“That’s not fair.”
“Maybe.” I lifted a shoulder. “But it’s the truth. How do you expect to find this magical time off?”.
“Let me see what I can do,” he reasoned, but I shook my head again.
“Try and meet us up there.”
“Just like that? You aren’t even going to give me a chance?” A chance. That’s what he wanted? Didn’t he realize I’d given him millions?
“I’ll give you a chance.” His eyes brightened with hope, and I fought from flinching as I kept talking, “When you make time for us.”
“Babe—”
“I love you, Owen. With all my heart. You… you have been my entire life.” My bottom lip trembled with every word.
“But?” His nose flared, his Adam’s apple bobbed; and I fought from crying.
“But I need to know I’m more than a housekeeper to you,” I answered honestly for once. I could still hear his words from the night before. I knew he hadn’t meant them. Not really. But they still hurt.
“I didn’t mean that. I was pissed last night. I was an ass—”
“Yeah. But in its own way it was kind of true,” I shared, floundering to come up with the right words to follow up with. How could I explain things to him in a way he would understand? So he could get how lost I felt lately? How his words had only added to it.
“No. I don’t think of you as our housekeeper. Nadia—” I raised my hand up to stop him.
“I know. I just…” I paused and really looked at him. ”We need time.” I wasn’t sure how else to word it.
“Apart?” he asked, and I blinked away tears of frustration. Why didn’t he get it? Why couldn’t he see things from my perspective?
Because he’s not a mind reader.
“Away.”
“Why can’t we just talk it out here?” he asked. I opened my mouth to answer when his phone rang.
“Fuck,” he growled, looking at the screen. I already knew who it was as I wiped the edge of my eyes.
“That’s why.” I pointed to his phone, taking a step back, creating more space between us. “I hope we see you in Santa Barbara, Owen. I really do,” I mumbled with a sniffle before stepping and turning completely away from him, grabbed the snack bag for the girls, and headed to the garage.
Every step I placed between us made my eyes burn with tears, but I didn’t let a single one fall. I didn’t shed a tear until five minutes later, with my big sunglasses on, while I waited for my girls at the pickup zone of their school.
And even then, I wiped them away quickly, placing what I hoped looked like a sincere smile on my face, as the girls slipped into the backseat of the minivan. I asked about their day, cheerfully and casually, then listened to them talk a mile a minute. Taking a deep cleansing breath, I reminded myself that everything would be okay.
No matter what, it was going to be okay.
***
Lugging the last of the bags and groceries into the kitchen, I was exhausted, yet I still had a smile on my face as I looked around. It was a small bungalow. Three bedrooms and two bathrooms, but it was cozy. I might not have any idea what I was going to do next, but as I listened to the girls giggle and run about the house as they reacquainted themselves, I knew in my bones things would work out.
Putting the groceries away in the pantry and empty fridge, I headed to the room the girls would be sharing. It wasn’t much but two twin beds, a dresser, and a TV, but they loved it. When I aired out the room and put on new sheets, I could feel the pin prickle of excitement. I was doing it. It was weird, really, being so many miles away from home, yet I felt more like me than I had in years.
Once the rooms were settled and done up, we went to the backyard. Taking in the lush greenery that made up the landscaping of the small backyard, I liked there wasn’t too much to get into shape. Especially since the inside of the house would leave me with my hands full enough.
I sat in an old metal chair and pulled my feet up and my knees into my chest. I watched my girls dance and tumble around. Both were wearing smiles so bright they rivaled the sun above, and I knew I had made the right choice coming here.
Picking up the phone, I called Owen. More of my heart withered when he didn’t answer. “We made it to the house okay,” I started to tell his voicemail, “Girls and I are settled. I think… I think it would be best to give us a week off. Get our heads on straight, Owen. Really think what we want from one another and well… out of life. I’ll see you next Friday. Have a good week.” I quickly ended the call and stared at the phone.
What the hell did I just do?
I fought the urge to call him back and beg him to head up as soon as he could. But I couldn’t. The girls and I had left, and he couldn’t be bothered to answer my call. Swallowing down tears, I looked forward.
It’s going to be okay. It’s all going to be okay. I reminded myself over and over as I smiled and laughed with the girls throughout the rest of the day until the sun started to set. I called them over so we could go inside and cool off a little while they told me what they wanted on the pizza I was going to order.
Chapter Seven
Owen
“OWEN?” PAUL’S DEEP VOICE snapped him out of staring at the computer screen in front of him, his eyes slicing to his friend. “You okay?”
“Fine,” he lied and heard Paul grunt, obviously not believing him.
“You look like shit,” Paul gracefully pointed out, but he didn’t give a crap. He knew he didn’t look great. He looked how he felt. Like his world was crumbling around him.
“Thanks.”
“What’s going on?” Paul asked, as he sat his ass down on the chair across Owen’s desk.
“She left.” The words burned as he stared at the unanswered e-mails that stared back at him. He couldn’t get his mind to focus on anything but the silence that surrounded him.
“Like, forever?”
