Reed's Reckoning (16 page)

“Arianna Williams.” I answer my desk phone irritated at the interruption. I’ve been in a dreamy fog thinking about Reed since leaving my house this morning. Last night was perfect and this morning Davis was incredibly excited to have him there.

True to his word, Reed didn’t try to have sex with me but held me all night long. I convinced him to wear his boxers in bed but had to promise he could stay over again tonight. After my day yesterday, a mind-blowing orgasm, the glass of wine, and all the heaviness of our conversation, I was exhausted and slept against his chest never moving.

“Miss Williams?” a quiet voice says on the other end.

“Yes?”

“This is Jamie, Davis’s teacher.”

“Oh no, is everything okay?”

“Yes, of course. Davis is fine. But I noticed you listed a Reed Matthews as his guest for the Father’s Day event on Friday.”

“That’s right.” I wait for her to recognize his name and question me.

“Well, the only man we have on record as approved guests for Davis is Luke Adams. I’m afraid you will need to bring Mr. Matthews in and get him on our registry.”

Crap! How could I have forgotten about that?

“Of course, Jamie. I will try to bring him with me this afternoon. What does he need?”

“His driver’s license or some other form of picture ID.”

“Thank you, I’ll take care of it.”

“Miss Williams?” Her voice is timid and small.

“Yes?”

“Please forgive me if I am out of line, but Davis is telling everyone Reed is his daddy. Is that true?”

“Yes, it is. It’s a very long story, honey, but it’s true. I’ll make sure you get to meet him before Friday okay?”

“Thanks so much, see you later.”

We hang up, and I text Reed to meet me at the house this afternoon so we can get him introduced to Davis’s teacher.

There’s a knock at my office door and before I can say come in, my boss, Phillip Green walks in. I smile widely at him but he doesn’t return the sentiment. He positions himself in one of the chairs in front of my desk and looks at me with concern.

“Phillip, this is a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I wish it was a good surprise, Arianna. I need to talk to you about some recent concerns brought to my attention.” His voice is serious and strong.

A pit forms in my stomach and my heart races. We’ve always had a great working relationship and I’ve never felt as nervous as I do right now with him. “What’s wrong?”

“First, let me ask, is everything going okay with you? I need to know that you would be honest and tell me if you were having trouble at work, at home, or felt overwhelmed with the added responsibility you’ve picked up this last year.”

“No, I’m fine. Everything is fine, great in fact. I’ve loved the new projects and enjoyed the challenges and learning opportunities. I’m not overwhelmed at all.”

“I’ll cut to the chase then. I’ve received three phone calls this week from customers that you manage their portfolios. They have expressed concern with your work on their behalf and asked to be reassigned.”

My mouth drops open and vision blurs. What? I work my ass off for these people and try every different scenario to invest their accounts with the best interest options available. I’ve landed my last two clients from referrals alone.

“Phillip, what are you talking about? I’ve been working like crazy to keep everyone happy and profitable. I never slack when it comes to the well-being and reputation of this bank. Who’s complaining, I will get a hold of them immediately.”

“I know your dedication and commitment here. That’s why I’m going to review the client files personally. First glance, everything seems fine, but I will go line by line to make sure we have done the right things. I would like to keep the clients names private for now because I don’t want anything to change in your working relationship if their concerns aren’t valid.” He gets up to leave, l stand with him.

“I’ve lost the chance for the promotion, haven’t I?” My voice cracks.

His eyes warm and he looks straight at me. “Not if I can help it. Why do you think I put it on hold? There’s no one more qualified than you. Don’t let it consume you. Keep working hard and let me look into these concerns. I’ll get back to you in a few weeks. In the meantime, if something does come up and you need to talk, please come to me.”

When he walks out, I sink into my chair and hit my head on the headrest. What the hell is going on?

“You sure you’re gonna be okay?” Reed asks me for the fourth time when we pull up in front of the daycare.

I told him the story of my meeting when he arrived at the house to get me, and his attitude went from carefree to concern. He hasn’t let go of my hand since we got in his truck. I’ve been dissecting in my head every client I have and going over conversations, emails, and all correspondence trying to think of where something messed up. He listened closely and tried to help me sort through my ramblings.

But now that we are here, I have to put my worry aside for a few hours and take the next step to introducing Reed into our lives. He comes around to open my door and help me out. When we walk in to the center, the assistant gives me a warm smile and starts to greet me. When she sees Reed, her eyes grow wide and she drops the papers in her hand. I watch her face turn red as she stutters through her hello.

She gains her composure enough for us to register Reed as an approved guardian and then I lead him back to Davis’s classroom. The kids are going wild when we walk in, and when Davis sees us, he runs full speed. Reed let’s go of my hand long enough to pick him up and then pulls my waist back to his side.

Jamie, Davis’s teacher introduces herself, and gives us the rundown on the day. He had no accidents, no falls, and no fights, so we are all good.

When we get back in the car, Reed insists on taking us out to dinner. I call Grandma Katy to invite her, and she says she’ll meet us at the restaurant with Luke. He stopped by to visit and since we weren’t home yet, he walked over to Katy’s. When I tell Reed this, he doesn’t even flinch. I guess he finally is over his insecurity about Luke.

Once our dinner is served and my wine refilled, I tell Katy and Luke about my day. Luke’s jaw ticks, telling me something is wrong.

“What’s up Luke? You look more pissed than me.” I question him.

“Ari, that’s the reason I stopped by today. Out of the blue, Sarah called me to warn me there were rumors going around the office about you. She wasn’t sure of the details, but Phillip’s assistant overheard him on the phone with a client. The client seemed to be complaining about you. His assistant has told everyone that will listen that your job is on the line.”

