chapter 8
Sloane was leaving for an entire month. Rory had agreed to take care of the design business while she was gone, and Ben had
been surprisingly supportive of her going. He said Charlotte needed her, and he could get by for a few weeks without her—even
though he’d miss her.
His attitude made Sloane feel even guiltier for the relief that consumed her at the thought of having thirty days to herself
in a place like the Amalfi Coast. Surely, with the sun and the sea, the charm and great food of Italy, the companionship of
her brother and best friend and the time to heal and reflect, she’d be able to figure out what to do—whether she should agree
to have children, or give Ben up so he could have children with someone else.
“I’ll call you often,” she promised as they pulled up to the curb of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
He put the car in Park and opened his door to get her luggage. “Don’t feel any pressure,” he said. “I’ll be here whenever
you want to talk, but you’ll be nine hours in the future, so our days and nights won’t be the same. Just get away from it
all and enjoy yourself.”
She opened her door. “Do you mean that?” she asked as she followed him to the back of the car. “You don’t secretly resent me for leaving—even with the cost?”
“You’ve put in countless eighty-hour weeks trying to get A Personal Touch off the ground. I think a vacation will be good
for you. I certainly don’t begrudge you this trip.”
He was generous that way, which was another reason she felt like a terrible person for even contemplating divorce. He worked
hard, too—deserved a vacation as much as she did and yet he wasn’t complaining, wasn’t saying, What about me?
“I appreciate that, Ben. I really do.”
Their eyes met and held, and he smiled warmly. “Stop feeling guilty. You’ll ruin it.”
She smiled back. “Okay. Thank you. I mean that.”
“No problem.” He got her suitcase and her carry-on from the back of their SUV. “Julian and Charlotte are on the same flight
out of LA, right?”
“No. I couldn’t work that out. We’ll meet up in Naples, but they get in only a few hours after me, so that’s almost as good.”
“You’ll wait for them at the airport?”
“Yes. Then we’ll take the train to Sorrento and a bus to Praiano.”
“That villa Charlotte found . . .” He shook his head. “That’s a pretty incredible place.”
“Maybe you can join us at the end of the month for a week or so.” She offered that even though she knew inviting him would
partially defeat the purpose of her going—because she really did care about him and felt bad leaving him out.
“We’ll see,” he said noncommittally.
She blinked when he didn’t jump at the chance. “You’re not that interested?”
“We can’t afford another plane ticket. Besides, there’s a lot going on at work. We’ve been trying to hire someone and thought we had, but then she found out she was pregnant and quit before she even started, so we’re still shorthanded. Besides, I want you to have this trip just for you.”
“I appreciate it,” she mumbled.
He rested his hands on her shoulders and gazed down at her. “Are you excited?”
She perked up because she was excited and nodded.
“Good.” He pecked her lips before dragging her luggage closer to the wide automatic doors. “Have a wonderful time.”
“I will,” she said and watched, stunned, as he got back in the car and drove off.
What was going on? He was acting very . . . distant. Polite and kind, but distant. Did that mean something? Was it for the
best? Maybe he was ready to give up on her.
She didn’t have a lot of time to think about it. She couldn’t miss her flight, or she’d be in a mess. She stood there only
until he disappeared from sight. Then she rolled her luggage inside the terminal. She was waiting to check in when she got
a text from Julian.
Make your flight?
At the airport now.
Same with me and Charlotte.
Can you believe we’re actually doing this?
I can’t believe *you’re* doing it. What did Ben say when he dropped you off?
To have a good time.
More proof that he’s a great guy.
She felt a little queasy when she thought of her husband. Would this make the difference in their marriage? Or would it spell
the end?
I know.
What in the world was she going to do? She couldn’t divorce Ben—she was still in love with him.
They’d just settled into their seats on the plane when Julian noticed that Charlotte kept glancing at her phone and frowning.
“Is that Heidelman?” he asked.
“No. He already sent me Luca’s contact information so I can reach him when we get there. Luca hasn’t sent the photos I requested,
but Heidelman says he and Lilly are expecting to hear from us once we get to the villa.”
“We have a twelve-hour flight, and we’re going nine hours into the future. We won’t even arrive until tomorrow.”
“I know. I said it’d be around dinner, so I could have a chance to get settled and clean up.”
“So what’s wrong?”
She showed him a text from Cliff.