“Who the fuck knows,” Owen groaned, running his fingers through his hair. “She took the girls after school to the house in Santa Barbara yesterday.”
“They’re on summer vacation, right?” Paul dug deeper, and Owen frowned.
“How do you, the most single guy I know, know this?” he asked. He hadn’t even realized summer was around the corner, and he was the one who had kids.
“I have a niece, remember?” Paul pointed out. “In case you don’t remember, she goes to the same school as your girls.”
“Sorry,” he grunted, his head leaning back, resting against the back of his desk chair. “The house is too damn quiet,” he complained.
“It’s okay to miss them, Owen.”
“It doesn’t even matter. It’s over.” Speaking the words out loud made him sick to his stomach. His beautiful girl was gone and they were over.
How the hell is our marriage over?
“It’s not.” His friend chuckled; Owen wished he could be as positive.
“You didn’t see her.” He shook his head. “She wasn’t going to stay. No matter how much I asked her,” he shared as he ran his fingers through his hair again.
“Maybe a change of scenery is a good thing. What you guys need,” Paul suggested, breaking the silence that had started to fill the office.
“She called last night,” Owen shared, thinking if maybe he talked it out with Paul, he could get some kind of perspective of what the hell was going on in his life.
“Yeah?”
“Left me a damn voicemail.” He sighed. He had been in the shower when she’d called. His bag packed and ready to go first thing in the morning. “She wants us to think about what we want from life.”
“Okay…”
“She doesn’t want me to head up there for a week,” he went on, looking toward his friend. “A whole freaking week, Paul.”
“Okay, but—”
“A week, Paul,” he strained to point out. A whole fucking week.
“A week is nothing,” Paul dismissed, but Owen shook his head.
“We’ve never been
apart that long. But now, she’s sleeping in the guest room and leaving to stay the summer at a rundown, fixer-upper instead of our home. She’s done with me, man.” His hands rested at the top of his head, his face in a scowl. “I fucked it all up. How the hell did I fuck up?” His throat felt tight and his eyes burned, but he didn’t cry. He felt like a man drowning.
“You didn’t fuck anything up, Owen. Women simply think differently than we do.“
“No shit,” he grumbled and heard the bastard laugh as he turned to look out the window.
“Look, I’m far from a fucking expert. Hell, I don’t think I could get tied down the way you are. But, and this is a huge but, if I ever did, and I had a woman like Nadia by my side, and I was as stupid as your ass—”
“Hey.” He turned to face the man he had called a friend since residency.
“Okay, sorry. I’m not sorry.” Paul grinned. “Where was I?”
“If you had a woman like Nadia and found yourself where I am—”
“I’d beg,” Paul stated, crossing his leg over the other, a smug smile on his face.
“Beg?” Owen asked, blinking once. Then twice.
“Yeah. Beg.” He simply nodded, further confusing Owen.
“You think begging will help?”
“I think begging would be a great place to start. Reminding her of the reasons she fell in love with you and how they still exist wouldn’t hurt either.”
“I don’t—”
“Look.” Paul cleared his throat. “I might not have found my own Nadia, but that doesn’t mean I never had a ‘what if’, alright?” Paul confided, and Owen squinted. “If I had a chance… a real chance like you do right now, I sure as fuck wouldn’t screw around with a thumb up my ass while I threw myself a pity party.”
“I’m not sitting with my—”
“I’d be there. I don’t care if she made me sleep on the floor, or the couch, or in my damn car. I would be there. I’d show her I’m the kind of man she wants in a partner. The kind of man who would stand next to her in the hard times—”
“That’s the funny part, Paul.” He sighed. “The financially hard times are behind us,” he exclaimed. Paul shook his head. Something about the way his friend’s dark eyes settled on his own made him shut up and listen.
“What do you think she wants from you, Owen?” Paul asked, his voice serious.
“I don’t—”
“Money?”
“No.”
“She wants you. Time with you. Your presence—”
“It’s not as simple as—”
“It is,” Paul gritted, and the fire in his eyes caught Owen’s attention. “Hell, man. I’m the first to tell you, women are the complicated sex out of the two. But here and now, with this thing between you and Nadia, it is just that simple.”
Silence filled the office as Owen thought about what Paul had said. “Remind her of why she fell in love with me?” he asked out loud. Has she forgotten? Was he even the same guy?
“And show her you’re still that man. Unless you’re not. Then hell, show her who you are now and pray to God she wants him, too. You and Nadia have too much of a past to let this just flounder away. What you don’t do, is this,”—Paul pointed toward him—“this boo-who-is-me crap. You guys have two kids; she doesn’t need a grown-ass man baby adding to her plate. She needs a grown man by her side.”
Owen let Paul’s words settle long after his buddy left his office.
Remind her of why she fell in love with him in the first place? Show her who I am now. He could do that. He could show her how good they could be again. He would change. Not because she was making him, but because he wanted to be the best version of himself for her. He had always wanted to give that to her. He thought he had been by providing and giving her nothing but the best. But he had dropped the ball; thinking materialistic things were enough, he had stopped being there for her.
Be present.
He could do that.
But what if she didn’t want the man he was now?
