20. Henry
Ice inched through my veins as I peered at Imelda. Imelda was like a cupcake laced with poison. She looked sweet enough, but delve beneath the velvet surface, and she was deadly.
“Imelda.” Her face was plastered in makeup, and her platinum hair was in a style that barely moved despite the gentle breeze.
“What brings you back to the Gold Coast?” Her eyes devoured me. Imelda had been trying to get her claws into me for years. And unfortunately, every time we bumped into each other, she tried again.
“I was here for a conference.” I didn’t want to mention Roxie. Imelda was the last person I’d introduce her to.
“Lovely. How long are you staying?”
“Just a couple more days.”
The waiter handed two glasses toward me. “There you go, sir.”
“Thank you. Okay then, it was nice to see you.” I grabbed the two glasses.
Amelda glared at the drinks. “Are you here with someone?”
I pretended not to hear her question, and as I walked away, I felt her dagger eyes following me. As I pushed into a crowd of people in the hope they’d screen me from Imelda, I watched for Roxie to reappear from the bathroom, but she had yet to show.
“Hey, Henry, how are you, mate?”
“Adam, I’m good, how are you?” I put Roxie’s water down and shook hands.
“I couldn’t be better. Finally got rid of my baggage.” Adam was referring to his wife. Ironically, the two of us had struck up a great relationship because we had nearly identical stories when it came to ex-wives fucking our best friends.
“That must be a relief.”
“Don’t you know it? Only took six years.”
Divorce was a nasty business. Helen had been lucky that I didn’t have it in me to put up a huge fight. Against my lawyer’s wishes, I gave her everything she wanted. I’d have given her twice that if I never had to look at her again. I believed in karma, though, and if her stressed-out appearance the last time I saw her was anything to go by, then she was getting hers.
“There you are.” Roxie approached my side.
“Hey, babe.” I kissed her cheek. “I’d like you to meet my friend, Adam. We’re divorce buddies.”
She giggled and did this cute thing where she scrunched up her nose. “Hi.”
Adam’s lit-up face confirmed he approved of Roxie. Which wasn’t hard.
I watched her chat with Adam. She looked stunningly beautiful amongst the women surrounding us. And it wasn’t just because she was probably one of the youngest women at the party. Roxie was the most natural. She’d styled her blonde curls, so they had a bit more bounce than usual, and she’d enhanced her eyelashes, but other than that, if she had on any other makeup, then it was so subtle it was barely noticeable.
And, unlike every other time I’d met her, her jewelry was also understated. A simple silver necklace with a crescent moon nestled in the dip at the front of her neck. She wore no earrings, and she was only wearing four rings on her fingers tonight. Her minimalist style made her stand out amongst this crowd.
She finished the water. I made her drink and then grinned a lopsided smirk at me. “Can I have another one of those yummy red drinks?” She giggled, and I couldn’t resist.
A waiter’s timing was perfect, and I plucked a cosmopolitan cocktail off a tray as he slipped by.
A buzz came over the crowd. . . they were gearing up for midnight. Party poppers and sparklers were handed around, people topped up their glasses, and the music elevated a few more notches.
“Ten, nine, eight.” The crowd began the countdown, and as I held onto Roxie’s hand and watched her delightful face, we joined in.
“Three, two, one. Happy New Year!” The crowd cheered as one, and I pressed my lips to Roxie’s. She wrapped her arm around my back and squeezed herself to me.
Fireworks hit the sky, lighting up the blackness and the water in bursts of color.
“Happy New Year, babe,” I whispered in her ear.
Her eyes were glassy as she grinned at me. “I think this is going to be the best year ever.”
“Me too.” She held up her glass, and we chinked them together.
Several people, both men and women, wished us a happy new year, and Roxie gave a hug to anyone who wanted one. The party hit a whole new level after the click of midnight.
People danced on the stage Nick had built on the grass near the pool. Many more people had slipped into the pool, and some were playing with a large blow-up ball.
“I’m just going to the toilet.” Roxie kissed me again. She was a bit unsteady on her heels as she made her way through the crowd, and I thought it might be time to take her home soon.
“Hello, Henry.” I turned to the woman’s voice.
A flash of annoyance went through me. I’d seen Carmen through the crowd but had deliberately avoided her. “Hi, Carmen.” I’d dated Carmen on two occasions and regretted both of those nights after we’d ended up in bed together. Carmen was a screamer, and both times, I had the impression she was trying too hard. It wasn’t pretty.
The trouble was, ever since then, she seemed to think she had some kind of ownership over me.
She cocked her eyebrow Roxie’s way. “She’s young.”
“What do you want, Carmen?”
“Where’d you find her?” Carmen said it like Roxie was a missing puppy.
“Leave her alone.”
“Oooh, touchy.” She lowered her ridiculously long lashes and pouted lips that had been plumped up.
“I mean it, Carmen.”
“Wow, sounds serious. She’s too young for you, Henry.”
“I don’t need your opinion.”
“Oh, Henry, you and I were so good together.” She stepped closer and tilted her head in a way that suggested I was likely to kiss her.
I took a stride backward. “I wouldn’t say that.”
She stepped up to me again, backing me into a corner between a hedge and a giant ceramic pot. “What would you say then?” She squeezed my bottom.
“Hey.” I swiped her hand away with a clenched jaw, and when I glanced over Carmen’s shoulder, I saw Roxie, and instantly, I knew something was wrong.
