Chapter 42
“Ohmigod, congratulations!” Lark’s happy squeal came through the phone line loud and clear.
Marissa grinned as she packed snacks for Theo, who would be leaving with his father when he showed up. “We’re going ring shopping tomorrow.”
“Don’t you dare hold back. Get the ring you want. The man has deep pockets,” Lark said.
“Bruno basically told me the same thing.”
“You heard directly from your future husband, so don’t hold back. Oh, Marissa, I’m so happy for you! At first I felt awful because I had talked you into going to California and then everything fell apart.”
Marissa closed the Ziploc bag and placed the snacks in her son’s backpack. “You never entered my mind. Everything that happened, happened because of decisions Bruno and I made. No one put a gun to our heads.”
“I’m just glad you’re back together. Love is so beautiful.” Lark sighed. “Sooo, when are you going to tell Chet?”
“Today, when he comes to pick up Theo. He should be here any minute.”
“That’s going to be awkward.”
“Yes, but I don’t want to put off this conversation. Bruno wants to get married right away.”
She did too. She was ready to become his wife. Marissa heard footsteps coming up the outer staircase. “I think he’s here now. I better go.”
“Okay. Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
She heard a knock on the door, and sure enough, Chet was standing outside.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” Marissa rubbed her damp hands on her jeans.
“Is he ready?” Chet stepped inside.
“Almost.” She closed the door.
“Have you found work yet?”
She shook her head. “Still looking.”
“I’m sure something will come up. I’ll keep my ears open for you.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
He watched her with curious eyes. “You seem kind of… tense. Is something wrong?”
“We need to talk before you leave with Theo.”
His left eyebrow lifted higher. “Okay. What’s up?”
“Have a seat.” She gestured toward the small dining table.
Chet walked over slowly, and she sat across from him.
“Is something wrong with Theo?” he asked.
“No, nothing like that. I need to talk to you about me, actually. I don’t know how else to say this, so I’ll just say it. Bruno proposed, and I said yes.”
There was a moment of tense silence, and then Chet laughed unsteadily, like a delayed reaction.
“He proposed?” Slowly, the fake smile died on his lips.
Marissa didn’t know what to say in the face of his crestfallen expression.
“You-you’re getting married to this guy?”
“Yes. We plan to get married soon. Within the next month or two.”
His eyes stretched wider. “That soon?”
“Yes.”
He sat back in the chair. He appeared stunned. “Does Theo know?”
“Not yet. I wanted to tell you first,” Marissa said in a soft voice.
“All this time, you really just didn’t want to marry me.” He swallowed, sounding genuinely hurt.
Marissa had assumed Chet didn’t care for her because he had cheated, but in his own way, he did care, and her pending marriage had clearly crushed him.
“This is it then?” he asked with wounded eyes.
“Yes.” Marissa sat with her hands folded in her lap.
“Well, I guess we’re done.” Chet pushed to his feet. “There’s one thing I want to make clear to you and your new fiancé. Theo is my kid. I mean that shit. I’m a good dad.” His voice quivered.
Marissa stood. “Yes, you are. There’s no question about that, and Theo loves you very much. Bruno is another man in his life, but he’ll never replace you.”
His shoulders slumped, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed. He turned baleful eyes on her. “Why didn’t you give me another chance?” he asked in a hushed voice.
“Our time ended, Chet. You know that.”
“I made one mistake. One. Mistake. She didn’t mean anything to me,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Cheating wasn’t one mistake. You had an affair with someone else for months while I was pregnant. You hurt me deeply. We were never getting back together. I made that clear to you, and I haven’t changed my opinion in all this time.”
He halfway turned away from her, his gaze landing on a framed photo of her and Theo together on the wall. “We were supposed to be a family,” he said in a low voice, almost as if he was talking to himself.
Marissa didn’t want to belabor the point, but he was the reason they weren’t a family. His cheating had driven a shaft through her heart and made her more determined than ever to be independent and depend only on herself. No one else.
The fairy tale she had created in her head about becoming the type of family she didn’t have growing up had been crushed by his callous behavior. He might regret his actions now, but she’d never forget he slept with someone else during one of the most emotional and physically difficult periods in her life.
Chet turned his back on her. “Theo! Get out here, let’s go!” he yelled.
Theo came running out. “I’m ready!”
Marissa handed him his backpack, and Chet grabbed the handle on his small bag.
“Bye, Mommy.”
“Bye-bye, my love. See you Sunday.” She bent and kissed her son.
When she straightened, Chet was looking at her. “He’s a lucky man. I guess that’s one of the perks of being rich. You get the cream of the crop.”
He ushered Theo out the door ahead of him, and he walked behind with slumped shoulders.