Chapter 31
Warner
“Yes?” When the door opens, I glance away from the monitor to see Jocelyn peeking in before I return to the email that I’m crafting.
She says, “There’s a Mrs. Bayetti here to see you.” My fingers freeze on the keyboard. My heart might have stopped in my chest as well. I know my breathing has. She smiles and says, “Mrs. Bayetti.”
“Mrs.?”
She nods, her smile too big to show any restraint. “Should I send her in?” She lowers her voice. “She brought cookies.”
“In that case, send her in.” I’m only half joking since I’ve tasted those cookies before. They’re incredible, like her daughter, but that’s not something I can allow my mind or heart to delve into. I stand when I see her enter my office. “I wasn’t expecting you, Pamela.”
“Mom, remember?”
I grin. “I thought that option left with your daughter.” Not really funny, but if I don’t keep it light, I’ll descend into a place I’d rather steer clear of. It took a lot of time alone to realize that the best is ahead and not to dwell on what could have been in the past.
She shoos away the very thought while making a beeline for me with a plastic container held in front of her. “I brought these for you.”
“Double chocolate?” Please say double chocolate.
“The one and only.” She sits in front of my desk, plopping her leather bag in her lap as Jocelyn closes the door to give us privacy. Pamela glances out the windows and says, “Nice office, kid.”
I laugh, setting the container on the desk and sitting in my chair. With my arms resting on a small stack of files, I slide forward. “Thanks. So,” I reply, “what brings you by?”
“You do. My daughter does.” Sitting back, she has no issue taking on the task that is apparently on her agenda today: me. “What’s going on with you two?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
Lowering her chin, she looks up as if she sees right through my act. “Listen, Warner, you care about her. I knew that the moment we met. Anyone could see that, but what I know doesn’t matter. She doesn’t know you care about her. So why are you stirring up trouble where there is none?”
“I’m not stirring up trouble,” I reply, my tone is defensive like trouble is exactly what I’m stirring up.
“Sure you are. You and Delaney together are making a big mess of something that seems straightforward.”
“Seems is not the same as is straightforward. It’s not as simple as you make it—”
“BS.” She shakes her head as if she’s had it with me. Damn, she’s tough. “It isn’t as complicated as you make it. You like her, although I’d call it love. She loves you. Be together. Start a family. Live life together instead of apart. Simple.”
It’s a struggle to keep my eyes in my head and my jaw from hanging like a fish caught on a hook, but she’s got it all figured out, so there doesn’t seem like much left for me to do here. I slow blink twice to bring myself back to reality. “There are things we need to discuss—”
“Talk is for the birds. You’re not birds, Warner. You’re in love. Just admit it.”
She’s good. I’ll give her that. My feelings for Sass have only grown, not dissipated.
Time hasn’t done its job if I was meant to move on.
“I’m not denying how I feel about Delaney.
” The words coming from my mouth stun me.
Sure, I felt strongly about her. I was making small strides in hopes of us working through the problems. Even hoping we could move into starting over again.
But love? I love her so much that the ache has outgrown me and spread to exist in every facet of my day.
I swallow hard around my feelings and say, “I asked her to meet me.”
The response doesn’t seem to be one she expected, as she sits back and appears to process the new information. “What did she say?”
“I didn’t want her to feel pressured. I’ll be there whether she shows up or not, but I’m hoping she does.”
“She didn’t tell me.” She takes a breath that appears to settle the excitement she embodied when she walked in, then smiles. “I can’t tell you what she’ll do, but if I were betting in Atlantic City, my money is on you, Warner.”
I like her. Not only because she supports me and the relationship with her daughter—because approval matters—but she’s also not afraid to pull some levers at her disposal to make things happen.
Delaney inherited that trait. I’m pretty sure that’s how we ended up married in the first place.
Not married. Whatever we were, a lever or two was pulled.
She stands and wraps the strap of her handbag over her shoulder. “I need to get back to the restaurant. I wanted to bring you cookies as a thank-you for not changing the terms with the residents of the building. I know that wasn’t your original plan, but it saved lives. Thank you.”
I stand next to her. “It was also your daughter. Delaney made me look at things in a new light. It wasn’t a hard decision to make once I knew the details.”
Opening her arms, she hugs me. And I slowly and awkwardly embrace her as well.
Slipping away, she walks to the door and says, “Don’t tell Delaney I was here. She’ll kill me.”
“Your secret is safe.” Before she leaves, I say, “Thanks for coming by.”
She opens the door with a smile on her face. “Don’t forget dinner on Sunday.”
“I think you’re more confident than I am.”
“I believe in love, Warner.” She looks back again. “Hope you’re taking care of that heart of yours.”
“I’m surviving.”
She grins like the cat who ate the canary.
“I meant Delaney’s. She left it with you.
” She doesn’t wait for a reply. The door closes, and I’m left thinking about Delaney’s heart being in my hands the whole time we’ve been apart.
It causes mine to beat harder. Though under closer examination, my chest has been ringing hollow ever since she left.
Was it only an echo of what used to exist?
Pamela has said some things that make a lot more sense than they did before. It wasn’t my heart I was feeling. It was Delaney’s.
Shit, I can’t let this opportunity pass me by. I open the door and run after her, catching her in the lobby just before she gets in the elevator. “Mom?” I feel silly, but I also don’t, so fuck it.
With her hand holding the doors open, she looks back. “What is it?”
“Can you help me with something?”
Without hesitation, she says, “Whatever you need.”