I shoved Carmen aside and strode toward her. Roxie spun on her heel and strode away.
“Roxie, Roxie, wait.” My heart slammed into my chest as I raced after her.
Her pace proved she was angry. It was her heels that slowed her down, though. She was near the front door when I reached for her arm. “Roxie, wait, what’s wrong?”
She spun to me, and her eyes looked at me like I was a stranger. Her barren expression was haunting. “I want to go home.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“Nothing. Just take me home. Please.”
“Look, Carmen’s a bitch; she would love that you saw her with me.”
Tears pooled in Roxie’s eyes.
“Please, we’ve had a lovely night; don’t let that bitch spoil it.”
When she remained mute, my anguish became fear. “Let’s go up here.”
I guided her up the white marble stairs, and at the top foyer, I led her toward a sofa at the edge of a giant glass wall that overlooked the pool and waterway. I knew for a fact that although we could see out, people couldn’t see through the glass to us.
“Come on, sit down, talk to me.”
She swallowed and chewed on her lip, but her feet stayed rooted to the spot.
I wondered what she’d seen and hated Carmen even more. My insides were being torn out with guilt, yet I knew I’d done nothing wrong. I sat down, looking up at her, and reached for her hand. She let me cup her fingers, and that small gesture buoyed my fears.
“Carmen and I slept together twice. But I promise you there is nothing between us. She is nothing to me. In fact, I despise the woman.”
A single tear spilled down her cheek, yet she didn’t wipe it away. I desperately wanted to hold her, but I resisted.
“Roxie, please. You and I both have ex-lovers, and there may be occasions when we bump into those people. And although it will always be hard, we have to trust each other. Without trust, we have nothing.”
She nodded.
“You don’t get to my age without baggage. Occasionally, it will spill out. Besides, a person without baggage is an empty soul. Which would you prefer?”
Roxie sucked in a huge shaky breath. “They think I’m after your money.”
I blinked at her. “Who? Who said that?”
“A couple of women in the bathroom.”
I stood, eased toward her, and squeezed her hand. “I know that’s not true. I’ve met gold diggers before, Roxie. You’re not one of them.”
“I’m not. I have my own money.” She clenched her jaw.
“I know you?—”
“You don’t know!”
“No, you’re right. I don’t know; we’ve never talked about money, but what I do know is that you have no interest in my wealth.”
“I don’t.”
“Right. So why do you care what anyone says?”
Her shoulders sagged. Her chin quivered. She suddenly seemed so fragile.
I touched her shoulder. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion, Roxie. It’s what we know that matters. I’m an old man dating a beautiful young woman. They’re going to call me a sugar daddy and you a child bride. You’ll be a gold digger and me a cradle snatcher. So what? Let them have their narrow-minded opinions. Our truth will be what matters.”
“But I’m sick of being judged. I just want to be me.”
I was taken aback by that comment. Of all the women I’d ever met, Roxie was the first woman who I thought was completely true to herself. “So what’s stopping you?”
She cocked her head, her eyes blazed into me. “Is that your question?”
I squared my jaw. “Yes.”
“You may not like the answer.” Her voice was cutting.
“Tell me, Roxie. What’s stopping you from being you?”
She seemed to melt under the weight of her impending response. “I don’t know who I am, Henry. I’m not a wife or a mother like every other woman I know. I’m barely even a daughter. I don’t fit into any stereotypical mold. I’m damaged goods.”
“You’re not?—”
“I am.” She cut me off. “I have no goals. No aspirations. I failed at the only serious relationship I ever had, and you’re the first man to ever see me for more than five dates. My heart has been shattered into so many pieces it can never be whole again. I am nothing.”
“Oh my god, is that what you think?” I cupped her cheek, and she leaned against my palm. A tear spilled from her eye, and I thumbed it away. She blinked slowly, and another tear trickled out. “Please, come sit with me.”
I guided her to the sofa, and we sat with our knees touching. I clasped her hands in mine. “Roxie, I’ve only had a tiny glimpse of what you’ve been through, so I can’t begin to imagine your sorrow. But here’s what I do know. To be the woman you are highlights your inner strength. You are the most honest, sweet, beautiful woman I’ve ever met. You’re fun and adventurous. You make me feel alive.”
I cupped her chin and turned her head to draw her troubled eyes to mine. “We are fueled by this new romance now; it’s powerful, and the uncertainty hurts. Don’t let other people extinguish our flame, Roxie. Not before we’ve had a chance to see how brightly it shines.”
Again, she tugged her lip into her mouth like she was trying to stop the quivering in her chin. “Hold me.”
My heart swelled as I slipped my arms around her. She cried into my shoulder. Just a gentle sob that had her sucking in shaky breaths.
“Hey, I’m here for you.”
It was a long time before her crying stopped, and Roxie pulled back. She ran her finger beneath her eyes. When she met my gaze, it was like something had shifted, something significant. Her face was a mask of sadness that had my soul crying.
“Can you take me home, please?”
My heart wrenched. “Roxie, please don’t end it like this.”
But she wasn’t listening to me anymore. All she wanted to do was go home, and as much as it upset me, I led her downstairs and asked one of the staff to order a cab. As we waited for a taxi, no amount of pleading could get her to change her mind. When I opened the door, and she stepped in, she looked up at me. “Goodbye, Henry.”
The resolution in her parting words inched deadly tentacles around my aching heart.