Suddenly dinner doesn’t appeal to me and the wine I’m sipping tastes sour. I feel the color drain from my face and my eyes sting. “You’re kidding?” I whisper.

“I wish I was, honey, Sarah wanted me to know because she knows how close we are.”

“Well, this is preposterous! I’ll be calling Phillip Green tomorrow and letting him know his assistant is a twat and needs to be reminded of confidentiality.” Katy hisses.

“No, Grandma,” I shake my head. “I’ll talk to him. Regardless of if it’s true or not, Phillip will never put up with it. His assistant may hate me when I’m done, but I can’t allow her to ruin the reputation I’ve built.”

She opens her mouth to argue but then smiles wickedly. “Okay, Ari, you handle it your way. But I expect to hear tomorrow night what happens to the little b-i-t-c-h.”

Luke and Reed laugh loudly at her use of spelling and Davis joins them. He has no idea what he is laughing at but his giggle is so sweet, I forget some of the hurt from a few minutes ago. Then I think about Sarah and what’s going on with her.

“Luke, what happened with Sarah? I thought you two hit it off pretty well.”

He looks around the table uncomfortably until his eyes land on mine. “It didn’t work out.”

“Obviously, but why?”

Something must click in both Reed and Katy’s head because they start nodding in understanding.

“You try and set her straight before you ended it?” Reed asks him.

“Nah, man. She was pretty out of line. Not sure it was worth it.”

“Her loss, sweetie, she’ll regret it.” Katy tells him softly.

“What am I missing?” I ask.

“Sarah couldn’t handle my relationship with you and Davis. Then when Reed came back into your lives, she became irrational.” Luke answers me.

I open my mouth to argue but he cuts me off. “Ari, don’t. Don’t argue, don’t feel bad, and don’t ever talk to her about it. It was my choice. Truth be told, it wasn’t entirely about you. She wanted more from me than I was willing to give and she started to harp on how now that Reed was back, I could back off. What she couldn’t understand was Reed or no Reed, you and Davis are my family.”

“That’s absolutely ridiculous.”

“Maybe, but it’s done now. I’m serious, Ari, don’t mention it to her.”

I nod my head even though I don’t want to agree. Reed’s phone rings and he excuses himself to answer. Katy and I discuss our annual Fourth of July barbeque and the guest list this year. When Reed comes back, he is smiling widely. He picks Davis up and sits him in his lap. “Well, that was my coach. The therapist has cleared me for training camp the second week of July. The rookies are already here and scrimmaging.”

“That’s great!” I scream a little too loudly. Luke slaps him on the back and Katy squeezes his hand. He leans over and kisses me quickly.

“That’s not all. There’s a player party on Saturday night in Jacksonville. I’d like you to come with me. I think it’s time we also talked to my agent and the team PR rep.”

Party, agent, PR rep keeps replaying in my mind, and I stay silent. Katy notices my inner freak out and speaks first. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. I’ll watch Davis.”

“Katy, do you think you can take him through Sunday night? We’ve been invited on a friend’s boat Sunday too. I really want Ari to meet a few of the player’s wives.”

“Wait—what? I can’t leave him overnight.” I interrupt.

“Why the hell not? I’ll be around and I’ll take him to the beach on Sunday. I don’t have any plans on Saturday so I can even stay over in case Katy needs to drive somewhere.” Luke answers.

“But—what about Sunday? It’s Father’s Day.”

Reed’s face falls and he pales. Shit! I didn’t think about how hard the day must be on him. Especially knowing how much he loved his dad.

“Ari, come with me.” Luke gets up and watches to make sure I follow. When we get far enough away from the table so no one can hear, he corners me. “Don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what? I haven’t done anything.”

“No, you’re about to. Reed Matthews is back. He looks at you like the sun shines at your feet. He wants to introduce you to his life. Don’t give excuses and put up walls. Davis is young and I’ll help him make something for Reed. It’ll be a good project for us. Give Reed this weekend. Go with him to the party. Go on the boat. Meet his friends. He’s ready to announce to the world that he is a dad. He needs you by his side. He’s been around for weeks now giving you the respect and time you need. I saw the anger when he found out about Jack. He’s committed to this relationship, Ari. Do you feel the same?”

His hard stare penetrates my heart. Everything he said is right. I slowly nod my head and grin at him. Throwing my arms around his neck, I hug him tight.

“Right then, it’s settled.” He leads me back to the table where Reed and Katy are smiling at us.

“Looks like I’m gonna be hanging out with you this weekend DL. Think your daddy will let us use his beach house?” Luke ruffles Davis’s hair and looks at Reed.

“Sure, man, I’ll have a key to you tomorrow. Use it anytime. And we’ll be back late afternoon on Sunday. I can take everyone out to eat.”

“Nonsense, I will make dinner. I’ll make my famous lasagna and we will celebrate in style. Reed, I want this Father’s Day to be memorable for you.” Katy says.

He doesn’t respond but nods his head. His face is filled with raw emotion and I rub his cheek lightly. My heart melts at his smile as he kisses Davis’s head.

We talk a little more about the upcoming football season and Reed’s excitement is contagious. He announces that he’s getting all of us, including Sophie, into a box for the pre-season games.

After we drop Katy off at her house and pull up in my driveway, I notice Reed grab a duffle bag out of the back of the truck. He grins and follows me in without a word. My nerves flutter with excitement and I don’t hide the smile that spreads across my face.