Chapter Eight
Nadia
SETTLING INTO THE SMALL house had been a lot easier than I’d expected. I had just dropped the girls off at art camp for the day and was back in the house, a pen and notebook in hand.
Walking from room to room, I made notes of what each room needed. I measured everything I could think of. Then I decided what would take top priority. Stepping into the outdated and worn-out kitchen, I frowned. There weren’t enough YouTube and HGTV videos to help me out in that room. If I attempted to do this room on my own, I would definitely make it worse. I would just have to hire someone to come in and help. But overall, it would be okay.
The bedrooms and even the living room I could take care of myself. I was confident of it. Thanks to the original hardwood floors throughout the house, all the bedrooms really needed were some spackle here and there, a couple of gallons of paint, and some imaginative decor. I could do that. The kitchen and probably the two bathrooms, those were going to need professional help.
Just then, my phone rang. I grinned at the name on my screen.
“Shouldn’t you be, oh, I don’t know, on your third martini in the first-class lounge at the airport by now?” I asked, listening to my best friend’s laughter on the other end of the line.
“I should be, but I wanted to check in on you before I started to slur my words,” Simone replied with a clear smile in her voice.
“I’m fine. I told you. Nothing to worry about.”
“Has he called?” Simone asked, and my smile faltered.
“No. But I expected that. We both know what he’s like when he doesn’t get his way,” I reminded her.
“He will show up. Just wait and see.” I shook my head at my friend’s optimism.
“I wouldn’t hold my breath on that.” I hated how easily the words slipped out and how bitter they sounded, but I couldn’t get myself to take them back. They were true.
“Nadia—”
“I’m okay,” I reassured not only Simone but myself. “Girls and I will keep busy. I promise.”
“With day camps and home renovations?” Simone asked. My lips moved up.
“Yes. Though, I’m going to need to hire someone to help me with the kitchen and bathroom—”
“Check your email.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I know how outdated those rooms are, and I’m your best friend. And even though I can’t be there in person, I will help however I can,” she informed me, and my nose stung. My bestie always looked out for me.
“What did you do, Simone?”
“Got you the name and number of the best guy out there. He should be there any—” The doorbell rang, and I smiled fully. God, she was the best.
“Have I told you lately that I have the best best friend a girl could ever ask for?”
“You are just buttering me up so I bring you extra chocolate and French soap,” she retorted, and I laughed.
“You know me so well,” I teased, then sighed. “Be safe?”
“Always. Have fun!”
“I’ll try… and Simone?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“Thank you,“ I whispered, trying not to get emotional. The gratitude I felt towards having someone like Simone in my corner was overwhelmingly beautiful.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” my girl whispered back.
“Looking forward to it. Bye.”
“Bye.” The call ended and the doorbell rang again, and with a deep breath, I opened the front door.
A white tee shirt-encased chest met my sight line before I could get my eyes to travel north, meeting the rugged but kind face of very good-looking man.
“Nadia Daniels?” he asked, his voice deep. I nodded.
“Hi.”
“Simone called me last night about some work you needed to have done,“ he informed me, and I nodded again.
“I just hung up with her.” I smiled, extending my hand, shaking his. “Please come in.�
�
“I’m David Leon, by the way.”
“Hi, David, I’m Nadia.” I said, shaking my head. “You already knew that. Please come in.”
“I brought my portfolio. Simone said you could show me the rooms you want work done on, and I could whip you up an estimate.” Simone was a godsend.
“That sounds perfect, actually. Please, let’s take a seat and talk,” I suggested as I led him to the kitchen.
“I see what needs work,” David’s deep voice timbered, and I laughed.
“Yeah. The kitchen and two bathrooms,” I shared.
We sat at the small kitchenette, where he handed me a portfolio of previous jobs he had done. An hour later, I held an estimate for the work that would be done in my hand and had confidence that David could handle it. Feeling accomplished and with time to spare, I grabbed my purse, locked up the small house, and headed out to the coffee shop right next to where I would be picking up the girls.
Accidently leaving my cell phone behind.
Owen
“Hey, it’s me. Look, I get you wanted time away, but not answering my call, Nadia?” he huffed, running his fingers through his hair. “Call me. I just wanted to check on how the girls’ first day at camp went.” He hung up and stared at the phone.
There were so many other things he wanted to say but couldn’t seem to get the words out. So much he wanted to say to her. He just had no idea of where to start. A knock came to his office door and he looked toward it to see his boss and fellow college, Dr. Claudia Bernard, standing there with a smile and kind eyes.
“Heard you were in here.” She tilted her head.
“Come in.” He stood and sat back down once she was sitting in the chair across from his desk. “I’m guessing HR contacted you?”
“They did,” she answered with a nod. “Crazy assistants are never good.”
“I didn’t see it until it was too late,” he confessed, and Claudia smiled.
“Don’t worry about it. Believe it or not, I was going to talk to you about her. There were some red flags I kept noticing when I was around. But as odd as her behavior was, I never witnessed anything from your part that could have seemed like you were leading her on. You are always a consummate professional, Owen.”
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