A Second Chance (7 page)

‘I
’ll
take care of
the explanations
.
D
on’t worry about a thing
.
’
His
equilibrium
appeared to be
restored completely. ‘
It
’s
only fair, after all
.
’

‘I think we
’
ll have to talk about the future
,
though.’ She watched him
closely
. ‘About our business, I mean. You can’t seriously expect the three of us
to
work together after
this
. I think the offer we got from Thomas’s Design is something to think about now,
don’t you
?’

A
more established home decorating company
had noticed
their success on the home designing scene
and
had offered
their budding business
a substantial sum of money
to
join
it.
They
had been
hesitant to accept the generous
offer
, eager to remain in control of the business they
ha
d
built up over the years. But now things
ha
d
changed
,
and she was sure they needed to
consider
the
proposal
once more. If they joined the bigger company
,
not only would it help their professional career
s
,
but also
they could become
in
dependent
of
each other
. She couldn’t imagine arriving at the office and watching Veronica and Brian together
.

‘We should definitely look into it.’ Brian
’s
smile
was
relaxed and confident once more. ‘I know for a fact they wanted to open another office in California, so maybe this would be the perfect solution for us
,
too. I certainly
would
n’t
mind moving if they offered me the position.’

He had it all figured out.
He and Veronica
must have talked about it.
She
imagined them together, lying in bed, their naked limbs entwined as they basked in the afterglow of their lovemaking. Brian
had
always joked that his best ideas
c
a
me
to him after sex
;
fulfilled passion
channel
ed
his creative energy into something new and exciting.
This probably
was the topic of their lazy
conversation
. Damn Veronica with her flame
-
colored hair
,
emerald green eyes,
and angelic
face
like something from a Botticelli painting
. She
had
turned out to be anything but innocent and sweet, her presence destroying the one thing
Jade had
hoped
to
do right in her life
.

Brian
was
talking about the offer and his thoughts on it,
but
his
words
barely
register
ed
in her tired brain. She
nodded
when
he suggested
that they
have an in-depth chat about it later
;
his obvious rush to leave and talk to Veronica
had put her
on edge.
H
er carefully maintained composure
was
starting to show cracks that threatened the
ir
peaceful split up. She couldn’t force herself to think about the future
;
the idea
of starting
over without the man who had been the one constant in her life
scar
ed
her witless.

They walked together to the exit, his hand resting on the small of her back in an all too familiar gesture. To
a
stranger’s eyes
,
they must have looked like one of countless
happy
couples
leaving
dinner
in one of
the area’s
hip restaurants. For a
moment
she wished they were
exactly
that, the
p
ast
half hour
simply
a bad dream
about
which
they would
laugh as they chatted on the way back to the office.

He hailed her a cab and made sure she was comfortable
;
his
innate
chivalry
was
something she
had come
to appreciate over the years. He kissed her cheek hurriedly
,
looking
guilty as
he explained his
immediate
plans.
He would spend the night at Veronica’s and come in the morning to collect all his possession
s
from their apartment.

Obviously,
he was giving her
a
heads up so she could decide if she wanted to be present and witness his departure or leave and come back
when
it was over. She knew how much he hated drama and tried to avoid it whenever possible
—
l
ike taking her out for dinner and breaking up in public
,
knowing she wouldn’t
become too vocal and explosive with an audience. Much better than
in
their private little space where no one
would
overhear their fight if they chose to get into one.

‘I think I
’
ll spend the weekend at my parents
.
’
T
he relief in his eyes almost
made
her revoke her decision. But she
really
didn’t want to watch him gather his
scattered
possessions, knowing he was going to build a new nest with someone else while she remained alone.
B
eing alone and left behind
was what
made her the most miserable
.
The cab took off
,
and she held
her head high
,
her eyes
looking
forward
as she resisted
the temptation to turn around
and see him standing on the pavement, watching her leave.

‘M
o
m, I told you already
,
like a hundred times, it was a mutual agreement.’
Jade
could hear the exasperation color her voice as she watched her mother shrug her slim shoulders in a gesture
of defeat
. ‘And no, it can’t be patched up, even if you want me to go and beg him to take me back.’

‘Who
’
s talking about begging, Jade?’ Mrs. Rowley watched her daughter with
a frown
as she boiled water and
place
teabags
in
two mugs. ‘
How about
talking like two adults and maybe helping Brian see what a great mistake he
’s
about to make
?
’

‘M
o
m, he knows what he wants.’
A
fter a day and a half at her parents
’
house, Jade
had
started to sound like a broken record. It didn’t seem to help
when
she explained to her parents that Brian
had
moved on
,
and they had to accept it. Brian’s parents
’
frantic phone call only added more fuel to the fire, both families shocked and disappointed at the unexpected break
-
up.

‘This
girl he
’s
seeing, maybe you should talk to her
.
’
H
er
mother wasn’t giving up, her grey eyes resentful as she spoke of the other woman. ‘Is she aware
that
she
’
s destroying your life, dear? I can’t imagine she would go ahead with it if she knew what it means to you, darling.’

‘Somehow I doubt it makes any difference, really.’
Jade
had
reached the point where her patience barely hung by a thread
, and she
decided
brutal honesty
might
work better
. ‘Brian loves her and is happy with her, not with me. He told me so himself
,
and there
’
s no point
in
pretend
ing
otherwise. We had a wonderful time together
,
but it
’
s over
,
and I
’
m moving on
as well.’

T
hat
sounded confident and
final
, she
thought
as she watched her mom carry the two mugs
of
tea into the living room.
The
excuse
that
she had to be somewhere
else
wouldn’t work
;
she followed her mother and sat down with a sigh. Thank God, the weekend was almost over
,
and soon she would be alone again, the two days of constant
reminders
of her loss safely behind her.

‘I can’t blame him
,
though
.
’ Looking at her daughter, Mrs.
Rowley shook her dark head and lifted the cheerfully patterned mug to her lips. She sipped delicately before putting it down
.
‘I was hoping that you would finally get over your teenage infatuation and start appreciating what you have, Jade. We were glad when he decided to move, I can tell you that
.
I thought that you would stop adoring
th
at
boy
the way you did when he was around.’

‘What boy?’ she asked through stiff lips, knowing the answer even before it came.
Blood rushed
to her face as she realized that her precious secret wasn’t so secret after all.
Her
desire
to hide her feelings
had
proved to be wishful thinking.

‘You know very well who I mean, Jade.’ Her mother smiled weakly and bit into the biscotti that she
had
brought from the kitchen. ‘
Th
at
L
atimer
boy, who else? You were absolutely
in love with
him
,
and
it
worried
me
a lot. After all
,
he didn’t have the best reputation with girls, did he?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, m
o
m.’ If her mother hoped for a heart to heart talk, she would be disappointed. Even if she weren’t mortified to find out her love for Liam was so obvious, she couldn’t bring herself to talk about it to anyone
, her mom included.

‘You were running after him like a puppy, Jade. I
’
m not blind, and I know what I saw. I didn’t say anything because I knew he was way beyond your reach. I mean, he was so much older, there was no way he
was going to
notice your adoration. Still, as I said, we breathed a sigh of relief
when
he moved to California
,
nevertheless
.’

You‘re wrong
, she wanted to say
,
even if only to see her mom’s confidence shaken for once in her life.
He knew how I felt because I told him. Naïve and hopeful, I laid out my cards and hoped to win the game. He rejected me and changed the way I felt about men forever. No matter how much I tried to forget him, he’s still here, in my blood and in my mind, like a disease I can never get rid of.