“No, no. A woman answered. I asked for him, and she asked me what I wanted with her husband.”
“Oh, no.”
“Oh, yes. I was stunned and then disgusted that I’d helped him cheat on his poor wife. I was about to tell her the truth, but she hung up on me and when I called back, I got that weird tone where you can’t tell if they’re ignoring your call or not. So I texted and it didn’t go through.”
Stacey’s mouth falls open. “She blocked you?”
“Mmhmm. And I only knew his first name and number so I didn’t know anything else. And I wasn’t going to scour through every single person who turned up to the convention, and part of me was also really scared about having a baby so I just… yeah.”
“I’m sorry. Honestly, it sounds like you dodged a bullet there. What kind of asshole travels to a convention just to cheat on his wife?” Stacy rolls her eyes. “Men are fucking pigs.”
“I know. But now that I’ve bumped into him again… do I tell him?” Elijah’s face floods my mind. He’s as polite and as charming as he was back then, and nothing about him suggests he’s an awful person. There was no wedding ring on his finger, either. I checked when I left his car the other day after he made it clear that he remembers me.
Which means he remembers that night.
Will he work out the truth about Nick? Or will he be like the man he was back then and vanish from my life without looking back? I spent countless nights agonizing over his wife and what the right thing to do was regarding Nick.
I made my choice.
And given everything that’s happened, it was the best decision of my life.
“It’s complicated,” Stacey sighs. “I mean… do you want to try and connect with him?”
“I don’t know.” I shake my head, tipping the remaining wine in my glass back and forth.
“Have you spoken to him?”
“Yeah. I don’t think he knows anything. For a while I wasn’t sure he even remembered me.”
“Did he say something?” Stacey leans forward against the table. “Was it nice? Was it mean? I have a lot of pent-up anger, so I could, y’know…”
She balls her fist, which I quickly cover with my hand while laughing.
“No, it’s fine. Honestly. He…” I shake my head. “It’s nothing. It’s just weird seeing him again. I still feel so raw after Dad and now this stuff with my Mom and keeping Nick happy and stuff, and work being stressful. It’s just… seeing him again just sort of made me feel like I was having an out-of-body experience.”
“That’s fair. It’s honestly up to you what you do. I can’t judge after how I lusted after Henry, but if I’m honest? You should stay away from him. If he cheated on his wife, then he’s not worth it. He doesn’t deserve a slice of your life, father or not.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.” Stacy grins. “Dessert?”
I nod, eager for something sweet and cool to chase away the lingering spice on my tongue. As Stacy busies herself looking for the attractive waiter, I mull over her advice.
She’s right. Elijah might be here now, but it’s for work and then he’ll vanish again.
I’ve lost enough family. There’s no way I’m disrupting my life for him. I have to stay focused and the only thing I need from him, the only thing I’ll ever need, is the truth about work and the merger.
That’s where my focus needs to stay.
11
ELIJAH
The weekend passes far too fast for my liking, given how I spent most of it on the phone with Buster working out the accounts, so by the time Monday morning rolls around, it’s like I never left.
“Dude.” Buster’s yawning voice drifts up from where I’ve placed my phone on the desk. “It’s way too early for this shit.”
“I know, but if I don’t stay on top of this, then you’ll never let me live it down.”
