This was a dream, right? A month after my mother hung up on me—on Christmas Eve—my parents set up a trust for my daughter. As much as my head ached from trying, I couldn’t connect the dots.
I draped my hand over my mouth in an attempt to control the myriad of emotions rushing through me. Help in paying for Victoria’s college tuition and whatever else she would need as she grew was a dream come true, but my bigger dream was having them be a part of her life. I’d never understood what was in my parents’ heads or hearts and never would.
I guessed some mysteries were never meant to be solved.
“Longest day ever, right?” A nervous laugh shook my sister’s shoulders as we shared a pizza at my parents’ kitchen table. Most of the afternoon was spent in stilted and awkward conversation after we arrived back from the lawyer’s office. Denise’s eyes darted between Drew and me, a thousand questions dangling between us—questions I had no clue how to answer. I loved him for what he did, for rushing all this way to be with me when I needed him the most, but nothing had changed. He was still a young man with the world at his fingertips, and I refused to be the woman who got in the way.
“Are you staying, Drew? I can get you some pillows and blankets for the couch. It’s actually pretty comfortable.”
“That would be great. I thought I could stay with my aunt, but I forgot they’re all away. I could use some sleep before the drive back up. Thanks, Denise,” he answered as his eyes caught mine.
“I’m looking at an apartment tomorrow,” I said to my sister while ignoring the heat of Drew’s stare. Not the best thing to bring up in front of him, but in my desperation to divert attention from the discomfiture in the room, it was all I had. “And I’m seeing Victoria tomorrow. Would you like to come?”
She gasped and fell back into the seat. “I . . . you’ll let me meet her?” She nodded with a quivering chin.
“I always wanted you to meet her.” I dropped my eyes to the table. “All of you,” I whispered to myself.
“Do you think she’ll, you know, be weirded out by an aunt she doesn’t know?” My sister’s pleading eyes begged me to say no.
“She wasn’t weirded out by a father she didn’t know,” I chuckled. “You’ll be fine.” I dropped a hand to her forearm and squeezed.
“She’s pretty lovable,” Drew added. “In fact, she’s impossiblenotto love. Knows her comics, too.” He regarded us with a sad smile before rising from the table and tossing his paper plate into the trash. “Bathroom is upstairs?”
My throat was too thick to utter a reply. I motioned toward the stairs with my chin.
“What’s going on with you guys?” Denise’s whisper tore me out of my thoughts.
“It’s complicated, DeDe.” I stood to clean off the table.
“Doesn’t look so complicated. I’ve known him less than a day, and it’s obvious he adores you. Hasn’t today taught you anything about waste?” She clucked her tongue before storming out of the kitchen.
That talk needed to happen tonight, but I didn’t know how I could let him go a second time.
Sara
I TIPTOED INTOthe living room after I lingered upstairs, taking much longer than usual to get ready for bed and face Drew. I rested against the banister and watched him fuss with the pillows and sheets my sister gave him, and as I did when we first met, ogled him from afar. His tie was undone under the collar of his shirt. My eyes drifted over his torso and the crisp, white fabric stretching across the lean muscles of his back I’d memorized with my hands and my lips. I rubbed at the ache in my chest as I shook my head. I’d always be his, but he couldn’t be mine anymore. It wasn’t fair.
“Are you going to come talk to me or keep staring at my ass?” His head swiveled to where I was frozen in place. “You have many talents, but being stealthy isn’t one of them.”
I fought the twitch at the corners of my mouth before I ambled into the living room and sat on the far end of the couch.
“Thank you for . . . everything. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here today.”
“Why didn’t you call me when it happened?” He sat on the edge of the couch and rested his elbows on his knees.
“I wanted to, believe me. But I couldn’t . . . it wouldn’t be fair.”
He took in a long breath and exhaled on a groan.
“You have a screwed-up vision of what’s fair and what’s right. You wanted me there, I wanted to be here for you, but you went alone because you thought that was the fair and right thing to do. You make no sense lately, Caldwell.”
“It doesn’t matter how I feel; you can’t throw a huge opportunity away because of me—”
“What does this say?” Drew whispered as he pressed his fingers into my chest, right over my heart. It sped up at his touch and hammered against my rib cage. I lifted my head and our eyes locked, the heat and love in his eyes pinning me to the couch cushion. “Your heart, what does it say right now?’
“I love you.” I sank my teeth into my bottom lip to hold in the tears.
The side of his mouth quirked up. “I know that, Gorgeous. What else does it say?”
