Chapter 13
The house wasn’t a house at all but a freaking mansion with an ocean view. However, the best part about it was it had a circular driveway. There was no way I was going to be able to go through with this. It was a moment of insanity from having my heart annihilated.
I pulled into the circular drive and began moving to exit, watching the double doors to ensure they didn’t come out and catch me escaping. I wasn’t paying attention and felt my tire run over something that was not the smooth concrete of the drive. Slamming on my brakes, I swallowed convulsively.
Glancing at the front doors to make sure they were still closed, I opened my door and peered out. A small gnome was under my front tire. His rosy-red-cheeked face was just as shocked as I was.
Holy fuck, I killed their gnome.
Carefully, I backed up and got out to assess the damage. His tiny red hat was broken, crumbling in my palms when I picked him up.
“Don’t worry about him. My son got him for us as a joke, and I’ve been asking him for years to take him to his place.”
I startled, whirling around, the ruined gnome still clutched in my hands.
Kelly Ann stood there wearing a smart-looking black jumper. Her hair was smoothed back in a high ponytail.
“I’m sorry,” I said, holding the broken gnome close to my chest.
“Honey, it’s fine.”
“No, not because of the gnome. Well, I mean about the gnome.” I was rambling and I couldn’t stop myself. “I can’t do this. This was a mistake. I was actually driving away, but I wasn’t paying attention.”
Kelly Ann strode over to me, a warm smile on her face. She placed her hand on my shoulder in a motherly gesture, which made no sense since I was supposed to be there to have sex with her and her husband.
I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing this was just a bad episode from crying too much.
“I see you didn’t read our last message?”
I shook my head, refusing to open my eyes.
“Oh, sweetie, we sent you a message telling you that we no longer wanted to go through with this, but we’d be happy to have you over for dinner. You seemed to be in a really bad place.”
My eyes sprang open, stunned. I was getting dumped by my threesome partners, too.
Holy shit, I’m a loser.
“Have you had dinner?” she asked.
“No.”
“Come in. You look like you need a good meal.” She ushered me toward the front door, the little gnome still in my arms like a tiny broken shield.
“Robert, honey, Rachel’s going to stay for dinner. She did us a favor and killed Gnomen.”
“My savior,” a man who I assumed was Robert cried out.
The house seemed even bigger from the inside. The open plan sprawled in front of me. In the far back was a large window showcasing the ocean.
“Let’s go out to the patio.” Kelly Ann glided in front of me as if she wasn’t aware I was having a full meltdown.
The weather was cold, with the ocean was our view, but Kelly Ann fixed it by pressing a button, lighting heaters around us to make it comfortable.
The man I saw in the picture came out, a bottle of wine in his hand. He reached to shake my hand, and I had to set poor little Gnomen down by my feet.
“Thank you for taking care of that for us. We didn’t have the heart to get rid of him because our son gave him to us, but the little guy never connected with our family.” Robert winked, grabbing wine glasses from the outside kitchen.
“Would you like some wine?” he asked.
“Can I have water?” My voice sounded small and insecure.
“Of course, sweetie.” Kelly Ann handed me a bottle of water while Robert poured their wine.
“I’m going to get dinner. We had the chef leave early tonight.” Robert’s face turned bright red, which most likely matched my own.
He turned abruptly and walked back inside, not finishing his sentence.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have stayed. I’m not myself,” I began rambling again. My foot moved to touch Gnomen, and for some strange reason the little guy soothed me.
“No, sweetie, this is awkward. It’s all our fault.
You see we had our only son very early in life, and we became adults very young.
The other night one of my friends who had too much wine was droning on about all the crazy things she did before she had children.
It was one of the first times I felt inadequate.
” Kelly Ann took a hefty sip of her wine before continuing.
“I went home that night, also with too much wine in me, and told Robert we needed to do something crazy now that our son was older and doing well for himself. We signed up for the site on a whim. I knew we were never going to go through with it.”
“But -” I started, not really knowing why I was arguing with her.
