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Edith clamped her hand over her mouth. “Oh dear, I thought you knew he was previously engaged.”
“He never mentioned anything to me.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
I put my hand on her arm. “But now that you have, I’d like to know.”
“Austin hasn’t had good luck with women. There was that nasty mess with that young woman who claimed she was pregnant. Do you know about that?”
I nodded. “That I do.”
“About six years back, Austin was engaged to a woman he dated for several years. I never liked her. There was something about her that wasn’t right to me. He finally asked her to marry him, and I tried to be happy for him for his sake. He was ill for a time, and she didn’t care, he could barely get out of bed.”
A bolt of fear went through me even though we were no longer together. I would never want anything to happen to Austin.
“What did he have?”
“Lyme disease. I think he got it when he was visiting me. He was miserable, and after she left, I stayed with him for a while. He was so bad he had to take a semester off.”
I took a sip of my wine. “I’m sorry. He never told me any of this.”
“I suppose it might be because he wanted to put it behind him. Can you blame him? After the pregnancy thing, I thought he would never get involved with a woman again, until you. He seemed genuinely happy.”
“I tried, but he was so angry. I gave him the ring back.”
Edith grabbed my hand, holding it between her own. “Do you still love him?”
I looked away from her gaze. “I don’t know. Austin said some very hurtful things.”
She squeezed my hand. “He’s hurting. I can hear it in his voice. He refuses to talk about you. I was hoping we would bump into each other. I wanted to get your side of the story.”
Edith ended up having dinner with me, telling her friends we had some things to discuss. We did. I told her everything that happened between us because I felt even though she was Austin’s grandmother, she wouldn’t place all the blame on me. She didn’t.
When our meal was over, I promised to get together with her again. Edith gave me her contact number and address. We parted ways on the street, and she hugged me tightly. I felt more settled than I had in weeks. Austin still loved me, but it was his fear and pride that prevented him from coming to me.
My talk with Edith comforted me and the sliver of heart which opened, remained. I was a little kinder to my employees at Tailwind and apologized to Luna for my brashness. In talking with her, I found that she was married with two boys who were in a basketball league on the weekends. I prevented her from watching their game. I felt sorry about that.
From then on, we worked together well. She was my eyes and ears when I was away from Tailwind, just as Marina was when I was away from Spotlight. I couldn’t get my mind off Austin. I missed him more than I cared to admit, and it was compounded when I would have weekly lunches with Edith. He wasn’t doing well.
We were now into the second day of November and Tailwind’s management had been totally restructured, new policies were in place, and a children’s film about puppies and kittens was about to be completed. Hassan and the board were impressed with what I was able to do in just a month. I was working ninety-hour weeks, excluding flights to and from each coast. I was exhausted and would need a break soon. I still had my vacation booked in the Maldives, hoping I could go in early January.
I was settling down in my office at 7:00 AM the next day when my cell rang, which was unusual at this hour. The screen flashed Edith’s number.
I picked up right away. “Edith, how are you?”
“Something’s wrong. I fell,” she croaked.
My heart jumped into my chest. I was fond of the woman and knew how important she was to Austin.
“When? Where are you?”
“It hurts.”
There was a clatter, and all I could hear was her heavy breathing. I kept calling her name, but when she didn’t answer, I called an ambulance and ran out of the office. I begged the cabbie to drive faster, coaxing him with a big tip, and when I arrived at Edith’s building, they were taking her out on a stretcher.
I grabbed one of the paramedics by the arm. “What happened to her? Is she going to be alright?”
He looked at me, and I let his coat go. “Who are you?”
