Chapter 1 #2
I gasped. “Cage had a child with another woman. He’s the one who made things final.”
“You weren’t together, and you know it. And you married the man he was ridiculously jealous of so fast all our heads spun. I’d say you both made things final.”
We hadn’t been together for months when I found out Cage was having a child with another woman.
Time had never been on our side. But I always thought, always believed, he’d be my end game.
But he went and had a baby with someone else, and I knew in my heart we were done.
So, I’d made things final for myself, as well.
Why wallow in my misery?
Even if that was exactly what ended up happening, I’d done what I needed to do to survive that time in my life.
I sprung forward and rubbed my temples. “I don’t want to talk about Cage Reynolds. First loves are never supposed to be the person you end up with. We both went our separate ways, and we’re the better for it.”
She pushed to her feet and laughed so loud it felt like the walls in this little cottage on my parents’ property were vibrating.
My dad had built the guesthouse so I’d come home more, but sadly, this was the first time I’d been here in years.
I’d always visited them in San Francisco, so I didn’t have to worry about running into anyone that mattered there.
This house was a miniature version of their fancy, gigantic ranch house at the other end of the driveway.
They’d started spending a lot more time at the ranch over the last few years, though, so it was bound to happen that I’d end up visiting.
“This is you being better for it? You fled your home, filed for divorce, and came to take care of your sick father. You’ve got mascara under your eyes, you’re wearing a dirty T-shirt, and your socks don’t match.”
“What are you? The fashion police? I flew on a red-eye to get here and spent all day at the hospital, and then I was chastised by my mother, who stopped by for five minutes in between Zoom meetings and world domination. Did I tell you? She claims she has an important meeting in Barbados later this week. I don’t buy it.
Everyone works remotely now, so I think she’s full of shit.
And she’s leaving him to fend for himself. ”
My mother ran one of the largest textile companies in the world.
Her father had started it, and she’d become the CEO when I was young.
She worked a lot and had a social life that most would consider a full-time job.
She didn’t think I had an eye for fashion and decided that when I was at a very young age, so she insisted I become an attorney like my father.
“He’s coming home with a team of nurses tomorrow, and it will be better without her at the house, carrying on with her life while he’s struggling. Consider it a blessing.”
“Good point.” I ran a hand over my face. “I’m a mess, Lo.”
“You’re going to be just fine. There is no one in the world tougher than you, my bestie girl. It was time for you to break free. And now you’re free. You can work remotely. You can focus on your dad, and you can focus on yourself. It’s about damn time.”
A tear ran down my cheek, and I swiped it away. “I’ve been miserable since you moved. The daily FaceTime calls are not the same as happy hour downtown every week and lunches in the park.”
Her eyes were wet with emotion. “You were the only good thing in New York for me. I hated my job. Hated my boss. Hated every guy I went out with. I needed to figure out what would make me happy. But being away from you has been the only negative to this move. So, as much as I’m sad that your dad is going through all of this, selfishly, I’m so happy to have you here. ”
“That’s pretty messed up, Lo,” I said with a straight face before we both fell back in a fit of laughter. “Let’s have another drink.”
“I have a better plan.” She held out her hand and reached for mine.
“Let’s go to country night at Garrity’s.
There’s live music and dancing there tonight.
I’ve gone for the last two weeks, and it’s been so fun.
Madison and Felicia are dying to see you, and there’s a big group of people going that you’ll know. ”
“Cage’s family owns that place. What if he’s there?”
“I’ve never seen him there. Does Cage Reynolds strike you as a dude to go out line dancing in the middle of the week?
” She chuckled, and a memory flashed through my mind of him and me dancing in that very bar when we were home from college one weekend.
A heaviness always settled in my chest when I thought of Cage.
My thumb stroked the tiny tattoo on my wrist absentmindedly.
I’d grieved the loss of the relationship in a way.
He was such an enormous part of my life, and then it was just all… over.
“He’s actually a really good dancer when you can convince him to get out there and do it.”
“Well, if memory serves, the cowboy only came to life for his wild raven.” She chuckled.
I’d met Lola right when I’d started dating Cage all those years ago, so she’d known everything, even the nicknames we’d called one another.
“You were the only one that ever got that man to do anything. So, I’m guessing he doesn’t do a lot of line dancing these days. ”
“I mean, clearly, he had a baby with someone else, so I must not be the only one who can get him to do things.” I shrugged as that heaviness settled in my chest again.
She pulled me to my feet. “Come on. Let’s get dressed up and do our hair and go out like old times.
You could use it. Tomorrow, your dad comes home, and you’ll be working with his team to get him back on track, and you’ll be busy being the female superstar of the New York legal world.
But for tonight, let’s have some drinks and some laughs and forget about all this shit that will be there waiting for us tomorrow. ”
It was the last thing I felt like doing, but Lola was right.
Everything would be waiting for me tomorrow.
We made our way to the bathroom, and my phone vibrated for the millionth time today.
The Devil
Baby. Please talk to me. I can explain. I’m not signing these papers until we talk.
So maybe I’d changed Wes’s name in my contact list. I didn’t claim to be the most mature person on the planet.
There was nothing more to say to him. He’d showed up at our penthouse after the story broke, just in time to see me packing my bags to head home.
I wasn’t leaving because of him, of course. My dad needed me.
I wasn’t running from my home because I wasn’t the asshole who’d strayed. He would be the one moving out.
He’d admitted to the affair. Told me it meant nothing to him, and it was just sex.
He’d said it like he’d taken her to coffee or flirted with her a little too much.
She was having his child, for God’s sake.
Why was he even trying?
We had nothing.
We hadn’t for a long time.
I think, in a way, I was as angry with myself as I was with Wes because I’d allowed things to go too far. I was obviously embarrassed that the whole world knew about the affair, including the people I worked with. My family. My friends.
My mother.
But I realized it was the embarrassment that hurt the most. The lack of respect for the history that we’d shared, at the very least.
The friendship that still remained, or at least had remained, up until now.
But it didn’t hurt that he’d actually been with someone else—at least not the way that it should hurt.
We hadn’t been together in so long that I couldn’t even remember the last time that we’d had sex. It had been over a year, so what did that say about me?
Why didn’t I leave a long time ago?
I wasn’t this girl.
I was ready to kick his ass to the curb.
But tonight, I just wanted to forget all of it.
Tomorrow was a new day.