Page 11 of The Wedding Driver
That spoke volumes.
He tapped Tonya’s picture. He wasn’t sure why or what he was going to say.
She picked up on the third ring. “Hello?”
“Hey. It’s Foster.”
“I know,” she said. “Is everything okay?”
Half the time he called her it was about business. The other half, it was about his ex-wife and him needing help. It was never to have a conversation about her or what she was thinking and feeling.
It was about time that changed.
“Yeah. I was just sitting outside, enjoying a drink, watching the stars, and I thought of you.”
“Huh?”
He chuckled. That had to have sounded weird, but oddly, it didn’t feel strange rolling off his tongue. “I wanted to make sure you liked the cold fried chicken and all the trimmings from the deli down the street from my house.”
“I love it,” she said. “But you knew that.”
That was true. He did. “Shall I pack red or white wine?”
“Either is fine with me.”
He could tell he’d caught her off guard. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. One thing he knew for sure was that she loved chocolate. He always had little chocolate treats on his boat and she’d laugh and steal an entire handful every time she’d disembark.
Earlier, at her sister’s wedding, he watched her eat two pieces of chocolate cake. He’d make sure he had a decadent dessert to share after lunch.
“I’ll bring a bottle of both and we can decide what we’re feeling when we get there.” This was definitely good practice for small talk, but he knew he needed to dig deeper. He cared about Tonya as a friend and no matter what happened, he didn’t want to hurt her and she needed to understand that. He just wasn’t sure how to go from the light stuff to what his heart was afraid of. “How’d the cleanup go of your parents’ place? I told them I could have come over.” That wasn’t the transition he was looking for, but over the phone wasn’t the right time.
“Gael hired a crew to do everything. I’m already home.”
“Did you get your new sofa?” Tonya had moved into Jared and Ryan Blake’s carriage house on Cleverdale, not far from her parents’ house. It was a nice one-bedroom rental that Jared cut her a big break on while she saved her money so she could buy a place on the lake.
“Not yet. It’s back-ordered for another month.”
“That sucks. I know how much you’ve been looking forward to that.”
“I don’t know. I’m thinking about canceling it.”
“Why?” he asked.
“It was more than I wanted to spend.”
He had no idea what her financial situation was other than it was night and day from his. He’d been born into money. Then he married it. However, Victoria’s parents cut her off when they found out she was using after Lisa had been born.
When he met his ex-wife and him got serious, she’d been clean and sober. He valued that and chose not to drink. It had been an easy decision. As a matter of fact, he didn’t have a drop of alcohol until after his daughter had died. He’d seen firsthand what addiction could do to a person—to a family—and he never wanted to put his mother through what Victoria put him or her parents through.
He never questioned Victoria’s parents’ decision to take away their daughter’s ability to withdraw money from the family bank accounts. It didn’t matter. He had more than enough and in his previous career in sales, he certainly made a pretty penny. He also made sure that his wife didn’t have access to large sums, but that didn’t stop her from selling her designer purses or her daughter’s toys.
But money didn’t make anyone happy.
“It’s a quality sofa. It will last a long time. Keep it,” he said. “Sometimes you need to splurge on yourself.”
“That’s what Ryan said.”
“Ryan’s a smart woman.” Foster stood. He collected his glass and headed toward the main house. “It’s getting late and I should let you get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”
