Her Ex Next Door

by Beverly Farr

  Poor Phillip, she thought. Had he been too polite to say “no” to Miranda? Or had he been tempted by her fortune? He’d better look that prenuptial agreement over carefully, she thought. Miranda might marry him, but she wouldn’t part with a penny.

  She also thought of Derek who had foreseen this possibility from the beginning. You’d better keep an eye on your mother. If you’re not careful, she’s going to steal Phillip away from you.

  It was another example of his common sense that she seemed to have little of. He’d appreciate the humor of the situation, too. Not that she’d have the chance to tell him now.

  She still couldn’t believe it. Miranda marrying Phillip. Amazing.

  “Well?” Ms. Davis prompted.

  Ginny took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. “I hope they’ll be very happy together,” she said finally. They deserve each other.

  Ms. Davis’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “Will you attend the wedding?”

  The reporter seemed more like a friend now, and less of an adversary. Ginny asked, “Would you, if you were in my situation?”

  “No.”

  “Neither will I.”

  Ms. Davis smiled with approval. “On another note, there are rumors that you and Derek Landon are getting together again. Is that true?”

  Ginny shook her head. “No. That’s old news as well.”

  #

  When she got home, she noticed that Derek had called and left a voice mail on her house phone. For a minute her heart raced, praying that he was calling to give her another chance.

  “Hello Ginny,” he said, his voice sounding cool and composed. “I hope your foot is doing better. I’m calling to ask you to move your car from the front of my house. I’ve put the house up for sale and it will show better without your car blocking the view. Please take care of this matter. If you are unable to drive right now, I’ll have the car towed to your condo.”

  The message ended abruptly. No good-bye.

  He had hoped that her foot was better, but she was fooling herself if she thought that meant he still cared for her. He was merely being polite. The rest of the message, with its crisp, emotionless information told her what he felt.

  He was selling the house. Their house.

  He didn’t want anything around him that would remind him of her. He must hate her.

  #

  Derek was startled to see a limousine outside Miranda’s house Saturday morning. He was amazed when he saw Ginny, in her wedding dress, step into the car.

  She’d gone back to Phillip and was marrying him as planned.

  How could he let this happen?

  How could he stop her?

  Nine years before, he’d let her walk out of his life. It was the biggest mistake of his life. Was he now going to let her go without a fight?

  He dressed as quickly as possible and found his wedding invitation, with the church’s address.

  He was one of the first guests. An usher dutifully checked his invitation. “Friend of the bride or groom?”

  “Bride,” Derek answered. He sat on a pew and waited. He noticed a television crew in the back corner of the chapel.

  The church filled with guests, and finally the music started and Ginny entered, followed by a dozen bridesmaids. He couldn’t see her face because she was wearing a veil.

  Was this what Ginny really wanted, a circus wedding?

  The minister said, “If there is anyone who has objections to this wedding -- Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

  Derek stood. “I have an objection.”

  The crowd turned to stare at him in amazement.

  Ginny turned to face him, but it wasn’t Ginny. It was Miranda. Miranda was wearing Ginny’s wedding dress and was going to marry Phillip. “Derek!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing?”

  For a moment, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

  “Sorry,” he said, leaving the pew and exiting as quickly as possible. “My mistake.”

  One of the television camera crews followed him outside. “Mr. Landon –” the reporter began.

  “No comment,” he said firmly.

  #

  Happy is the bride that the sun shines upon, Ginny thought wryly as she looked at the beautiful June weather. She wondered how the guests would react when they learned that Miranda was the bride. No doubt they’d all have a good laugh, and Miranda would be the subject of another newspaper article – maybe a second television interview, too.

  She worked in her kitchen for a while, then dressed and ordered a taxi to take her to Derek’s house. She knew he might throw her out, but she had to try one last time to talk to him, to ask his forgiveness.

  The taxi driver helped her carry the plate covered with aluminum foil to Derek’s front door. “This smells good,” he said, raising it up to his nose. “What is it?”

  “Brownies.”

  Derek’s housekeeper answered the door. “Oh, Ms. Russell, Mr. Landon isn’t in. He left about an hour ago in a hurry and didn’t tell me where he was going or when he’d be back.”

  Ginny hesitated. She hadn’t considered the fact that he might not be home. “I’ll wait for him,” she said.

  The housekeeper took the plate of brownies to the kitchen, and Ginny waited in the living room.

  How could he give up this house? She thought, glancing from the stone fireplace, to the oriental rug, to the potted plants by the windows. It was a beautiful house.

  She sat, waiting for a few minutes, then decided she should follow the doctor’s orders, so she lay down on his couch, propping her left foot up. He needs an afghan or one of those lightweight fleece throws, she thought idly.

  “What are you doing here?” Derek’s voice was harsh.

  Ginny blinked, momentarily disoriented. He stood by the couch, staring down at her. She sat up, putting her hand to her forehead. She yawned. “I’m sorry. I must have dozed off.”

  “That still doesn’t answer my question.”

