Page 33 of Without You
“We were in a good place before.”
“Real good, apparently.”
“I mean before we slept together. I enjoyed the vacations we took, almost like we were a family again. I was excited about this year’s trip. This year he planned to take us to the Galapagos Islands. Four days in Ecuador and ten days on the islands.” She sighed. “Seeing him all the time and being friendly was hard, but doable. Sleeping with him was a mistake, and now this baby complicates everything.”
“I do want another grandchild, but…” Martha sighed. “What are you going to do?”
“I want this baby.”
“How do you think Terrence will feel?”
“He’ll want it. I’m not worried about that. But he’ll think a baby means we’re getting back together and…”
“And you wanted that, too.”
“I did.” She blinked rapidly and bit into her bottom lip.
He penetrated the shield she put up to protect against him, and she’d fallen for him all over again. But in true Terrence form, he reminded her why they never worked the first time.
She’d always loved the bad boys when she was younger, especially those New York men. Their accent and swagger always did her in. Ennis’s biological father had been from Queens, but he died unexpectedly from a ruptured spleen. Then she met Terrence, and he wowed her with that smile and made her believe they’d belong to each other until the end of time.
Even when she learned that wasn’t true, she hung in there because he’d been good to her otherwise and loved her son as his own. Looking back, she couldn’t believe she put up with his behavior for so long. She made her peace with the situation, convincing herself it was enough that he came home to her. It was enough that he wrote songs about her, shouted her out as his rock, his queen, his soulmate in almost every interview, and certainly every awards acceptance speech.
But those grand gestures weren’t enough. They were never enough. She loved him, but he was bad for her. Bad for her heart and bad for her sanity.
“When am I going to learn? How old do I have to be before I finally get it? He’s no good for me,” she whispered, voice trembling.
Her mother caught her hand again and squeezed. “You get it this time. Be strong and walk away from him on your terms, with your head up. Like you did before.”
She nodded her agreement. That’s all she could do.
Baby or not, she and Terrence were over.
She’d received her sign.
15
“Everything in that article is a lie.”
Charisse had barely crossed the pristine hardwood floor of Terrence’s swanky condo in West Buckhead when he blurted the words.
She dropped her purse onto the circular bar that separated a large kitchen filled with Bosch appliances from the living room filled with white furniture and windows that spanned from the ceiling to the floor as they looked out onto the city. At least he hadn’t tried to touch her, for which she was glad.
“I’m fine and how are you?” she asked in a pleasant voice.
Terrence studied her for a moment. He didn’t look so good, and she secretly reveled in his distress. Why should she be the only one upset? She hoped he hadn’t slept a wink in the hours leading up to this meeting, as he wondered whether or not he’d be able to lie his way out of this particular mess.
“I’m fine,” he said.
“How did things go on the set?”
“That’s not why you came here.”
“I’mtryingto have a normal conversation. Do you not want to tell me how filming went?”
He scrubbed a hand down his face. “All right…filming went well. I think I’m really getting the hang of this acting thing. Crew was great, everything was great.” He swallowed. “Do you want to sit down?”
“No. This won’t take long.”
