Page 24 of Nothing to This
“And rename it,” he said.
“I don’t even know what to… you want me to rebrand?”
“You’re a creative consultant.Did you think I summoned you up here just to answer calls?Final schedule’s your prerogative, you’ll have to referee that.Most of the calls are directed to others; plenty of people in the bullpen can answer a phone.I need you for what you’re good at.You have an important role here.”
“You are constantly surprising me, JD.Do you want to tell me the plan?The corporate direction?”
“We’re moving more into consulting while maintaining our current portfolio.I should be able to do most of it from here.There will be some travel involved—”
“I can’t travel with you,” she said.“Just so we’re clear… We can’t travel together.”His brow twitched.Did she really have to explain why?“The twins.”
Traveling for work was not something she’d considered before.That was one reason her job was so perfect, or it had been.
“They can travel with us.”
“They’ve never been on a plane.”
That startled him.“My children are almost five and they have never been on vacation?”
“They have, but I need written permission from you to take them out of the country.You and I never saw each other, so road trips were always easier… Sky likes being in the car and Kye just falls asleep.”
“I’d have given you written permission,” he said.
Apologies and contrition weren’t required.He looked so sorry that she laughed.
“JD, you and I have never been close.There’s always been an understanding between us, we never put words to it.Brenna enjoys playing people, don’t let her get into your head.Don’t let her mischief make you think you should feel something you don’t or that you should’ve acted in a way that you didn’t.”
Confident she’d made her point, work was the next thing to—
“How do you know I don’t?”
“You don’t what?”
“You don’t remember being with me?That’s fine.You’re right, it was almost six years ago.I’m fuzzy on the details myself.”His eyes dropped to his fingertips as they straightened one of the papers on the desk.“But there’s one thing I never forget.”
Taking a few steps toward the desk, she wasn’t sure what his reticence meant.“What are you talking about?”
“The next morning, after we made love, I asked for your number, told you I’d be in town, that I wanted to visit…” His gaze met hers.“You laughed, said with me on the west coast and you on the east, there was no future; that you were my rebound.You told me it was better to have a great memory than to hang on until it falls apart.”
She couldn’t remember it that clearly but had enough of a memory to know he wasn’t far wrong.Those words sure sounded like hers.
“And what’s wrong with that?”
“You took away my right to contribute to any decision about us.At the time, I’ll admit, it pissed me off, but I let it go… then I got your email about the twins.”
After her twelve-week scan, she’d begun her mission to find him.Getting a reliable number turned out to be impossible.An email was the best she could do.
“I told you and you sent lawyers.You didn’t show up.Not until I was in the hospital with them.”
“You didn’t want to be with me.You made that clear.I was never given a chance to make a choice.You shut down any chance we had at a future that morning in the suite.”
Had he taken her words so seriously?Hadn’t he agreed?Now she wasn’t so sure.
“I don’t understand, are you…?Are you saying that you wanted to be with me?”
Breathing in, he picked up his pen.“I don’t know, Ry.I was annoyed that morning at the hotel.You gave in before we had a shot.Maybe you knocked my pride, who knows?All I knew was I didn’t want to build a family with you because of the kids.I figured if you’d wanted us to be with each other, we’d have found a way to come back together before you learned you were pregnant.”
“You didn’t want us to be together just because of the kids,” she said, lowering herself into the chair at her side because her legs weren’t up to holding her.
