Not Quite Over You
Page 39
Leigh’s gaze was steady. “I thought maybe you’d go somewhere else. When you didn’t, I wondered if you were waiting for someone.”
“Not Drew,” she said flatly. “I wasn’t waiting for him at all. We were done. Long done. Now we’re just business partners. It’s not anything more. It can’t be. He’s different and I’m not and this is just...”
Aware that she might be babbling just a little too much, she pressed her lips together and told herself to be quiet.
She cleared her throat. “I’m happy here. I have a great business and wonderful friends and a very fulfilling life. I don’t need a man. Or want one.” Love was complicated and stupid and in the end, everything got messed up.
“There was never anyone else, was there?” Leigh asked, her voice soft. “I don’t mean dating or sex. There was never another man for you. Just Drew.”
“It’s not like that. I’m careful with my emotions.”
Leigh didn’t say anything.
Silver groaned. “Fine. No. There wasn’t anyone else. Just Drew.”
“And now you’re back together.”
“We’re not together-together. We’re in business and...”
“Sleeping together.”
“Yes, and that. But nothing else. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“He cares about you.”
“He cares about his rabbit, too.”
“His what?”
“Long story. The point is, we’re friends. We still have that and it’s plenty. I don’t want more. Not from him, not from any guy. I’m fine. Solid. Just happy as a clam.”
Leigh patted her arm. “Good to know. I love you and I’m always going to be in your life. Even if you try to hide from me, I will hunt you down and love you forever.”
Silver hugged her. “I feel the same way. Only I think I’d be a whole lot better at hunting you down.”
“Probably. Now let’s go inside. I want to see all the feathers and pearls and every tacky thing.”
* * *
FRIDAY AFTERNOON DREW was surprised when Leigh walked into his office at the bank.
“I’m taking a chance that you have a few minutes for me,” she said.
“Of course.” He glanced at his calendar to see if he needed to cancel anything else and saw he was free for the rest of the afternoon.
“I have as much time as you would like,” he told her. “Do you want to go get coffee or something?”
“I’m good.” Leigh closed the door, then sat across from him. “I spent the morning going over the final details for the wedding. It’s very exciting to see the setup and all the decorations. They’re not anything I would have thought to pick but I really like them. We’re going to have a good day tomorrow.”
“When does your fiancé arrive?”
“Denton and his parents are driving in tonight. The wedding party is so small we aren’t bothering with a rehearsal dinner. Autumn and I will stay together in the princess room at the hotel tonight, then tomorrow night Denton and I are driving back to LA after the wedding. We’ll get there late, but we can sleep in before our flight to Hawaii.” She laughed. “We promised we would take Autumn there over spring break next year. She understands the concept of a honeymoon but doesn’t think it’s fair when there are children involved.”
“So she mentioned earlier.”
Leigh was a pretty woman—a little curvy, with wavy dark hair and green eyes. She practically radiated happiness and contentment.
“I thought you might like to know about how Silver and I became friends,” Leigh said, “but not know how to ask. Or what to ask. I thought you might like to know what it was like while she was pregnant and after Autumn was born.”
“I would like that.”
“I’d known for years that I couldn’t have children. There’s a whole plumbing thing I won’t get into. When I married Paul, my first husband, we knew from the start we wanted to adopt, so we began the process as soon as we got engaged. We tried everything. Local, foreign, private, public. We were determined to find our baby. We met Silver through a lawyer friend who happened to know her uncle. It was just one of those things. She wanted to give up her baby and we wanted a baby. So we met.”
Drew hadn’t realized there was a process, but of course there had to have been. It wasn’t as if she’d had the kid, then left her on a shelf somewhere. There had been meetings and decisions and paperwork. Silver would have been pregnant all nine months, knowing that in the end, she would be giving up her child. He wanted to correct that to their child, but he had a feeling that as soon as he’d agreed to adoption, she’d stopped thinking of the baby as anything but hers.
