Page 40 of Our Chaotic Love Affair

“Oh,” she said.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

She turned slowly, watching the fabric move. Tears flooded her eyes but had not spilled over just yet. I suddenly remembered my job and got the camera up just in time to catch the exact moment she decided.

We left with a receipt and a promise the alterations would be done in two weeks’ time. Melody was still slightly glassy eyed in the best possible way.

Austin’s driver was waiting at the curb. Something else I was getting used to. We slid into the back seat. I put my camera in my bag and let myself breathe.

“I found my dress,” Melody said, like she was still getting used to the sound of it.

“You did.”

She turned to look at me, and she was beaming. “I’m getting married in twenty-seven days.”

“Yup.”

She grabbed my hand. “Tell me everything is going to be okay.”

“Everything is going to be so much better than okay. This is the dream. You have your happily ever after. This is your forever.”

She leaned her head on my shoulder. “Thank you for being the best friend a girl could ever ask for.”

“Always.”

She started talking about her doctor’s appointment tomorrow. It was the first proper prenatal visit, the one where they’d hear the heartbeat. Austin was already planning to record everything on his phone to share with the family.

She talked about the baby the way she’d talked about Austin in those first early weeks. With a mixture of wonder and disbelief that something this good had actually happened to her.

I listened, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought about Rome. What I wasn’t doing.

The driver pulled up outside my building. I gathered my bag, kissed Melody on the cheek, and told her to call me the second she heard that heartbeat tomorrow.

“Obviously,” she said.

I got out. The car pulled away. I stood on the sidewalk for a moment and thought about what my dream was. Did it look like Melody’s or was mine something different?

The only way to find out was to allow myself to actually have the dream.

CHAPTER 15

CASH

My phone buzzed on the conference-room table with Austin’s name on the screen, which was poor timing even by his standards. I was alone for now. Rossi was late. It was a power move. I expected as much. I was early. Always early.

“Austin,” I answered. I didn’t have the brainpower to figure out what time it was back home.

“Why the hell did you plant seeds in Melody’s assistant’s ear about working for you?”

I gritted my teeth. “Don’t call her that.”

“Call her what?”

“Her name is Cleo. Not ‘Melody’s assistant.’ She’s her best friend, not just her employee.”

There was a silence that had me checking the screen to make sure I was still connected.

“What the fuck does that have to do with anything?” he said carefully. “And since when do you care?”