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CHAPTER TWELVE
I had way too much time to think on that very long drive.At first I played on my phone to distract myself and pass the time, but about thirty minutes after I’d left him, he began to text me.
Where are you? Was the first text.
I ignored it.About a minute later another message chimed.
You said you were going down for coffee.Are you at the coffee shop?
I ignored that one too, just staring down at the words.Did that mean he’d gone down to look for me?
I was afraid to hope.
Where did you go?
The texts were getting closer together, chiming one after another.
WHERE ARE YOU?
And then he began to call.
I turned off my phone.I knew that if I answered at that moment, I’d lose all of my pride, and say something completely idiotic.
Also, if I answered, I’d know for sure whether or not he was getting back together with Sheila.
If he was, I didn’t want to know yet.And when I’d left, I’d had a distinct, gut feeling that that was what was about to happen.
I needed more time before I could swallow something like that with good grace.
So I brooded on the long ride home, going over every detail of the weekend in my head and agonizing over whether he’d felt even an inkling of what I felt.
I was home for two days before I remembered to check my bank account.
He’d paid me in full.
I wanted to turn down his money. I wanted to give it all back.This weekend had been more to me than a paid arrangement.
But I couldn’t do that.The money had never been for me, and I couldn’t bring myself to let down four kids who had enough letdowns in their pasts to last a lifetime.My nephews and nieces meant the world to me, and I had to put them first.
So I kept the money, and I went back into my normal routine right away, but that weekend seemed to cast a desultory shade over my life.
The weekend with him had corroded away at something vital inside of me, some hard shell I’d had over my heart to protect its vulnerability.
I waited for some word from him.
After a few days it was clear to me that he wasn’t going to call again.That was it.We were done.I was convinced he’d gone back to her.Otherwise, he’d have tracked me down.I was sure of it.
He must not have felt the way I did.It must have all been an act for him.
That was the worst of it.Knowing he didn’t have the same feelings for me that I did for him was a blow, to be sure.But it was the loneliness that hurt the most.I’d only known him for a few days, but I missed him.
How had I fallen so hard so fast?
It had been such a simple idea.Help the hot billionaire make his cheating ex jealous.
Nobody was supposed to get hurt.
But of course it hadn’t worked out that way.
