Raindrops on Roses: Book One of the Favorite Things Trilogy (12 page)

If there was one person she would love to
take with her to this event, it was Michael. But the idea of
calling him so soon felt awkward, and she didn't think she could
stand it if he turned her down flat.

Leave it alone,
Priscilla,
she told herself.
That ship has sailed...

•
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
•

A
few weeks later, after putting the trip off for several days,
Michael was finally at the Corvette dealership having the gas cap
replaced on his Stingray. The check engine light had continued to
flash whenever he filled the tank, so it had become obvious
something else was wrong.

The first time he brought it in, the service
manager had had to order in the part, and when they'd called to say
it had come in, Michael scarcely allowed himself the time to make
the trek back across town for the installation. So now as he sat in
the waiting room with several other customers, flipping through a
magazine, he paid little attention to the television until he heard
something about the late actress Veronica Bauer.

His head snapped up and he grabbed the
remote, turning the volume up on the segment. They were reporting
on some kind of celebratory event set to happen in a couple of
weeks.

He lowered the volume, thinking about
Priscilla. She was on his mind most of the time now anyway, almost
non-stop. He couldn't stop thinking about her and he had given up
trying.

At home he'd been laying
low, watching Amber play out this disturbing pregnancy scheme. He
found it almost inconceivable that she'd actually gone
there
. It was a major
insult to his intelligence. Of course he knew she wasn't pregnant!
Amber had never been a very good liar and that obviously hadn't
changed. So now every night, and even some early mornings, she was
trying her best to seduce him, clearly needing to get pregnant
right away.

He'd come to the
conclusion that she obviously didn't know him at all if she thought
she was getting away with this charade. Michael was so embarrassed
for her that he hadn't even spoken with Jason about it yet. He just
wouldn't feel comfortable telling
anyone
what was going on in his
house right now.

But in the end, he knew this was the turning
point—the sad closing act of what had once been a pretty strong
relationship. He knew they couldn't go on this way
indefinitely.

"Michael Frost?"

He looked up.

"You're all set."

•~•

He was driving home from the dealership when
the text came in.

"Hey," it read. "I have an invitation 4u.
Call when u can. ~ CillaB."

Oh, my
God
. Michael exhaled, feeling his heart
soar. "Wherever you want me, baby," he said, smiling, "I'm
there."

Although his fingers itched to text back
immediately, he didn't want to seem overeager so decided to wait an
hour. But the hour turned into fifteen minutes—he just couldn't
wait. So pulling into the Walgreens about ten minutes from his
house, he parked and called her cell.

He was disappointed when he got her
voicemail. "Priscilla, hi, it's Michael. I'm sorry I missed you,
but I hope you're doing well. I'm glad you got in touch, I've been
thinking about you a lot. Call me when you get this...Talk soon.
Bye."

As luck would have it, he was driving
through the gate at his complex when she called back. "Hello,
there," he answered, a caress in his voice.

"Hi," said Priscilla. "How are you?"

"I'm pretty good. You?"

"I'm doing better, thanks." She took a deep
breath. "I was just reaching out to invite you to something of a
party we're hosting at the hotel, in honor of my grandmother." She
told him the date and time. "It'll be in the theater room. Black
tie."

Without hesitation, Michael said, "I'll be
there. I'm glad you thought of me."

"Well...I've been thinking about you a lot,
too," she admitted after a brief silence. "It'll be really nice to
see you again."

"And I can't wait to
see
you
again."
I've been dying to see you
again
.

"I'm sorry I missed your call before, I was
out walking the dog and forgot my phone."

"No problem. I didn't know you had one—a
dog, I mean."

"Well, Chewy was Gran's. And now we can't
get him out of her room."

"Oh, the poor little guy."

"I know," she said sadly.
"Since the paramedics took her out that night, he only leaves the
room to eat and take his walk; and he makes it
very
clear when he's ready to come
back in. It's so sad."

"Well, it might take some time, but he'll
grieve and come around eventually."

"God, I hope so."

"I hope I get a chance to meet him," Michael
said.

There was a pause. "Yeah, I'm sure you
will."

"Well then..." he said, closing his eyes. "I
guess I'll see you in a couple of weeks?"

"Mark the date on your calendar. Don't be
late."

"Not a chance," he said, laughing. He felt
fantastic, like he was flying. "Take care, Priscilla. I'll see you
soon."

When they hung up, Michael
knew
exactly
what
it was time to do.

"Hey, babe," Amber greeted
when Michael walked through the front door. "I have here some fried
cream cheese wontons, chicken wings and pork fried rice...I also
have a jug of sweet tea waiting for you in the fridge—your
favorite—and that old classic you talked about watching,
Dear Justice?
It's all
queued up and ready to roll on Netflix. So come on in, relax, and
let's have ourselves a nice little movie night."

Amber knew
immediately
that
something was wrong when she finally stopped babbling and looked up
at Michael. She heard herself rambling but couldn't stop. She
rambled on and on a lot with Michael these days. Always needing to
fill uncomfortable silences. Always needing to make things look as
normal as possible. Always needing to this. Always needing to that.
Always needing to
something
.

But she was not willing to take the blame
for it. None of this was her fault. And she couldn't bring herself
to admit that things were actually falling apart. She saw it every
single time their eyes met, but she couldn't face it—it would be
too much like pulling a trigger.

She could feel herself falling into a hole,
sinking deeper and deeper with each passing day. It's why she had
been out on the balcony just now, watching Michael sitting in the
car on his phone. Who had he been talking to? And why was he
looking at her the way he was right now?

