Page 45 of My Ex-Fiance's Best Men
I suddenly realize I lose all track of time when I’m with Theo or the twins. Even the silence feels natural. We don’t have to say anything. We just have to… be.
“Tell me something, Phoebe,” Theo finally says.
“Anything, provided you tell me where we’re going.”
“You’ll see in a bit, I promise. And you’ll love it.”
“Fine. What do you want me to tell you?”
“What’s your biggest dream?” he asks. “What is it you want most in this life? It can be anything. Not even the sky is your limit.”
“That’s a deep question.”
“But one you can surely answer.”
“Oh, I can answer it. I just don’t get the point.”
“Have patience, grasshopper. Please, tell me.”
We drive through the southern part of the Hamptons, each neighborhood more exquisite than the last. We have a summer house of our own up here, on the north side. I haven’t been there in a couple of years, though. Crystal always hogs it for the whole summer, just one endless party for her and her obnoxious friends.
I’d missed this place.
“What I want most is to take over Baldwin Enterprises and restore it to its former glory,” I blurt out. “No, wait, I want to make it even bigger than my dad ever dreamed.”
“Is that it?”
“No. That’s just career-wise.”
“Life, Phoebe. Life as a whole,” Theo prompts. “What do you want most?”
“To love and to be loved in equal measure for precisely the way I am,” I say after giving it some thought. “It comes with a certain freedom, I suppose.”
He gives me a curious sideways glance, then shifts his focus back on the road. “Freedom.”
“Yes, the freedom to be myself. The freedom to not have to shrink myself in order to fit into one box or another,” I reply.
“Alright. Good. That’s a good thing to want. Tell me something else.”
“Theo…” I sigh.
We pass through the double gates of a massive property. The fence is tall and fitted with high-end security. I spot the cameras and the motion sensors—we have a similar setup at our summer house. Looking left and right, I see splendid gardens with trimmed hedges, blossoming trees, and gorgeous rose bushes, each flower bright and big.
“Almost there,” he says, following a road lined with giant wisteria trees. “Do you enjoy being shared?”
An unexpected question out of left field. My face burns hot as I try to find the sense in it. “Where are you going with this, Theo? And where arewegoing? Literally.”
“I’ll answer both if you bear with me for a little while longer.”
Ahead, a villa rises—a two-story splendor with white walls and French-style windows that remind me of the Hawaiian resort. It sits atop a green hill surrounded by thick gardens. At the front, marble steps lead to the main door, a massive wrapped around porch sprawling on either side.
Dominic and August stand as we approach.
“Okay, so we’re at your summer place,” I say as Theo pulls up in front of a beautiful artesian fountain that marks the end of thedriveway. It presents its viewers with two angels dancing, their wings extended as water flows from their vessels, pouring into the circular basin below.
Though I’ve been here before with Matthew, I guess I hadn’t taken the time to appreciate the beauty of the journey to get here. I didn’t realize where we were going until we approached the house. That says a lot about being unable to appreciate the beautiful things while I was with Matthew.
We get out of the car just as Dominic and August reach the top of the marble steps, both of them smiling yet clearly surprised to see us.
