Page 56 of Dirty Money
Weston Calloway was a liar!
She felt sorry for him in a way. Because he was going to force her to talk to him and what she would say would hurt him. Aullie didn’t want to cause the man any more pain than he was suffering from the loss of his baby. But she couldn’t be with him. He’d lied to her about something important. And he was off with his ex-wife.
That was unforgivable!
Aullie tapped out a text to him to give him a chance to get out of the fight they’d surely have if he forced her to talk to him.
-Weston, I know you want to talk but I can assure you, you will not like to hear what I have to say to you. So, here it goes; go be with your ex-wife if you want to. I don’t want to see you anymore. I can’t trust you. I knew this would end, badly. Thanks for the heartache, it’ll make some really dark artwork. Peace.-
When she put the phone down on the table, she got up and a loud sob came out of her, unexpectedly. Running to the bathroom, she tripped over Bruce when he ran to her to see what the hell was wrong with her.
She fell in a heap onto the floor, crying from sorrow, heartbreak, and some pain in her left ankle too. Bruce purred as he walked back and forth, rubbing her as he seemed to be trying to sooth her.
“Mommy’s just breaking down, Bruce. Don’t worry,” she murmured between sobs. No reason for the cat to be brought into the shit she’d invited into her life.
When her cell rang, she ignored the chiming that it made. She didn’t want to talk.
Not to anyone!
As if the Heaven’s had suddenly opened, rain began to fall on Weston’s back as he kissed his ex-wife at the end of their son’s grave. The water was nearly ice cold, rare for California rain, even in January.
He took her hand and they ran back to the car, getting in and breathing hard, they looked at one another. There was heat in that kiss. Both had felt it.
Weston panted then picked up his phone. Hayley shouted, “No! No, don’t do that! You know you felt something. Forget about her. I know you can forget about her if you give me a chance to remind you how much we loved one another. I know it! So, put the damn phone down. Delete her number!”
He sat, staring at the woman he’d once loved. The only woman to ever carry his child. He weighed it all in his mind as he looked at her. Hayley wanted to get to it. She wanted a family, the same way he did. Aulora was not only a wild card but she assured him there would be a pretty good amount of time before she’d be ready for kids.
Once his breathing went back to normal, his brain knew the answer. “I love her, Hayley.”
“That kiss…”
He held up his hand to stop her. “Was good. And maybe necessary for us. But it was a one-time thing. I love her. I don’t care that I’ll have to wait to have children with her. I will wait. I’m sorry we kissed. I’m sorry it meant more to you than it did to me.”
“The truth is if she wasn’t in your life, then you’d give me a chance,” she said as he opened the text Aulora had sent him while they were out of the car.
When his eyes drooped, she snatched the phone from him and smiled as she saw what Aulora had sent him. She not only let him go but she told him to be with her. She handed him the phone without saying a word. The ball was in her court and she knew it.
“She’s just mad,” he said as he placed the phone in the console.
“I’m still going to make her talk to me. We had a deal and that was part of it.”
“That girl will rip you apart. She has that look about her. You sure you want to do that to yourself?”
He wiped his eyes and pulled away from the grave as the rain continued to pour down in sheets. “Even if I have no one else, I’m not starting things back up with you. This trip was a mistake. I meant it to give you closure that you seemed to need. I didn’t need any. I got my closure when you married someone else. I was wrong for taking you on. I wanted to help you and all you want is, what you want.”
“So, I’m selfish. That’s what you’re saying. I’m a selfish bitch!”
“I didn’t call you a bitch. But you are being selfish and I should’ve listened to my head when it told me to leave you alone. I knew this would end up badly. And I may have lost the one woman who brings things out in me no one else ever has.”
A heavy sigh came from Hayley along with her bursting into tears. “I love you! Damn it, Weston! She’s through with you! Please, give me a chance to prove to you I can be what you want.”
He drove to the airport without answering her. He tried hard to block out her bawling and squalling. He’d forgotten how dramatic she could be. He wasn’t sure how he’d forgotten that.
Hayley knew how to work him. She always had. He recalled the first time he asked her out. She was having a full-on pity party for herself, in the lunchroom of the high school they both went to, one afternoon. The boy she liked had turned her down when she asked him to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Weston saw her crying, all alone at a table, and asked her what was wrong. When he heard her woeful tale, he jumped in like a knight in shining armor and picked up the pieces, taking her to the dance and in grand style at that.
The feelings they shared were slow to grow. After that first date, she kept showing up in the halls of their high school. Walking along side of him to his next class. He would reciprocate her gesture and started walking her to class, instead. Citing it was the man’s job to walk the young ladies to class, not vice versa.
Before he realized what was happening, Hayley had insinuated herself into his life. Dropping by his home on Friday nights had him taking her with him to the ball games and then out for burgers afterward. Day by day, she crept in until he thought he’d found love. His first love.