  She saw that he was dressed as if he were going to the office, wearing a dark blue suit and silk tie. He looked like the president of a billion dollar company should look -- strong, powerful and unyielding.

  Ginny said, “I came to talk to you.”

  “So talk.”

  She looked into his dark eyes. He wasn’t going to give her an inch. “Miranda was the one who started the second auction to sell the wedding invitation.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  The conversation was not going the way she had wished. She wanted to fling herself into his arms and cry, asking his forgiveness. “Of course you would know. It’s your company, after all. What I meant to say is that I’m sorry. I should have asked you if you had done it, instead of asking you why you did it.”

  “You have a habit of jumping to conclusions.”

  “Yes, I do. And I’m sorry.”

  “You’ve said that already. Is there anything else you want to say?” He watched her intently.

  I love you, but will you even listen? “You’re selling the house.”

  “Yes.”

  “But why? You love this house.”

  “I do, but I can’t live here any more.”

  “Why not? I won’t bother you, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’d like a few pictures for my portfolio, but I can schedule an appointment for some day when you’re not around....”

  “Don’t you understand?” he said harshly. “Even if you stay away, I can’t live here. Everything in this house reminds me of you.”

  Ginny felt as if she’d been slapped. “Do you hate me so much?”

  “Hate you?” He repeated stunned. “I don’t hate you. After our divorce I may have hated you for a while, but after a year or so, that faded into indifference.” The words seemed to spill out of him. “Out of sight, out of mind, I thought.”

  That’s what she’d thought, too. “And now?” she asked, afraid to hope.

  “It won’t change the way things are between us, but you might as well know. For year
s, I thought I had put the past behind me. I built up Midas, focusing on work and little else. I thought I was happy. But when I saw you again, I was thrown. All those feelings came back. I didn’t want to be attracted to you. I didn’t want to fall in love again. I thought that if I spent enough time with you, we’d fight, and I’d remember the bad times. Then I’d be able to let you go again.”

  She remembered his “have a nice life” comment.

  “But it was no good,” he said fiercely. “I was addicted to you, and the more I saw you, the more I wanted you back in my life.”

  She noticed his use of the past tense.

  “I put the invitation up for sale to get your attention. Then I blackmailed you into decorating my house. I pestered you, trying to get you to admit that you loved me and not Phillip.”

  “I was pretty stubborn, wasn’t it?”

  “I’ve never met such a stubborn woman.” He smiled sadly. “Every time I thought I was gaining ground, you’d bring out the big artillery and shoot me down. Then when you hurt your foot, I thought you might finally love me.”

  “I do love you,” she said quietly.

  “You think you do, but what’s love without trust?” He turned away. “I love you Ginny, but it’s not enough. One person isn’t enough to make a relationship work. I can’t spend the rest of my life trying to prove myself. Without trust, we’re right back where we were nine years ago. I can’t go through that again.”

  “Sit down,” she said, patting the cushion next to her. “Please. Let me explain.”

  He sat stiffly on the couch. He looked as if he were facing a firing squad.

  She took his hand in hers, and gazed deeply into his eyes, hoping that she could make him understand. “When you said I didn’t know what love is, you were right. I don’t know what it is. Everyone in my life who has said they love me, has let me down. My father, Miranda, each of my step-fathers.

  “So when the real thing - you - came along, I didn’t recognize it. I didn’t appreciate it. And I didn’t know what to do with it. I think that’s one of the reasons we fought so much.”

  He squeezed her fingers.

  Ginny struggled to keep her voice steady. “Deep down, I didn’t trust you. I was certain you were going to disappoint me like everyone else, so I tested you. I showed you all my faults, behaving at my very worst to see if you would still love me.”

  “And I failed the test.”

  “No, you didn’t fail it,” she said, bringing his hand up to her lips to kiss him. “I did. I’m the one that walked away. Maybe I thought it was better to hurt you first before you could hurt me. I don’t know.”

  “No, I failed when I didn’t come after you,” he said gently. “I should have begged you to return, Ginny. But I was too proud. I was so angry and offended that you thought I’d sell that necklace, I couldn’t think straight. I was too proud to beg.”

  Ginny looked him straight in the eyes. “I’m not too proud to beg. Give me another chance, Derek.”

  Without a word, he pulled her to him and kissed her, desperately. This was no flirtation or seduction, this was a man on the brink of an abyss, clinging to all he held dear. Ginny met him kiss for kiss, until she finally had to come up for air.

  “Does that mean you will?” she asked breathlessly.

  He nuzzled her neck. “Will what? I’ve forgotten the question.”

  His teasing tone melted her heart. “Will you give me another chance?”

  “If you’ll give me one, too,” he said seriously, and kissed her again.

  She promised herself she’d spend the rest of her life showing him how much she loved him.

  After a few minutes, he tugged on the chain around her neck. “I see you found your father’s necklace.”

  They sat comfortably together, his arms around her. She nodded. “It was in one of Miranda’s boxes. And you were right about that, too. It was a meaningless trinket, and I shouldn’t have let it split us apart.”

  “Then why are you wearing it?”

