

When she saw the canvas's size, she doubted that it would even fit in the van.

"Don't look like that! I measured." Hank insisted.

"At least it's not heavy," Ophelia commented as she picked up the end of it. "Shouldn't we load the other stuff first?"

"No, it will be fine." Hank brushed off her concern.

Twenty minutes later, Ophelia was standing on the sidewalk, watching Hank try to fit everything in the van around the canvas while trying not to laugh.

"We could always pull-"

"It's fine!"

"Just one minor change-"

"I got it!"

Ophelia threw up her hands with a grin and turned to hide it, and as she turned, her eyes encountered a very familiar gaze. His dark eyes were glued to hers, holding her captive. Time stopped, her heart stopped, and she even stopped breathing. Why did seeing Sulivan Richards always cause the same reaction?

He didn't wave or try to approach her, but he did give her an almost tender smile. When his gaze finally did leave hers, it was pulled to the man shouting his triumph behind her.

"I told you I would get it!" Hank cackled.

Ophelia turned to look at his handy work for only an instant, but when she turned back around, Sullivan was gone again. Maybe he was a figment of her imagination.

"Let's go. I'm feeling generous and will buy you lunch after all." Hank grinned as he opened the van door and climbed into the driver's seat. "Come on, let's go!"

Ophelia's eyes scoured the street once more but with little luck. If he had been there, he was long gone.

Why hadn't he said hello?

*******

'I found her.' Sullivan texted his family.

'Where?' Was Reyna's immediate response.

'Here, in New York.'

'How did she look? Was she alright? Did you talk to her?' Shay asked.

'You know, this would have been a lot easier if you had told us where she was, right?' Sawyer wrote.

'I told you I only had a phone number. I had no clue where she was!!!!' Shay responded.

'You couldn't have asked!' Pops chimed into the conversation.

'No! She respected my need to disappear, so I had to respect hers!" Shay was in full-on defense mode.