“She’s not my fiancée anymore.”
I blink repeatedly and tug at my ears, sure I must have misheard him. “What?”
“I ended things with Toria.”
“Why? When?” I croak. My mind is a jumbled mess.
“The minute I came off tour, and because I don’t love her. I never have. It’s only ever been you, Syd. It’s only you.” His soft tone is laced with heartfelt emotion, and I’m a firework about to detonate.
This can’t be real, can it? “What about the baby?”
“I won’t abandon my son. I have a co-parenting agreement in place with my ex, but that’s my only involvement with her going forward.” He stares at me expectantly, unaware I’m a mess inside and incapable of speaking. “Say something,” he pleads.
“I don’t know what to say,” I whisper, rubbing at my chest.
“It’s only one of the things I wanted to catch you up on.” He drags a hand through his messy hair. “Can we talk? Properly talk? How about breakfast at my place? I make a mean omelet.” He flashes me a grin.
My mouth opens and closes. I’m speechless. My head and my heart are in a tailspin. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing.”
“Please, Sydney.” The grin fades. Anguished blue eyes plead with me. “I spoke to Mum. I’ve got stuff to tell you about the past. About your dad. I’m just asking for an hour of your time. Can you spare me that?”
* * *
“Go and see what he has to say for himself,” Cay says after I have calmed down. I was like a raving lunatic when I first video called her. “I don’t see how there’s any harm in it.”
“This has thrown me.” I flop down on my bed and sigh. “Do you think he was telling the truth? There is nothing in the media about them breaking up. Maybe he lied to get me to his place.”
“This is Jared, Syd. I know we don’t know him anymore, but he was never a liar. I don’t see how it would serve his agenda to do so now. Just go and find out what he has to say, and then call me immediately. I don’t care what time it is. I’ll give my cell to my assistant so she can interrupt me if I’m with a client.”
“I’m scared,” I whisper.
“Why?”
“What if he’s telling me the truth? What if he hasn’t moved on? What if he still has feelings for me?”
Her features soften. “You mean what if you might get what your heart has always wanted?”
I nod.
“That wouldn’t be a bad thing, Syd.”
“So much time has passed, and we’re different people now. It might not work. I might get my heart broken all over again.”
“Your heart has never mended. Either this is meant to be or it’ll give you the closure you need to move on.”
“Maybe.”
“No matter what happens, I’m here for you. Take it one step at a time, babe, starting with getting answers, and we’ll figure it out from there.”
ChapterTwenty
Jared
“Ithought we could eat on the deck unless you’d rather sit indoors?” I say as Sydney surveys my vast kitchen with inquisitive eyes. She looks beautiful in her soft-pink knee-length dress with a white cardigan. Wedge sandals adorn her feet, elongating her long slim legs and making her look even taller. Blonde strands tumble down her back in silky sheets and she’s wearing minimal makeup. She’s a breath of fresh air in a world drowning in fakeness. It’s no wonder I’ve never been able to forget her.
“The deck is fine.” She turns to look out the floor-to-ceiling windows that wrap around the rear of my two-story house, offering an ocean view that is to die for. I still can’t believe we’ve both ended up here.
I’d say it’s fate, but I believe fate is what you make it.
