“Thank you, Grant.” Hearing my name on her lips is like a desperate prayer I’ve wished for longer than I can remember.
“Yeah. Here’s Teresa. She can handle the logistics.” Before she can say anything else, I pass the phone back to Teresa and stalk into my office, the slamming of the door behind me, reverberating like her words are inside my head.
You’re my last resort.
Fuck, that hurts. There was once a time when I was on the top of the list. The questions I’ve asked myself for years awaken at the stark realization I’m now at the bottom.
Where did we go wrong?
Could I have done something different to make her stay?
Logically, there was nothing, but when the person who wasyourperson walks out on you and doesn’t look back, it has even the most confident person questioning themselves.
The knock on my door pulls me out of my memories of our time together.
“Sir?” Teresa pokes her head in. I scrub a hand down my face and drop into the chair behind my desk. She takes that as permission to enter and perches on the edge of my desk. “Grant, are you okay?”
“Yes. No. Shit, I don’t know.”
“She’s in New York,” Teresa says.
She’s one of the few people who know about my failed marriage to Taylor and that Taylor had moved to LA for a promotion at her PR firm around the same time as our breakup.
“Doesn’t matter. She made it clear she only called because she needed help. It doesn’t mean anything more than that.”
“I’m sorry, Grant. I know how much you love her and have been waiting for her to call.”
I do love her. I never stopped. I loved Taylor Baker the first moment her eyes met mine when she was sitting behind home plate with her brother eight years ago. That was back when I still stood on a mound and threw ninety-five-mile-per-hour heaters for New York’s major league baseball team. I can’t think about that now. I can’t think about her any more than I already have. If I open that door, who knows how long it will take to close again.
Changing the subject, I ask, “Why are you here anyway? You’re supposed to be at home.”
Teresa drops her head back and groans. “Joe was driving menuts!” When she looks back up at me, she continues, “I had to get out of the house. I knew he wouldn’t be able to sit still when he retired but this is a whole new level of irritating, Grant. He won’t leave me alone.” I smile at her frustration because despite how annoyed she may seem, she loves the man more than anything else. Knowing Joe’s tendency to stay busy, I’d imagine being locked in a house with him while Teresa was trying to work would be a recipe for disaster.
“Why don’t I set you up at my place?” I have a large home office in my brownstone near Central Park. “I’ll even send a car to get you every day.”
A smile takes over her entire face as she clutches her chest dramatically. “Have I told you lately you’re the best boss ever?”
“You haven’t and that wounds me. I need the reminder more often.” Anything to confirm I’m nothing like my father and the way he runs the Davenport empire. I never wanted anything to do with the family business and especially didn’t want to run my company the way my father ran his—with an iron fist and fear as driving forces.
“Did you get the files you needed?” she asks, standing to her full height.
“How did you know I needed files?”
“Why else would you be here when you have that fancy home office?”
I roll my eyes at her and pick up the files. “Let’s get out of here. I’ll even order your favorite lunch on the way home.”
“Best boss ever.” She claps and I follow her out to her desk where she gathers her belongings so we can leave.
All I can think as we descend the elevator is how thankful I am Teresa was in the office today. Because if not, no one would have been here to answer Taylor’s call, and if no one were here, then I wouldn’t have heard her voice. I’ve missed that sound almost as much as I’ve missedher.
Was this the universe’s way of putting her back in my path?
A sign that it’s not over between us?
Whatever it was, and however much it hurt, I’d take it.
Taylor Baker was the love of my life. There was no one like her. It’d always been her, and with the way my heart was clenching now, there was no doubt it always would be.