She watched as he walked into the kitchen
and took a seat at the table, saying, “Amber, I need to talk to
you."

The hairs rose on the back of her neck as
she sat across from him. "Sure, what about?"

"I'm moving out tonight," he told her. "We
can't—"

"
What?
" said Amber, cutting him off.
"But, I'm...I'm—"

"
Pregnant?
" he spat and raised an
eyebrow.

"Jesus," she said, dropping her head. "Don't
start this again, Michael, please."

"And
you
don't start reaching into our
history to arm yourself again Amber, because this time it won't
work." He started shaking his head. "You know, I thought I knew you
pretty well, but you've changed. Somewhere along the line, you
changed. We both have, and I think we need to acknowledge it now
and go our separate ways—it's time."

She stared at him, feeling
her blood begin to boil as the reality of what was happening
slapped her in the face—Michael, her beautiful Michael, was
actually dumping her for someone else. Those sea green eyes,
staring at her now, were so distant.
They're lighting up for someone else now
, she thought.

It tore her to pieces.

"You cheated on
me
," she said through
clenched teeth. She pointed a finger at him that may as well have
been a dagger. "And I forgave
you
."

"Yes," he replied. "And
I'm truly sorry that you found out about me dating Priscilla the
way that you did. I
really
am. I know it was hurtful, and I never meant to
hurt you, but,"—he paused as if realizing it for the first
time—"that had
nothing
to do with you, Amber."

"
Nothing to do with me?
How in the
hell could it have nothing to do with me, Michael?
We live together!
We're
practically married, and you say you screwing someone else has
nothing to do with me?!"

"Amber, look. Let's not go any further with
this, okay? It's not gonna change anything. I'm moving out tonight.
You can stay here as long as you like. Renew the lease in your own
name, but this is over," he said, motioning between them. "We can't
go on like this anymore."

"But...what about the baby?" she croaked in
desperation.

"Stop it, Amber," he said firmly. "You're
twenty-seven years old—stop with the high school games. We both
know you're not a bit more pregnant than I am."

She felt the walls closing in now.
Suspecting his disbelief she could cope with, but hearing it
verbalized? Sent Amber careening over the edge and she slapped him
in the face.

"What the—"

"How dare you?" she
shouted, getting up. "How dare you dump me
now!
You have
no
proof that I'm not pregnant,
Michael, and yet you'd leave me for that
fucking
slut with a Black
Card?"

Saying nothing, his jaw red and no doubt
stinging from the slap, Michael left the table and just walked out
of the kitchen. First he went into the spare bedroom, which doubled
as his home office, pulled out his suitcase, bags and carrying
cases, then headed into their bedroom where he quickly started
packing as Amber yelled insults at him the entire time.

"You're making a huge
mistake, Michael! Do you hear me? And you'll never get away with
it! Karma's a bitch!
Do you hear
me?
I've given my all to this goddamn
relationship and I deserved no less from you, you asshole!
Especially now that I'm carrying your baby, you selfish bastard!"
She started sobbing, her chest heaving with panic. "Oh, my God! Oh,
my
God!
When your
fucking mother croaked and life knocked you flat on your
ass—who
picked you up, Michael?
Me
, that's who! How
quickly we forget! Where the hell was Priscilla fucking Bauer back
then, Michael?
Where?!
" Amber gulped air, near hysteria. "Just you wait! Karma's
a
fucking
bitch!"

She was standing in the
living room as he left the bedroom carrying a suitcase and two
shoulder bags. "You worthless
bastard!
" she yelled, wanting to
provoke him into yelling back. "I can't believe you're doing this!
Where's your conscience, Michael? Where's your goddamn
conscience?"

Giving no reply, Michael stepped right
passed her and took his things out the front door.

"Hey!" she shouted from
the doorway. "Are you listening to me?! Karma's a bitch, Michael
goddamn Frost! And you should be fucking ashamed of yourself for
doing this to me! To
me
! You won't get away with it!"

When he came back for his other bags, she
was blocking the doorway, expecting a confrontation. But Michael
just stood there on the steps for a moment, shaking his head before
turning around and heading back to his car. She watched him cast
one last, pitiful glance in her direction before sliding into the
car and roaring away.

Closing the door, Amber collapsed in the
foyer. It didn't take long for the room to start spinning.

She knew she should get
up. Get her mom on the phone. Call Elaine. Call
someone
who could tell her what the
fuck to do next. Someone who'd know how to fix this mess and get
Michael to come back to his senses, because she was
not
giving up. This was
nothing more than a
very
cruel—and temporary—lapse in judgment on his part
and she needed help to make him realize that.

I will not fucking slink
off into oblivion so another woman can have my
man
, she thought, staring up at the
ceiling.
There's no other woman out there
for Michael but me. He's mine. That's all there is to
it.

She lay there in a state for over an hour,
crying out her hurt and rage until she heard a sudden, harsh
knocking at the front door.

Amber jumped up. "Who's there?"

"It's the Delray Beach Police Department,
ma'am. Please open up."

•
CHAPTER FIFTEEN •

"S
he's meeting me at the hotel tonight to tape the
Newslight
interview,"
Douglas told Priscilla. "And it still isn't too late for you to
change your mind, you know." He gave her a pointed side-eye as she
drove them back up to the house.

They were riding in a golf cart after
spending the afternoon out on the tennis court, where Doug had just
kicked her ass three ways to Sunday.