  “I’m wearing it to remind me to see things as they really are. And if necessary, I was going to ask you to sell it for me on Midas.”

  “What?”

  “I thought I’d get some private Midas lessons, like you gave Miranda.”

  Derek’s eyes twinkled with laughter. “But I got cookies from Miranda.”

  “And I brought brownies.” At his look of surprise, she added, “They’re in the kitchen.”

  He went to the kitchen and came back, carrying the plate. He was chewing his first mouthful. “These are good. Did you really make them?”

  She laughed at his doubt. “Yes. I told you I’d learned to cook.”

  “Maybe I will keep you -- after all,” he teased.

  “Even if you change your mind, I’m not leaving.”

  “Really?” He took another bite.

  “Really. I’m through running away. When we got divorced, it was because we had a fight, and I left. Last week, we had another fight, and I left.”

  “I said terrible things,” he interrupted. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, you were right,” she said quickly, “But it doesn’t matter who was right. The important thing is that I’m not leaving. I don’t care if we fight now and then, because I’m staying put. I’m not going anywhere.”

  He kissed her. He tasted like brownies. He asked, “What if I leave?”

  “Then I’ll be here when you get back. You’re going to have to physically throw me out to get rid of me. And somehow I don’t think you’re the kind of man to throw a cripple out on the street.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted with a hint of a smile. “That’s not fighting fair.”

  “No, but I’ll be off the crutches in five weeks.”

  “That soon? Then I can throw you out?”

  “If you want.”

  “I have a better idea. How about honeymoon, instead?”

  “Sounds nice,” she said, but the thought of honeymoons reminded her of Miranda. She frowned and twisted one of the buttons on his shirt. “Did you know Miranda married Phillip today?”

  “Yes. I found out this morning when I went to the church.”

  Ginny was startled. “What?”

  “I stood up in the middle of the ceremony to object.”

  She laughed. “Oh, no.”

  Derek laughed as well. “Miranda is going to have all the attention she ever wanted.”

  “What about you?”

  “They say even bad publicity is good publicity. Midas is going to be doing well this week.”

  He searched her face, trying to read her reaction. “Is that going to be a problem, to have them living next door? Because if it is a problem, we can move.”

  “And sell this beautiful house? Never!”

  “You won’t mind having Phillip as a neighbor?”

  Ginny considered the matter. “I don’t think so. They’re going on a cruise for six months, anyway. That will give me time to get used to the idea.”

  Derek nodded. “Six months should be enough time.”

  Ginny had a twinge of fear. Enough time for what – to know whether their marriage would last? Part of her still couldn’t believe that he really loved her, and that their love was enough to make a marriage last. Would he grow tired of her?

  “I should be able to bribe Crandall to work for us in that time,” Derek explained.

  Ginny laughed, relieved, but as she thought about what he’d said, one part of his story didn’t make sense. “If you were prepared to stop my wedding,” she said carefully, “why were you so unhappy when you found me asleep on your couch?”

  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I wasn’t unhappy; I was trying to take my cues from you. I didn’t know why you’d come -- if you’d merely come to pick up your car, or if there might be a chance for us. As for the wedding, I couldn’t let you marry Phillip, because if you married him, we wouldn’t have a chance. I’d have to give up all hope.”

  She said seriously, “D
erek, I’m afraid.”

  He held her close. “Of me?”

  “No, never you. I’m afraid of myself. I love you and I want things to work, but what if I fall into old habits and start jumping to conclusions again?”

  “I think we’ll both be on the lookout for that,” he said, punctuating his words with a kiss. “We’ll work together. When we have problems, we’ll talk about them. If one of us gets upset or offended, we’ll tell each other before it grows into a bigger problem.”

  She wanted to have as much faith as he had. “But what if I really don’t know what love is?”

  “Then I’ll teach you.”

  Ginny looked into his eyes. If anyone could teach her, he could. And she was ready to learn. She snuggled closer and held him tight, wanting to hold on to him forever. “It’s a deal.”

  EPILOGUE

  “Hey, sleepyhead. Wake up.”

  Ginny groaned. “Go away.”

  Derek pushed back her soft hair and kissed her ear. “That’s not a very nice thing to say to your husband who just fed your daughter.”

  Ginny opened one eyelid to look at him. “What time is it?” she asked sleepily.

  “Two thirty in the morning.”

  Ginny sat up, blinking. Gradually her eyes grew accustomed to the dim light in their bedroom. She yawned and stretched and pulled up the strap of her nightgown that had slipped down. “What did you say?”

  Derek laughed. “You wake up slower than any woman on earth, but I love the process.”

  “Is Sarah hungry?”

  “No, sweetheart, I already fed her.”

  “You gave her a bottle?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Then why did you wake me up?”

  Derek smiled a slow, lazy smile. “You tell me.”

  “Oh.” Ginny blushed, which made him laugh again.

  “After three years of married bliss, I think it’s amazing that I can still make you blush.”

  “And I’m amazed you still want to.” She snuggled next to him and kissed him. “I love you, Derek.”