“I know.” She patted my hand before taking another generous drink.
Robert rolled a tray out with steaming dishes piled high. My stomach growled at the sight.
I pressed my hand to my stomach, embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I haven’t really eaten.” I cocked my head, trying to remember the last time I’d eaten, and the enchilada breakup slammed into me. As if this wasn’t embarrassing enough already, tears swarmed my eyes and I was unable to hold them back.
“I knew there was a reason you were on that site.” Kelly Ann got up and handed me a cloth napkin with a higher thread count than my sheets. “That’s the reason we told you to come over. I had a feeling you needed someone.”
“But you canceled.” I sniffled into the napkin, no longer caring about how foolish I was acting. My brain and my heart were broken, and I couldn’t pretend everything was okay any longer.
“Oh, sweetie. I wanted you to come over because, like I said, I had a feeling you were in a bad place. I have these feelings sometimes. Call it mom intuition. I sent the message to cancel so you had a way out and didn’t feel stuck,” she assured me.
“I feel useless right now,” Robert announced. His face had the petrified look of a man when he didn’t know what to do with an unconsolable woman in front of him.
“Make her a plate, honey,” Kelly Ann guided him. “Are you allergic to anything?”
“Bell peppers.” I sniffled.
“No bell peppers,” Robert repeated, and began loading a plate as if his life depended on it.
“Do you want to talk about it? If not, you don’t have to, we can have dinner and watch the ocean. It is completely up to you, no pressure.” Kelly Ann soothed her hand up and down my back.
Maybe it was because I’d never see these people again.
Or maybe I was just too tired to keep it in, but I did tell them.
As I consumed the most delicious shrimp fettuccini and goat cheese salad, I told them all about Bradford, and how I couldn’t get a hold of Jules.
I explained how I hadn’t even known what a unicorn was, until Jules showed me the website a couple weeks ago.
They listened and made all the right noises.
Kelly Ann and Robert were thoroughly pissed off for me, and it was nice.
My parents weren’t the most nurturing people, and when I went to college they acted like they had fulfilled their commitment.
Having Kelly Ann and Robert dote on me was comforting and I wished, in a weird way, they were my parents.
Robert brought out the most decadent tiramisu, and I was practically in a food coma when I finished.
“That was incredible.” I rubbed my bulging stomach, “Thank you for this. I didn’t know how much I needed parental figures.”
Kelly Ann patted my hand. “It was nice for us, too. Our son is busy and we rarely get to see him. It’s nice being needed,” she admitted.
“Do you want to tell me what company Bradford works for? I know most of the tech companies out here and I can get him fired for you,” Robert said.
I laughed until I looked at his face and realized he was being serious. A lump grew in my throat, and I was horrified when tears slipped down my cheek.
“No, but that means a lot to me.”
We talked for another hour, and by we, I meant me. I told them about my parents and Jules and a little bit more about Bradford.
Robert yawned, and I realized how long I’d stayed. “I should get going. I took up too much of your time.”
“Oh, sweetie, don’t worry about him, he’s an old man.” Just as she finished her sentence, she yawned, too.
“Says the old man’s wife,” Robert joked.
“Thank you, but I should be going.”
“Do you want to stay the night? We have plenty of guest rooms,” Kelly Ann said.
My heart, which I thought was irreparable, stitched itself back together in a tiny, miniscule way.
“Thank you, but I’m fine. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you.” I stood and a clink sounded at my feet. Poor little broken Gnomen still laid on the floor. “Can I take him?”
“Please,” they both said in unison.
They walked me to my car, and when Gnomen was safely tucked in my trunk, I hugged them both. I felt lighter as I pulled out of their driveway.
Kelly Ann and Robert waved until my car was out of sight. I hoped their son realized what amazing parents he had. Unexpectedly, tears began pouring down my face.
I sobbed as I drove out of the gated community. The thought of going home made me sick. Jules still hadn’t responded to my voicemail, and I didn’t want to be alone. I almost wished I’d taken them up on letting me stay in one of their guest rooms.