Page 53 of Dirty Money
Her smile was just as weak as she patted the seat across the aisle from hers. “Are you ready to go?”
He nodded and took the seat. The pilot came out of the small cockpit. “Are we ready to go, Mr. Calloway?”
“We are,” he told him.
The plan was to get to L.A. that night. He’d already reserved them two hotel rooms and in the morning, they’d go eat breakfast then go to visit their son’s grave. They’d leave him some flowers then jet back to New York. But he could tell that Hayley wasn’t going to let the opportunity to get to him go by.
She licked her lips and placed the empty glass in the holder next to her. The liquid courage was already coursing through her system and the door to the bedroom in the back of the cabin was open. She’d already been in there and it made him nervous.
“I talked to someone this evening while I waited for you to get off work,” she said.
The engine started and the plane began to move. And, for some reason, Weston’s heart began to ache. “You talked to someone? About what?”
“About you and me and what we lost and how I have to take a lot of the blame for that,” she said.
He hated when she did that. “I’ve told you countless times not to say that. You and I were damn kids, Hayley. You were only nineteen, for the love of God. You’d just lost your first born and you lost him while I was at the wheel. I can’t fault you for how you felt about that.”
Her hand moved over his and he let her hold his hand. “I left you to grieve alone and not only over your son but over us as well. We’d been together for a year and a half before our son came along. I was your first love, Weston.”
“And I was yours,” he said as he looked into her violet eyes.
He’d looked into those eyes so many times with nothing but love. Some of that love was still there but most of it was just gone. Ten years is a long time to try to keep something up that was completely thrown away.
“You were,” she said as the plane began to ascend into the night sky. They held hands as it went up and Weston had to confess he felt something.
When the plane leveled off, he got up and poured himself a Scotch and refilled her wine glass. “I’ve been keeping secrets, Hayley. And I think it’s time to make a confession.”
“You have a girlfriend,” she said as he handed her the wine glass.
She’d surprised him and he nodded then sat back down. “And I love her.”
“More than the love you have for me?” she asked then sipped her drink.
He nodded again and he felt bad when she closed her eyes. “But she and I aren’t nearly ready to get married and start a family.”
Hayley breathed out a sigh of relief. “And we are.”
He shrugged and took a long drink. “But I love her. So, you can see my quandary.”
“I can. Believe me, I can. The young woman I talked to helped me to see the other woman’s point of view a bit better. You see, I’ve thought you had another woman in your life.”
“I wouldn’t call her another woman, Hayley. She’s really been the only woman. Your husband hasn’t been dead a month and already you’re looking to get hitched to me again. That’s cause for concern, don’t you agree?”
“No,” she said and placed her wine glass back in the holder. “Look, we’ve wasted ten years. I don’t think we should waste any more time. We know we have love for each other.”
He held up his hand to stop her. “Listen, there is love between us. Maybe there always will be. But I talked to you based on finding out who it was that killed your husband and for no other reason. I had no intention of rekindling our relationship.”
“About that,” she said, looking a bit sheepish. “You can call off your spies. My husband was involved in an organization that you nor your spies need to get involved with. I knew the risks he was taking. I don’t want you to take any more risks and find yourself or someone you hired, dead.”
“Shit! Are you fucking serious?” Weston stood and paced in the tiny cabin. “Hayley, how could you?”
“I’ve wanted you back for the last few years. I just didn’t know how to get out of my marriage and get back to you,” she confessed.
“How selfish! How God damned selfish!” He went to the back and saw rose petals had been spread all over the bed. A thing he’d done for her when they first made love.
He picked one of the pink petals up and rubbed it between his fingertips. His heart felt warm and when he felt her arms go around his waist and her head lay against his back, he felt something. He wasn’t sure what but he did feel something.
“I miss him,” she mumbled.