Don’t you think we should see each other before you go? Maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves splitting up. Maybe we need
to slow down and talk.
“He’s having second thoughts?”
“I guess. He wasn’t interested in talking the night he told me he wanted a divorce, so something’s changed.”
The date indicated this wasn’t a new message. “Looks like he sent that a few days ago.”
“He did. Right after that other picture of us at the coffee shop went viral, suggesting we were still ‘seeing’ each other.”
Julian had to laugh at how easy it’d been to set that up. “You haven’t responded yet?”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t decide what to say. I’m still hurt that he’d throw me out without an explanation. And I think
he only sent that message because he feels threatened by you and the fact that I’m leaving the country.”
“He knows we’re going to Italy?”
“He knows I’m going. I didn’t mention you.”
“The pictures we post should be fun, then.”
She shot him a skeptical look. “I don’t know about doing more of that. I think we’ve probably gone far enough.”
“Can you go too far when you’re dealing with a megalomaniac like Cliff?”
“I don’t want to ruin the playoffs.”
“He would never let anything ruin playoffs,” Julian said wryly, but lifted a hand in a stop position so she’d know he wasn’t
going to continue going after Cliff. He knew the way he was talking about her soon-to-be-ex made her feel disloyal. “If you
told him about Italy, did you tell him about Lilly?”
“I did. He was asking me to get my stuff from the house, but I was too busy preparing for the trip, and I needed a reason
to put him off. I didn’t want to see him—didn’t think it would be good for my peace of mind. I have to hold it together for
Lilly’s sake, you know? I can’t let my personal problems get in the way of the next few weeks. So I told him to have his driver
drop off whatever I left behind at my folks’ house and be done with it.”
“Does he know you were adopted, too?”
“He knows everything.”
With her at the window, Julian reached around to lower the shade so the sun wouldn’t keep blinding him. “What’d he say?”
“Not much.”
“Because he’s only interested in things that are about him?” he said, unable to stop himself.
“Essentially,” she admitted reluctantly. “And he doesn’t know how to react to the fact that someone else might come to mean
more to me than he does. Or more than he did.” She waved a hand. “Or . . . whatever.”
“He cares about that even though he’s trying to end your marriage?”
“You know the saying about wanting your cake and eating it, too?”
“I’m familiar with it.”
“Even though he’s the one who’s calling it quits, he’s been everything to me for the past several years and doesn’t want my
feelings to change. He hates the prospect of losing that security blanket. And yet he wants to be free to enjoy his pro basketball
days, which I’ve come to realize means seeing other women.”
“Wait, he’s not moving forward with the divorce?”
“Didn’t specify.”
“Then I hope you’ll send papers to him!”
She sighed and lowered her voice. Someone was putting a carry-on in the overhead bin in anticipation of taking the seat next
to him. “One day I might. But I’m not going to worry about it right now. I just need to get through the month and make the
hard decisions I’ll have to make regarding my half sister. Then I’ll see how I feel when I return.”
“How would he react if you got back with him but told him you wanted to take in a twelve-year-old?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
She could probably guess. Even Julian thought he could predict Cliff’s response.
Cliff hadn’t been interested in her family when he married her.
Julian couldn’t imagine he’d be open to taking in the orphaned half sister she’d just learned she had.
But he said, “Okay.” He didn’t want to upset her, especially because he couldn’t criticize her approach.
He was taking a similar one when it came to his own problems. He’d told his doctor he wasn’t going to start any type of treatment, not until he returned from Italy.
For the next month, he was just going to enjoy whatever he could—and pretend nothing was wrong.
Julian slept almost the entire flight; Charlotte watched movie after movie. She was trying to distract herself from what was
waiting for her on the other side of the world, but nothing seemed to work. Her mind kept drifting, her thoughts ping-ponging
from Cliff and his sudden change of heart to the ominous words Heidelman had said when they talked right before she left.
It might be tempting to meet Lilly, fall instantly in love and take her home. By all indications, she’s a beautiful girl.
But since you have accommodations in Italy for a month, I’d stay the entire time or even extend it.
She’d found it strange that he’d suggest she put more thought into taking responsibility for Lilly as opposed to less. Wasn’t
it his job to find the girl a home? And wasn’t his job over once he’d done that? She would’ve thought he’d press her to take
quick action rather than advise her to be slow and methodical.