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“What?” Bruce asked as I opened the trunk of my car and loaded my clubs into it. He shook his head and followed me over. “What are you doing? Those girls seemed interested.”
“Yeah, I know. But remember, I have a girlfriend.”
“Wow, things are about to change,” Bruce said. “I can’t say I envy you.”
“Yes, you can,” I replied with a smile.
He nodded. Yeah, he knew I was right.
When I got home I sat down in my favorite chair and picked up a book I’d been reading off the side table. I’d really gotten into western novels recently. I loved the way those old cowboy heroes acted, the way they always got the girl, and I envied their ability to get in gunfight after gunfight without ever paying any consequences. Those were such simpler times.
My phone rang as I was just getting back into it. It was Leia.
“Hey, sweetie,” I said.
“Hey, hon,” Leia replied. “How’s the back?”
I almost laughed thinking about all the activities I’d done that day. “It’s ok. You know, it has good days and bad days.”
“Listen, I have something I want to show you. Can we get together tomorrow evening?”
“Tomorrow? Um… yeah. That’s fine. What’s going on?”
Leia sighed into the phone. “There is just something really important I have to show you. I’ve got to run back to work now, but I’ll pick you up tomorrow at five. Does that sound good?”
I almost made a joke about clearing my wide open schedule, but I answered seriously. “Sure, honey. That’s fine.”
When the call ended I grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat back down with my book, flopping my heavy feet up on the coffee table.
“Hmmm, I wonder if she is going to tell me that she’s a billionaire.”
Saying that out loud made me laugh so hard that I almost choked.
Chapter Seven
Leia
I was so nervous. I’d been thinking about this twenty-four/seven for days but I knew it was the right time. I had to tell Ted the truth.
I could have kept the ruse going longer of course, but keeping this from him was killing me, especially after I’d realized that our love was real. I loved him and he loved me. When you love someone you don’t keep these kinds of secrets from them. I wanted Ted to know why I did it and I hoped he would be as kind and understanding as I knew him to be. But the terror of it all felt so heavy in my chest, like I was having multiple little heart attacks every twenty seconds. I wasn’t sure that Ted could tell how scared I was. He was acting like his typical, sweet self.
“So, what is it you want to show me?” Ted asked. “The suspense is really killing me.”
I smiled and continued to drive. “That’s part of the fun.”
Mostly I was just trying to delay the inevitable. I was driving the speed limit, stopping properly for all of the traffic lights (usually I would barrel through an intersection to beat the red light) and I was coming to a complete stop on all of my stop signs. Not to mention I was going ten miles under the speed limit. Ted must have thought I was driving like his grandmother, but he said nothing.
“Ok, if you say so,” Ted replied. “So, how was your day? Busy?”
“Oh, not too bad,” I replied. “Most of the busy work I had to do was yesterday. I like to get the heavy lifting, so to speak, out of the way early in the week just in case something goes wrong or something comes up and I can’t devote as much time to things as I need to; then I’ve already got a strong hold on it. If that makes sense.”
He nodded. “Sure, I can see that.”
About ten minutes later we finally pulled up to the gates out front.
“What’s this place?” Ted asked. “Wow, this is intense!”
I rolled the window down and punched in my code saying hello to Norman, the security guard. He waved with his usual scowl that told the world what a miserable grouch he was.
Ted looked back at him as we drove along the long, winding driveway, most likely perplexed that I was on such friendly terms with Norman.
Ted’s eyes were wide in his head as we pulled up to the mansion my father had helped design and had built nearly forty years before. I loved this house so much. It was a part of my family and therefore it was a part of me.
I hoped that Ted loved it nearly as much.
“Wow. This is incredible,” he said stepping out of the car.
“You really think so?”
I joined him standing in front of the house, looking up at its gigantic pillars and beautiful front steps.
“Who lives here?” Ted asked.
I took a deep breath. It was time to come clean.
