Page 16 of Love.V2
“I know!” Lexi crowed. “Three boys and I’m finally done. When the nurse comes back in, I’m going to ask her to rip my uterus out.”
Tess’s laugh rippled through my veins. “Does this gorgeous, smart, strong little girl have a name?”
Mac pretended to scowl. “I tried to convince Lex to go for Beer Angel, after her aunt, but we compromised on Annabelle.”
“Annabelle Beer Angel McCarthy. What a superstar,” Tess whispered, beaming down at the camera. My heart lurched.
Being in the same room with her was bad enough, but watching Tess talk with our friends and coo over their baby was like pouring salt in a six-month-old wound that wouldn’t close.
“She’s amazing. Congratulations.” Tess glanced up at me with a glowing smile that nearly knocked my feet out from under me.When was the last time I’d seen her smile?
I tried to reciprocate, but the instant her eyes met mine, she faltered, like she had only just remembered this wasn’t part of her life anymore.
“Sorry to hijack your call. Um, give those kiddos a squeeze when you see them, alright?” She passed the phone back without waiting to hear what they replied.
“Dylan?” On the screen, Lexi and Mac wore matching expressions of confusion. Hurt.
“Yeah, listen, I have to go. Tell that baby girl to give her brothers hell. Text me when you’re out of the hospital.” We exchanged goodbyes thatI barely paid attention to, my focus squarely on the woman slipping into the office chair behind her desk, rubbing at her chest like it ached.
“They don’t say it out loud, but they miss you,” I said, sinking into the chair across from her, watching her shoulders bunch up to her ears. She probably wanted to curl up under her desk and hide.
“Save the guilt trip, please. I miss them, too, but…” Her soft voice trailed as her gaze shifted around the room. She fidgeted. “It just is what it is.”
“I don’t get a say in what it is?”
She practically deflated. “If you’re here to yell at me over how I left…”
“I’m not here to yell, Tess. I understand why you left, and even why you did it the way you did.” At least I thought I did. I perpetually hoped the reason she’d disappeared without a word was because, deep down, she still loved me. And that last shred of faith was sometimes all I had to hang onto these days.
Because if she still loved me, even a little, maybe I still had a chance.
“What are you doing here?” She sounded so small, staring down at her Jinx mouse pad, I wanted to gather her up in my arms. I folded my hands in my lap, instead.
“I’m here to talk with you.”
A breath caught in her throat. The smallest scoff known to man. “I mean here in Chicago.”
“I’m here to talk. With you.”
Her chest rose and fell as she stared blankly down at her desk some more. Her brow furrowed and finally, she glanced up at me. “You gaveup a nearly guaranteed CEO position at Worther, picked up your life, and moved to Chicago to work at Jinx just to talk?”
“Yes.”
Her face didn’t change, but I was the world’s leading expert on deciphering her silent, blank stares. She didn’t believe me. I reached into the bag I’d brought in, pulling a cup from the drink holder inside, along with a paper-wrapped bundle. “Here. I know me being here is a lot, and you don’t eat when you’re anxious.”
Her head shook. “I can’t do this. Whatever…this is.” She stared at my offering like she’d never seen a latte before. “This is where I work, and you being here is a lot and…and I have a meeting with Eric in a few minutes, anyway.”
There she went, running again. Avoiding this, as if I’d magically disappear if she dodged my gaze for long enough. But she was going to have to be a little more intentional if she wanted me to leave for good.
“I asked Meery to put a meeting on your calendar.” I nudged the cup closer. “It’s half-caf. Lavender.”
Lavender, like the dark skin under her eyes that told me she’d probably been sleeping as well as I had. Lavender, like her hair.
My sister had removed Tess from all my social media accounts, claiming it was for my own good. I hadn’t laid eyes on her since the day I’d left for that God-awful trip to Japan. Her hair had been the first thing I noticed, and I hadn’t lied back in Eric’s office. It suited her, making her ocean-blue eyes look huge.
She looked good; stronger. There was definition in her shoulders under her silk blouse and in the curve of her calves. I had no right, butI wanted to trace all the ways her body had changed since we’d been apart.
Because even though she wasn’t mine anymore, I still knew her. Knew her like you knew your next breath was coming. Without having to think about it.
