“Definitely.”
“Agreed,” Heath adds, bending down to drop a kiss on Hadley’s forehead. He takes the baby out of Hadley’s arms and offers her to me. “Opal Minerva Robinson, meet your Auntie Nora.”
I take her, surprised at how little she weighs in my arms. “Hi, Opal. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
I sit in the chair next to the bed and gaze at her little face some more, falling completely in love with her. I blink back tears and think about how much more there is to life than a career. There’s a whole universe to explore, filled with experiences just waiting for me. Maybe getting married and having a family will be on that list, maybe it won’t. What I do know is I can’t sit around waiting for life to happen. I have to go out and get it.
After several solid minutes of the three of us just staring at Opal, Hadley says, “I’ve been thinking a lot about you and Theo.”
“You have?” I ask, surprised she was able to focus on anything other than being in labour.
“Between contractions,” she says. “The thing about him selling you out to Harrison shouldn’t be a deal breaker. Did he have to say it? No. Was he right? Yes.”
Heath stares at his wife, his eyebrows furrowed. “You’re going straight to girl talk? Right now?”
“This can’t wait,” Hadley says. “Nora’s at the biggest romantic crossroads of her life. Besides, I want Opal to get a head-start on relationship problem-solving. It’s a very important skill in life.”
“True,” I tell Heath with a smile. “Undeniably vital.”
He sighs. “I kind of wanted to keep talking about how perfect my daughter is.”
“We’ll get back to that,” she tells him, then turns to me. “Are you in love with him?”
Finally, I let the truth come out. “Yes. He can drive me nuts, but he also drives me wild.”
“Good combo,” Hadley says. “Something else occurred to me about an hour ago. He had the courage to tell you he had feelings for you but also the restraint not to allow anything to happen during the competition, and that reveals a lot about who he is. He could have easily taken advantage of the situation—”
“And let’s face it, Itotallywould have let him,” I say, then glance at Opal. “Sorry, let’s pretend I didn’t say that.”
Hadley grins at the baby. “But he didn’t, which means he’s not the kind of rich guy who thinks the rules don’t apply to him. I’d say that’s pretty rare in someone who grew up the way he did.”
“Agreed.” My heart swells with pride (the good kind, not the bad one), even though he’s not mine. Then I remember how I turned him down, and I’m filled with regret.
“I think you should go to him and tell him the truth, that you’re probably in love with him and you want another chance to see where things will go between you.”
I bite my lip and nod, my stomach doing flips at the thought of doing any of that. “What if it’s too late?”
Smiling, she says, “What if it’s not?”
32
Wise Younger Brothers in Swim Trunks
Theo
I should be happy.I should be relieved. The first episode of the show aired on Thursday night and already our sales are creeping up in the right direction. Our marketing and social media teams are doing a remarkable job of getting the word out about the competition and rebranding us as a young, fun company. I also managed to help Nora’s family avoid disaster. That should be enough. I should be sleeping at night, but I’m not.
It’s Sunday morning and I’m at home, sitting by the pool, bored out of my mind. I’m also dejected and depressed that the woman I cannot get off my mind will never love me. I keep replaying our time together, wishing I could start over and do everything right this time. But that’s just a useless waste of my time. I can’t go back. She and I are through.
I’m going to give myself permission to wallow in self-pity today, but tomorrow morning, I’m going back to my regular life. I’ll throw myself into work until I’m fine again. Based on how I’m feeling at the moment, I’d say that’ll only take six months or so.
Pathetic.
The kitchen door opens, and Markos appears in his trunks. “You look awful.”
“Thanks. When did you get back?”
“Around one o’clock this morning.” He jumps into the deep end of the pool. When he comes up for air, he swims to the side nearest to me and grips the edge. “So? What’s wrong? You should be filled with relief right now. The competition went off without a hitch, no scandals to sully the company name, sales are up, and yet you look like a little boy who dropped his ice cream cone.”
