Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
EVERLEIGH
I inhale and open my bedroom door, walking out and down the steps. I find my mother in the kitchen walking to the stove wearing cutoff jeans and a loose tank top. “Hey,” she says, looking over her shoulder as she bastes the chicken she has been roasting. “Dinner is almost done.”
“I’m not eating at home.” I stand here in the middle of the kitchen. “I’m going out.”
“Where are you going?” She tosses the dish towel on the counter beside her.
“This morning I couldn’t get into it,” I say, pulling out a chair and sitting down, “but now I can.” She eyes me. “What did you mean that you knew what it was like to let go of the one thing that you’ve loved?”
She shakes her head. “This isn’t about me.”
“What did you mean, Momma?” I ask softly. She’s about to say something when the door opens, and Oliver stops dead in his tracks, taking in the scene. My mother has tears running down her face, and she quickly wipes them away.
“What’s going on?” Oliver questions, coming into the room and looking at both of us.
I turn to him. “Oliver, how long have you known my mother?”
“Everleigh,” my mother snaps, and I shake my head.
Oliver walks over to my mother and smiles at her. “She’s old enough to know.”
“I would hope so. I’m in my thirties.” I about slap the table, losing patience with both of them.
“We’ve known each other since high school,” Oliver answers, wrapping one arm around her neck. “We dated back then.” My eyes open as I look at him and then my mother. “I got into medical school at the same time I asked her to marry me.”
“Oliver,” she hisses at him at the same time I gasp out in shock, my hand going to my mouth.
“Maddie,” he says, dropping his hands, “it’s enough time, don’t you think?” He shakes his head, looks up at the ceiling, and lets out a huge sigh. “Call me later,” he says, walking out the door and slamming it behind him. My eyes followed him across the room and toward the door, and I just stare at it before turning and looking over at my mother, who is now in front of the sink, looking out the window.
“Mom.” She turns back to me, and I think she’s going to blow me off, but instead, she looks straight at me. “Is it true?”
“Yes,” she whispers. “We met in eighth grade. His family just relocated, and we struck up a friendship in science class.” She smiles. “God, he was the cutest boy I had ever seen. We became inseparable. I loved him with everything I had. Then he got into medical school. And it was so big, but he was on the fence about leaving me. I knew there was no way I could keep him back. There was no way I could tell him not to go, so I broke up with him.” My hand goes to my mouth. “Worst day of my life.” She shakes her head. “Started dating someone right after to show him that I was over him, and even though we used protection and I hated every single second of it, it was too late.” She smiles at me, but her smile is sad. “I would never, ever wish that you weren’t here.”
“I know that, Mom.” I get up, and she holds up her hand to stop me from going to her.
“The best thing that ever happened to me.” She pushes through the tears.
“But Oliver,” I say, my heart breaking for both of them.
“He found out I was pregnant and left town shortly after that,” she explains, her voice sounding as broken as I thought it would be. I know exactly how they both feel. “When you were ten, he came back to town. Just to visit, I think. Was here with his wife.” I gasp. “The way that hurt me to this day, I cannot explain it.” She puts her hand to her stomach. “This is what I wanted for him. This is why I did it. Heck, I had a child with someone else. But seeing him and his wife together, holding hands and laughing, it was a bit too much for me. I avoided him like the plague until he walked into the coffee shop one day. Both of us were shocked that we were in front of each other. It took one look at him, face-to-face, for me to admit I would never love anyone like I love him, so after that, I didn’t even bother. I was happy just being with you. Two years later, he came back, but this time he was divorced. Came to the coffee shop and we spent an hour talking to each other. But his life wasn’t here, it was in New York, where he was working as a cardiologist in one of the biggest medical hospitals in the country. He was working his way up the ladder, but every single week he would call. Then he would visit occasionally, and when you turned sixteen, he told me he was moving here. That he was tired of loving me from afar. Tired of living his life half empty. I couldn’t give him what he wanted. I had to think about you.”
“Mom, I would have wanted you to have that.”
“Oh, I know, but I was just fixated on pretending it was nothing and thinking that any day he was going to leave.”
“Mom, you almost died,” I remind her. “It’s time for you to live your life and be happy.”
“I am happy,” she finally says, shouting.
“Then go after him and be happier,” I say, and she looks up.
“What if we did all this, and he doesn’t feel the same way about me?” She finally gives in to her fear. “What if it’s working so well because we aren’t together?”
“What if it’s even better than you thought it would be?” I ask. “Mom, that man loves you so, so much.” She rolls her eyes. “With the attitude you give him, he is still here day in and day out. Do you love him?” I get up and face her. “Like, do you really, really love him?”
“Do you really, really love Brock?” She turns it around.
“Yes,” I say without a question in my mind.
“You love him?” she asks again.
“Yes. I don’t think I ever stopped loving him, to be honest.”
“What are you going to do about it?” she asks the loaded question, and I shrug.
“What are you going to do about it?” I ask, and she laughs, wiping her nose.
“Look at us,” she says, laughing. “Aren’t we a pair?”
I walk to her and give her a hug. We hear the door open, and both look over at Oliver. “I’ve had it,” he huffs out, “we’re done.”
