Impulsively, I reach across the table for her, hoping she won’t retreat. And to my surprise, her fist blooms like a flower, her small fingers twining with mine. We hold on to each other for dear life.
“It’s going to be okay,” I tell her. “We’ll figure it out together.”
Chapter 6
Julia
It takes me three days of rehearsing what to say before I work up the nerve to approach Richard, so it’s Sunday night when I finally talk to him. He’s packing his suitcase for another trip to his east-coast office, neat stacks of clothing laid out on our bed. Everything about Richard is tidy. That’s part of why I’m so nervous about telling him about this messy, messysituation.
“Did you pick up the dry cleaning?” he asks when I come in the room. If he’d turn around, he’d see it hanging in his closet.
I nod and sit on the edge of the bed. One of his piles leans toward the dent I’ve made in the mattress, and he frowns at me. “Can you not? You’re ruining my system.”
I stand up instantly, like he’s got puppet strings attached to the top of my head. “Sorry.”
He grunts his forgiveness and continues packing in silence. There’s no point waiting for him to start a conversation with me. He won’t.
When the girls left for college this spring—Korean universities begin their school years in March—I’d thought it was our opportunity to reconnect. I even asked him if I could go with him on one of his trips, thinking it would be a good way to mark the new chapter in our lives as empty-nesters.
He’d laughed a little too hard. “Why would you want to do that? What would you do all day while I’m in the office?”
“I don’t know. Explore the city? Read a book? It wouldn’t be so different than what I do now, except I’d be able to have dinner with you. Or we could catch a show.”
“I have business obligations most evenings, too,” he said shortly. “Dinners, cocktail parties.”
“I could go with—”
His sharp laugh cut me off. “Truly? You think you would have anything to contribute in a conversation with a Fortune-500 exec? I’m not trying to be cruel, but you have nothing in common with these people, Julia.”
That hurt, even though I knew he was wrong. There are human experiences that are universal, like food and weather and family. There are current events and funny travel stories. I could have found common ground with these powerful, accomplished people. The truth was that he didn’t want me there.
I crossed my arms to protect my heart. “So I’m just supposed to stay home alone?”
He made an irritated noise then, like something was stuck in his throat. “I don’t know. Get a hobby. Get a job!”
That’s how I ended up working at Dog-Eared Pages. Funny how that job is the way I met Ian. Maybe it was meant to be, after all.
Well, there’s no easy way to segue into “a wolfman thinks I’m his fated mate,” so I just go for it.
“Someone came into the bookstore on Wednesday,” I begin, and I rattle off the whole encounter, starting with the story time and meeting Ian. I can tell Richard’s not paying attention at first, all his focus on folding his clothes into outfits, so I stop in the middle. “Can you listen to me,please?”
“I’ll listen when you say something interesting,” he says coolly. “So far I can’t fathom why you’re telling me about every single person who walks into your workplace. Imagine if I did the same.”
“Ian’s not every single person,” I snap back, feeling hot and prickly all over. “He’s my fated mate.”
That gets his attention. Richard stares at me, his face cycling through disbelief, confusion, and amusement before settling back into mild annoyance.
“So this whole conversation is to tell me about some oddball furry’s pickup line? Is this because I mentioned you could make better use of your gym membership last week? Droll strategy, Julia. You know I’m not the jealous type.”
I sigh. “I’m not trying to make you jealous. I feel bad for the guy. He’s waited his whole life for his fated mate, and she turned out to be over the hill and already married. Did you know they can’t have children with anyone except their fated mates? It’s so sad to think he won’t be able to have a family. A big part of me wants to do whatever I can to help him.”
Richard laughs like I told a joke.
I shake my head. “I don’t understand what’s funny.”
“The whole thing. You’re obviously unavailable, and even if you were single, you’re way too old to getpregnant. If you have any eggs left, they’re probably rancid.” The casual cruelty of the comment stings. He notices my expression and acts shocked. “What? You’re the one who said ‘over the hill.’”
He’s right. I should have learned by now not to self-deprecate around him, because he always uses it later to jab me. It’s just his sense of humor. I brush off his comment. “You know how Heidi and Nicole used a surrogate to have Matthew? I’m considering acting as a surrogate for him, so he can have a family even if I can’t be his partner. What do you think? I know it’s asking a lot, but you wouldn’t have to do anything. You have the big Pittsburgh project, so you won’t be home that often, anyway. Ian will cover all the medical expenses. I’ll handle the pregnancy, and he will take custody of the pups immediately after birth and do all the parenting. We’ll draw up a legal contract to sever my parental rights so it doesn’t get messy.”