“I was so nervous at that first meeting,” Leigh admitted. “What if she didn’t like us? What if we didn’t get along? It’s hard when someone else has that much power over your life. I didn’t know if I should bring a gift or flowers or what. But from that first meeting, we just clicked. We were talking and laughing and it just seemed right. Silver only took a couple of days to decide we were the ones.”
Leigh smiled at him. “I was over the moon. You can’t imagine how thrilled and delighted we were. Silver’s uncle got in touch with us and brought up the possibility of Silver living with us through the pregnancy. Happily Inc is such a small town and he didn’t want her to have to face everyone she knew, day after day.”
Drew tried not to react to the gut punch. Something else he hadn’t thought of. That if Silver had stayed in town, she would have had to deal with questions, gossip and judgments.
“We immediately said yes,” Leigh continued. “We had plenty of room and we wanted to get to know Silver.” Her smile turned wry. “And maybe in the back of our minds we were hoping she would like us enough not to change her mind, because that can always happen and it’s heartbreaking.”
“For everyone.”
“Yes. So Silver moved in. We picked out baby furniture together and read prenatal books. What I didn’t realize was that while Silver and I were getting closer and closer, my marriage was falling apart. Paul and I didn’t have as much in common as we thought. Having Autumn allowed us to put off the inevitable, but I think because we were already drifting apart, Silver and I had more time together than we would have otherwise.”
She sighed. “Autumn’s birth was wonderful. Silver was so brave, and then I got to hold my daughter. It was the biggest blessing of my life. Silver went back to Happily Inc, but within a few weeks, it was obvious to all of us that she wasn’t comfortable. We invited her back to stay with us. She went to community college and worked and helped me with Autumn. When Paul moved out, Silver was right there to see me through it. When I was back on my feet, she moved back home and I went on with my life.” Her smile returned. “I planned on being a single parent the rest of my life.”
“That obviously didn’t happen.”
“It didn’t. Autumn spiked a fever on a Sunday morning and I rushed her to the emergency room. Denton was there, filling in for a friend. He took care of Autumn, who was just fine. Later, he followed up to see if she was all right. I was so ridiculous. I had no idea he was flirting with me. Finally I realized the man was asking me out.” She laughed. “I said yes. We fell in love and here we are.”
“Not Drew,” she said flatly. “I wasn’t waiting for him at all. We were done. Long done. Now we’re just business partners. It’s not anything more. It can’t be. He’s different and I’m not and this is just...”
Aware that she might be babbling just a little too much, she pressed her lips together and told herself to be quiet.
She cleared her throat. “I’m happy here. I have a great business and wonderful friends and a very fulfilling life. I don’t need a man. Or want one.” Love was complicated and stupid and in the end, everything got messed up.
“There was never anyone else, was there?” Leigh asked, her voice soft. “I don’t mean dating or sex. There was never another man for you. Just Drew.”
“It’s not like that. I’m careful with my emotions.”
Leigh didn’t say anything.
Silver groaned. “Fine. No. There wasn’t anyone else. Just Drew.”
“And now you’re back together.”
“We’re not together-together. We’re in business and...”
“Sleeping together.”
“Yes, and that. But nothing else. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“He cares about you.”
“He cares about his rabbit, too.”
“His what?”
“Long story. The point is, we’re friends. We still have that and it’s plenty. I don’t want more. Not from him, not from any guy. I’m fine. Solid. Just happy as a clam.”
Leigh patted her arm. “Good to know. I love you and I’m always going to be in your life. Even if you try to hide from me, I will hunt you down and love you forever.”
Silver hugged her. “I feel the same way. Only I think I’d be a whole lot better at hunting you down.”
“Probably. Now let’s go inside. I want to see all the feathers and pearls and every tacky thing.”
* * *
FRIDAY AFTERNOON DREW was surprised when Leigh walked into his office at the bank.
“I’m taking a chance that you have a few minutes for me,” she said.
“Of course.” He glanced at his calendar to see if he needed to cancel anything else and saw he was free for the rest of the afternoon.
“I have as much time as you would like,” he told her. “Do you want to go get coffee or something?”