I open my eyes wide. “Oliver,” my mother yelps, her face showing she’s worried.
“No, Maddie.” He shakes his head. “Enough is enough. We are going to stop this fucking shit right now. I love your mother.” He looks at me. “More now than I did back then. Never stopped loving her, and she knows it. She knows how I feel for her. I’m tired of living like we aren’t together,” he snaps. “So from now on, we aren’t. You are going to move in with me, or I’ll move in here. I don’t care. But we are moving in with each other, and we are also getting married.”
I gasp but not as loud as my mother. “Yeah, you heard me.”
I look at my mother and expect her to tell him to go fly a kite, but instead, she just shrugs. “Okay, fine,” she concedes, as if he’s forcing her to go out with him, “but we are not going to leave my daughter by herself.”
“Your daughter is thirty. She’s fine.” He looks at me. “And you will be more than welcome to live wherever we are.”
“Your daughter is also leaving,” I interject. “You guys can hash out the details on when you are getting married.” I smile at him. “I’m not calling you Dad.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to, but I’d be honored.” I smile at him and secretly thank him.
“You guys celebrate,” I tell them. “I’m going to go have dinner with a friend.”
“Is that what you are calling him?” my mother asks, and I hold my hand up and wiggle my fingers before walking out of the house.
I look at the car and then look up at the sky, opting to walk to his house. I pull up the text thread on my phone.
Me: Hey
I press send as I walk down the street. The phone rings in my hand, and I look down to see he’s calling me.
“Hello.” I put the phone to my ear.
“Are you calling me to cancel?” I hear him moving around on his end.
“No.” I laugh. “I’m just letting you know I may get there earlier than five, but not sure since I’m walking there.”
“You’re walking to my house?” he asks, and I hear the door shut.
“Yeah. It’s a nice day, and I figured I’d walk there.”
“Okay.” I hear a car door slam. “See you soon, then.”
“See you soon,” I repeat, disconnecting and wondering if he’s just leaving the shop and heading home. I’m about to cross the street when his truck pulls up right beside me. I look into the open passenger door window, seeing his hair wet from his shower. “What are you doing here?”
“Get in.” He reaches over and pushes open the door. I shake my head and climb into the truck. “Hi,” he says, and I see he’s wearing gym shorts and a white T-shirt that has drops of wetness on his chest from his hair.
“Were you in the shower?” I ask, and he shakes his head.
“No, I was just getting dressed,” he states as he makes his way to his house. We pull into the driveway at the same time as a car pulls up to the sidewalk. I step out of the truck and round the front of it, standing by Brock, who goes tight.
“Fuck,” he hisses and then looks at me. I raise my eyebrows when I see Winston get out of his car, taking off his sunglasses.
“Well, well, well,” he says, and his voice makes my skin crawl, “isn’t this a nice surprise?”
“Thought I made it clear the last time, I don’t want you here or on my property,” Brock declares and turns to look at me. “Let’s go inside.”
“We need to talk,” Winston insists. I walk up the steps with Brock and watch him slam the door behind us.
“What is going on?” I ask him, looking out the window at Winston walking back to his car.
“That,” he spits, putting his hands on his hips, “is the aftermath of them trying to fuck me over.”
I stare at him, confused. “I don’t understand.”
“Before you left, they brought me in to help the lead architect,” he explains as I watch him. “Well, after you left and the truth came out and they were done with me, they stole my designs and then fired me.” I gasp. “Except they fucking put more apartments than the foundation was built for. Now it’s not only cracking, it’s sinking.”
“So what do they want from you?”
“To tell them how to fix it,” he states, and my eyes go big.
“Can you fix it?” I ask, and he shakes his head.
“The only way to fix it is to demolish it and start over, and they don’t want to do that.”
“What are you going to do?” I ask, and he looks at me.
“There is nothing for me to do. I lost everything because of them. I would never have been behind that. He stole it and passed it off as his own design, doubling it. I don’t think he gave much thought about the foundation, thinking it would be fine.”
“Wouldn’t he know?” I ask the loaded question.
“Yes, but he probably didn’t give a shit, thinking that nothing would happen.” He shakes his head.
“Were you going to tell me?” I ask the loaded question, and he stares me in the eye.
“Tonight at dinner,” he states. “No word of a lie. I was going to tell you tonight at dinner.”
“Is there anything else I need to know?” I ask, waiting.
“There are a couple of things,” he admits, and my mouth gets dry.
“Saige wants to see me once a week when she isn’t with me.”
“Okay.” I'm not sure why that is something I need to know.
“Karla isn’t keen on it.”
“What?” I ask, shocked. “Why not?”
“No fucking idea. Besides the fact that she fucking hates me. I’m going to talk to her one more time, and if that doesn’t help, I’m going back to my lawyer.”
“Don’t you think that would just upset her more?”
“I don’t know. I also don’t care. I’m a good dad, a great fucking dad, and I love my kid. She can hate me all she wants. She needs to put her feelings for me aside and focus on Saige.” I watch him run his hands through his hair. “That’s it. That’s all of it.” I nod at him as he inhales deeply. “Do you have any questions?”
I try to hide my smile but I can’t. “Are we going to make out before or after dinner?”