Page 107 of Suddenly Dating
Her four siblings looked at Lola. “Right,” she said, sighing. “Let me run home and pick up a few things. I’ll be back this afternoon to stay with her. Can anyone stay until I get back?”
“I will,” said Casey gravely, raising her hand as if volunteering for a combat role.
Lola headed back to Lake Haven. When Mallory’s driver turned into her drive, Lola asked, “Would you mind... I need to grab some stuff, but I’d really appreciate a ride to the Black Springs train station.”
“Of course,” he said. “I’ll wait here.”
She hopped out and hurried inside to collect her things.
She was in the laundry room, looking through a stack of clean clothing, when she heard voices on the drive. The front door squeaked open.Harry.God, she was glad he was here. She combed her fingers through her hair and stepped out of the laundry room with a smile.
But the man standing in the living room was not Harry. He started when he saw her, put his hands on his hips, and said, “Who the fuck are you?”
“Who areyou?” she demanded. Her first ridiculous thought was that Zach Miller had forgotten about Harry and had loaned this house to some other dude.
“I’m Zach Miller,” the man said. “I own this house. And you, whoever you are, are trespassing.”
Twenty-eight
The meeting with Albert Cantrell and his construction manager had gone extremely well. Harry had hit it off with Bill Nelson, thank God—they were two men cut from the same cloth. Bill even seemed a little impressed with the work Harry had done to build his company thus far, proclaiming it smart. “Don’t have a bridge guy lined up,” Bill had said. “Let me see your response to the bid specs, and maybe we can work something out.”
Harry left the Lakeside Bistro with more clarity and optimism than he’d felt in weeks. It was entirely possible that all his hard work was about to pay off.
Yep, Harry was certain again. He knew exactly what he wanted—at least what steps he wanted to take—and it included more than his own bridge design and construction company.
From East Beach, he drove to New York, parked at his parents’ place, then Ubered downtown to meet Melissa.
She bounced out of her building with her tote bag slung over her shoulder, all smiles. God, but she was attractive. Men were noticing her as she jogged across the street in her heels to him. When she reached him, she put her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek like an old friend. “I’m so happy to see you!”
“Let’s get a drink,” he suggested.
“Sure!” She slipped her hand into his and chatted about work as they walked down the street to a bar he’d scoped out before. He liked it—it was quiet in here and he could say what he wanted to say without shouting.
Melissa settled on a bar stool and crossed her legs. She was facing him, her smile irrepressible. “I was so glad to hear from you, you have no idea. I thought you were really mad at me,” she said, and then laughed as if that were impossible. Harry used to find that charming about her, the way she could deflect things that bothered him.
“I’m not mad,” he said truthfully.
“Well you should be,” she said with a laugh. “That was ahorriblenight. I had too much to drink, and you’re right, I’m always awful when I drink. I’m going to quit,” she said, and then, without any apparent sense of irony, said to the bartender, “A vodka martini, please.”
Harry held up two fingers.
Melissa glanced sidelong at him. “Your dad has totally corrupted me with the martinis. Remember that Easter with the horrible snow? I think your dad went through three bottles of vodka that day.” She giggled at the memory. Maybe she’d forgotten how frantic she’d been that they would be stuck with his drunk parents all day. She’d begged him to go outside to try to hail a cab in the middle of a blizzard.
Harry put his hand on her knee. “Lissa.”
Her smile instantly faded. “Harry—”
“You have to accept the fact that this isn’t going to work, you and me.”
“Yes, it is,” she said, and grabbed his hand in both of hers. “Of course it is. We can fix this.”
Harry shook his head. “It’s too late.”
“Why?” she demanded. “Three months ago I was the love of your life! My God, Harry, we were just on a break! How can you not forgive me?”
“Forgive you?” He shook his head—she really didn’t understand. “I forgive you Lissa, I forgave you a long time ago. This was never about that. You’re right—three months ago I did believe you were the love of my life. And during this break, if that’s what you want to call it, I realized... I didn’t really love you like I thought I did.”
Her mouth fell open with shock. And then her face turned ugly with rage. “How can you be so cruel?”
