Chapter Three
Two years later
“You are coming, right?”
Iris Michaels leaned back in her chair with a grin on her face, hearing the excitement in her best friend’s voice. “Yes, Pam, I’m coming.”
She and Pamela Novak Westmoreland had been roommates while attending the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Iris tapped a pen on her desk as she thought back to those days.
Since neither Pam nor she had come from a wealthy family, their days at the university had been hard, even though they’d gotten scholarships.
To make do, they had shared practically everything and had become best friends for life.
Pam had three younger sisters, and the oldest of the three, Jillian, and her husband, Aidan, were expecting their first child. Pam and Dillon were hosting a gender reveal party for the couple in two weeks. “Since you’re hosting the event, I guess you know the baby’s gender.”
Pam chuckled. “Of course. Dillon and I are the gender guardians and the only ones who know. It will be fun.”
“I’m sure it will be. If you need help with anything, let me know. I have no problem flying in a few days early.”
“Thanks, I might take you up on that. Oh, and by the way, Matt Caulder asked about you. He was here last weekend for the guys’ poker tournament.”
The last time Iris saw Matt had been at Pam’s youngest sister Nadia’s wedding six months after they’d first met, about a year and a half ago.
Warren Forsythe, the man she’d dated for more than a year, had been her “plus one.” She had introduced Matt to Warren, and then wished she hadn’t when Warren proceeded to tell a few lawyer jokes.
It was apparent to everyone but Warren that Matt, Jared Westmoreland and Canyon Westmoreland—all three attorneys—had not found the jokes amusing.
“What did Matt want to know?” she asked Pam.
“How you are doing. He always asks about you whenever I see him.”
“That’s sweet. I like him. He’s nice.”
“And I know the only reason the two of you didn’t get anything going two years ago was because you were in an exclusive relationship with Warren.”
Not anymore, Iris thought. She’d ended things with Warren eleven months ago, and it had taught her one valuable lesson. Some men just couldn’t be trusted.
“That was nice of Matt to ask about me,” Iris replied.
“Yes, it was. You’ll probably see him and Deena at the gender reveal party. They are invited as well,” Pam said.
Iris released a deep sigh. “It will be nice to see him, but like I told you, the last thing I’m interested in is another involvement with a man right now. What Warren did is still raw.”
“It’s going on a year, Iris. I hope you don’t think because of Warren’s infidelity that all men can’t be trusted. All I have to say about Warren Forsythe is good riddance. I never liked him anyway.”
Iris smiled, knowing her best friend really hadn’t liked him.
Pam had always been a good judge of character, so maybe that’s why Iris had kept her feelings for Warren lukewarm.
She would admit she had enjoyed spending time with him.
She had made sure Warren understood, when they had agreed to become exclusive, the challenges they would encounter engaging in a long-distance relationship.
She had stressed that trust was at the top of her list. He had wholeheartedly agreed.
Yet in the end, he’d betrayed that trust.
To make matters even worse, he said she had played a part in his infidelity because Iris was the reason he had hired the woman in the first place.
For months, Iris had encouraged him to delegate some of his CEO duties.
Taking her advice, he hired someone to assist him.
According to Warren, one thing led to another, and he and the woman ended up being lovers.
He claimed they’d only slept together a few times.
However, he never defined what a “few times” was.
When the woman became possessive, he ended things.
When she threatened to tell Iris about it, he decided to confess the affair to her himself.
He had hoped she would understand his weakness and the reason for it.
She had not understood.
Just because she had suggested he hire someone, it was not her fault if he couldn’t control his baser urges.
What if the woman hadn’t become possessive?
Would they still be in the affair? Warren’s entire logic on why she should forgive him was ludicrous.
For some reason, he felt that as a man, he was entitled to make at least one mistake and be forgiven.
That was the craziest thing she had ever heard.
So after sharing an exclusive relationship with him for a little more than a year, she’d ended things and blocked his number.
Deciding to change the subject, she asked, “How was the wedding?”