“I’m good.” Leigh closed the door, then sat across from him. “I spent the morning going over the final details for the wedding. It’s very exciting to see the setup and all the decorations. They’re not anything I would have thought to pick but I really like them. We’re going to have a good day tomorrow.”
“When does your fiancé arrive?”
“Denton and his parents are driving in tonight. The wedding party is so small we aren’t bothering with a rehearsal dinner. Autumn and I will stay together in the princess room at the hotel tonight, then tomorrow night Denton and I are driving back to LA after the wedding. We’ll get there late, but we can sleep in before our flight to Hawaii.” She laughed. “We promised we would take Autumn there over spring break next year. She understands the concept of a honeymoon but doesn’t think it’s fair when there are children involved.”
“So she mentioned earlier.”
Leigh was a pretty woman—a little curvy, with wavy dark hair and green eyes. She practically radiated happiness and contentment.
“I thought you might like to know about how Silver and I became friends,” Leigh said, “but not know how to ask. Or what to ask. I thought you might like to know what it was like while she was pregnant and after Autumn was born.”
“I would like that.”
“I’d known for years that I couldn’t have children. There’s a whole plumbing thing I won’t get into. When I married Paul, my first husband, we knew from the start we wanted to adopt, so we began the process as soon as we got engaged. We tried everything. Local, foreign, private, public. We were determined to find our baby. We met Silver through a lawyer friend who happened to know her uncle. It was just one of those things. She wanted to give up her baby and we wanted a baby. So we met.”
Drew hadn’t realized there was a process, but of course there had to have been. It wasn’t as if she’d had the kid, then left her on a shelf somewhere. There had been meetings and decisions and paperwork. Silver would have been pregnant all nine months, knowing that in the end, she would be giving up her child. He wanted to correct that to their child, but he had a feeling that as soon as he’d agreed to adoption, she’d stopped thinking of the baby as anything but hers.
“I was so nervous at that first meeting,” Leigh admitted. “What if she didn’t like us? What if we didn’t get along? It’s hard when someone else has that much power over your life. I didn’t know if I should bring a gift or flowers or what. But from that first meeting, we just clicked. We were talking and laughing and it just seemed right. Silver only took a couple of days to decide we were the ones.”
Leigh smiled at him. “I was over the moon. You can’t imagine how thrilled and delighted we were. Silver’s uncle got in touch with us and brought up the possibility of Silver living with us through the pregnancy. Happily Inc is such a small town and he didn’t want her to have to face everyone she knew, day after day.”
Drew tried not to react to the gut punch. Something else he hadn’t thought of. That if Silver had stayed in town, she would have had to deal with questions, gossip and judgments.
“We immediately said yes,” Leigh continued. “We had plenty of room and we wanted to get to know Silver.” Her smile turned wry. “And maybe in the back of our minds we were hoping she would like us enough not to change her mind, because that can always happen and it’s heartbreaking.”
“For everyone.”
“Yes. So Silver moved in. We picked out baby furniture together and read prenatal books. What I didn’t realize was that while Silver and I were getting closer and closer, my marriage was falling apart. Paul and I didn’t have as much in common as we thought. Having Autumn allowed us to put off the inevitable, but I think because we were already drifting apart, Silver and I had more time together than we would have otherwise.”
She sighed. “Autumn’s birth was wonderful. Silver was so brave, and then I got to hold my daughter. It was the biggest blessing of my life. Silver went back to Happily Inc, but within a few weeks, it was obvious to all of us that she wasn’t comfortable. We invited her back to stay with us. She went to community college and worked and helped me with Autumn. When Paul moved out, Silver was right there to see me through it. When I was back on my feet, she moved back home and I went on with my life.” Her smile returned. “I planned on being a single parent the rest of my life.”
“That obviously didn’t happen.”
“It didn’t. Autumn spiked a fever on a Sunday morning and I rushed her to the emergency room. Denton was there, filling in for a friend. He took care of Autumn, who was just fine. Later, he followed up to see if she was all right. I was so ridiculous. I had no idea he was flirting with me. Finally I realized the man was asking me out.” She laughed. “I said yes. We fell in love and here we are.”