The wedding she was asking about was that of Redford St. James and Carmen Golan. Redford was the best friend of Westmoreland cousin, Sloan Outlaw, and Carmen was the best friend of Sloan’s wife, Leslie. Iris had gotten to know both Redford and Carmen from attending several Westmoreland events.
“The wedding was beautiful. They wanted a small event, so fewer than a hundred people attended. It was held at Carmen’s church in DC. Dillon and I extended our trip to visit the Westmorelands in Atlanta.”
A short while later, Iris ended the call with Pam. Leaning back in her chair, she glanced out the window at the majestic Los Angeles skyline. Although the dreams she and Pam had shared for their future in college hadn’t exactly come true, what they did have wasn’t bad.
Pam had wanted a bright and fulfilling career in Hollywood, with the intent of one day becoming an A-list actress with an Oscar under her belt by her fortieth birthday.
Pam had been on her way to fulfilling that dream when she was cast in several movies.
Just as she was getting bigger roles and starting to make a name for herself, she had to give up her blossoming acting career to rush back to Wyoming and care for her ailing father.
Instead of returning to California upon his death, Pam remained in Wyoming to become a guardian for her three younger sisters.
Iris didn’t know of any other person who had a bigger heart than Pam, and although her dream of winning an Oscar never came to fruition, she was blessed in a bigger way when she met and married Dillon Westmoreland.
He was a dream come true, just what Pam, as well as her sisters, had needed at that time in their lives.
Now Pam was a happy wife and mother of three. Two sons, Denver and Dade, and a daughter, Destiny. Although Pam never fully achieved her dream of becoming an A-list actor, she helped others achieve their dreams by owning and operating several acting schools in Wyoming, Denver and DC.
Iris switched her gaze from the window to the picture on her wall. A picture of her two favorite men. Her father, Stuart Parkett, and her husband, the one true love of her life, Garlan Michaels.
In the picture, they were out on a boat fishing, something they liked doing together. No one knew that less than a month after that picture was taken, she would lose Garlan, and a year later, her father. Both had been killed in accidents doing things they’d loved.
For her father, it had been riding his prized motorcycle. He’d taken his Harley out one Sunday morning, and a driver, still too drunk from the night before to be behind the wheel of a vehicle, had run a stop sign and killed her father instantly.
Her thoughts then shifted to Garlan. Right out of college, she had met Garlan when she accompanied Pam to an audition.
She was convinced she fell in love the moment she saw him, and they got married six months later.
Garlan was seven years older and a well-known stuntman in Hollywood.
Less than a year into their marriage—ten months to be exact—Garlan was killed while working on a major action film.
She would never forget the phone call she got, informing her that he’d been taken by life flight to the hospital, only to arrive and be told he was gone forever.
It was only with Pam’s support that she’d gotten through that period in her life.
Her father had been too filled with grief himself to do so.
She had loved Garlan so much and knew without a doubt that he would forever hold a special place in her heart.
And she would always be grateful to him for their son.
She shifted her thoughts to what Pam had said. Matt had asked about her. Iris inhaled deeply. Learning that he had asked meant something to her when it really shouldn’t. Matt was a nice guy, but like she had told Pam, thanks to Warren, she was still raw.
After losing Garlan, she had dated only when it suited her. Because of the nature of his work, Garlan had made her promise that if anything were to happen to him, she would get on with her life and not live one filled with grief.
It had taken two years before she had gone out on her first date after his death and she had spent the entire evening comparing the man to Garlan.
The same thing occurred with the dates that followed.
None could compare. Nor had there been any instant attraction, easy banter, or anyone she’d enjoyed spending much time with.
After her son was born, she spent the next six years giving him all her attention, which left no time for dates.
It was only when she felt comfortable leaving him with a babysitter that she began dating again.
That’s when she had met Karlton Robinson, an accountant who leased the office building next to hers.
Karlton was handsome and nice, but since his office was next door he had a tendency to pop in on her all the time, which she’d found annoying.