by Kristen Lane
“I shouldn’t be trusted,” Julia mumbled.
“It happened. All you can do now is move forward. Have you talked to Dylan yet?”
“Yes, just now. We both thought it’d be best if they moved out.”
“I guess that makes sense. Sucks it has to be like this, though.”
“Everything about this sucks.”
Chapter 8
A week later, Julia stood on the front porch, watching the last of Dylan’s boxes get loaded into the truck. He’d decided to rent a place so that they could move out as quickly as possible.
The last week had been a stressful combination of avoiding each other and trying to be the best girlfriend possible to Evan. He was, of course, thrilled that Dylan was moving out. It seemed like things were going well with them again.
Dylan walked over to her and handed her his key. “Thanks again for everything.”
She nodded and stared at the key so he wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes. Kylee ran over and threw her arms around Julia’s waist.
“Can I come over tomorrow to do yoga?” she asked.
Julia and Dylan exchanged a sorrowful look.
“You’ll be in your new house tomorrow,” Julia said. “And you know what that means?”
Kylee shook her head.
“You’ll get to pick out your very own yoga spot. Pick a good one and you can practice there every day.”
“But I can’t do it by myself. You have to help me.”
Julia’s lip quivered and she swallowed hard.
“I’ll help you,” Dylan said. “We’ll get some videos and we can start doing it together, okay?”
“Okay.” Kylee let her arms drop. “But when do I get to play with Julia again?”
“I don’t know,” Dylan said. “We’ll plan something later, okay?”
“For tomorrow?” Kylee asked.
“We’ll see.”
“See you tomorrow!” Kylee hugged Julia again and hopped off to the truck.
She met Dylan’s eyes and held them for the first time all week. “See you at work, I guess.”
“Yeah, sure.” He ran his fingers through his hair and opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. “I’ll see you.”
He stepped off the porch and she went inside so she wouldn’t have to watch them drive away.
Her dinner with Evan that night was the perfect thing to take her mind off Dylan. She had almost forgotten the date, but today was the one-year anniversary of their first date. She wondered if, since he had planned to take her to a nicer than normal restaurant, he was planning to propose after all. Only now she wasn’t sure she should say yes. How could she marry him knowing what she’d done?
He picked her up right at seven and they drove in pleasant conversation until they reached the restaurant. He didn’t seem nervous and wasn’t acting strange. Maybe she’d get lucky and he wouldn’t propose. At least not until she knew what her answer would be.
They ordered their food and he smiled at her when the waitress walked away. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I think I’m still just a little tired from being sick.” It wasn’t a full lie, but it seemed like such a little lie that it wouldn’t matter.
“Dylan moved out today?”
“He did.”
“Good.”
“It’ll be good for him to have his own place again, I’m sure. Now that his life is starting to get back to normal.”
“I’m just glad he won’t be seeing you in your underwear anymore.”
“What?!” She couldn’t help but blush. The last time Dylan had been anywhere near her underwear, he’d been kissing her and touching her. “He never saw me in my underwear.”
“Right.”
“Evan. He never did.”
“And now he never will.”
“Why would you even think that?”
“You lived with the guy. It was bound to happen. I’m sure he peaked on a few occasions. It’s what guys do.”
“I’m sure he didn’t.”
Evan chuckled. “Jules. What single, straight man moves in with two young women and doesn’t hope to catch them naked by ‘accident?’” He made air quotes around the word.
“I really don’t think he’s like that. He only moved in because he was desperate.”
“Don’t remind me.” Evan shook his head. “Really. He was out of work for months? In all that time, he couldn’t manage to get some kind of job? What loser can’t get a decent job in a matter of weeks? There are always places hiring.”
“Evan, stop. You’re being a jerk. He’s a surgeon. It’s not like there are a ton of jobs out there for his position.”
“Then he should have thought of that before he got himself fired.”
Julia clenched her jaw and looked away.
“Oh sorry,” Evan said. “I know how much he means to you. Guess I shouldn’t insult him.”
“What is wrong with you?” she hissed. “Obviously you’re jealous, but you really need to stop. He moved out. You have nothing to worry about.”
“You still see him at work every day.”
“So?”
“So, I wish he would just go away.”
“You know what? Right now, I wish you would go away.”
They glared at each other and, in the tense silence between them, the waitress brought their food. Julia started eating, using it as an excuse to keep up the silence. But Evan raised his hand and snapped his fingers at the waitress.
“This isn’t right,” he said to her. “I clearly said no tomatoes, and what are these?”
“I’m very sorry. I’ll have it fixed for you.” The waitress picked up the plate and smiled apologetically.
Evan shook his head. “How hard is this job? And you can’t even manage to do it well.”
“Evan!” Julia set her fork down and turned to the waitress. “I am so sorry.”
“I’ll get it fixed right away.” She hurried away with his plate.
“That was completely uncalled for,” Julia said.
“Yes, it was. The way you defended her and made me look like a fool? Not something a wife should do.”
“Good thing I’m not your wife then.”
He harrumphed. Then he reached into his jacket pocket and took out a small box. He set it on the table. “Guess I won’t need this.”
Julia stared at the black velvet box. So he was going to propose. She thought of all the times they’d dreamed of their future, the things they wanted, their two kids and house in the suburbs. She was no longer hungry. His behavior in the last weeks had not only worried and scared her, but had made her doubt him so fully that when she thought of their future now, the picture changed.
What happened when something broke in their house and the repairman didn’t fix it right? Would he lash out like he had at the waitress? Or the next time someone came along that he grew jealous over? Did she really want a life like that?
“Evan. It’s been a great year. If you would have asked me a month ago, I would have been thrilled to marry you. But I can’t do this. Your jealousy and anger are too much. And I should tell you that I have feelings for Dylan. And I kissed him. I’m sorry. I can’t marry you.”
He stared at her, his mouth hanging open. Clearly, he’d expected a different reaction. Then his face hardened. “I guess my jealously was called for, wasn’t it? And I never asked you to marry me.” He snatched the box and shoved it in his jacket. Then he got up and walked away.
The waitress returned with a new plate. She looked relieved that Evan was missing and smiled at Julia, looking so worried and apologetic that Julia wanted to hug her.
“Thank you so much. And I’m sorry about him. He’s having a bad night.”
The waitress nodded and rushed away.
Julia waited. She thought maybe he went to the bathroom. But after fifteen minutes, she knew he wasn’t returning.
She got boxes for the food, paid with an enormous tip, and called Alyssa to come pick her up.
&
nbsp; After she’d recounted the entire horrible evening, they curled up on the couch together with a carton of ice cream and watched Gilmore Girls episodes until Julia stopped crying.
Chapter 9
She looked for him. Every day, she let her gaze fall from face to face, hoping she’d pass him in the hall. She watched her daily assignments, hoping he’d chose her for his team. But somehow, Dylan had all but vanished. She saw his name on the surgery lists, but she was never assigned to him. Was he purposefully avoiding her?
After three weeks, she was fed up. She missed him and was sick of crying over Evan. She checked the schedule for the day and waited outside the operating room where he was performing an emergency appendectomy. When he came out of the room, she called out to him. He saw her and waved, but kept walking.
“Dylan! Wait!” She caught up to him in a few steps and matched his fast pace.
“Hey,” he said, and kept his eyes forward as he walked.
“Are you avoiding me? I haven’t seen you in weeks.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Yeah, but we haven’t been on any surgeries together, and I haven’t even passed you in the hall.”
“I figured it’d be better that way.”
“Well, it’s not.”
He kept walking and not looking at her.
“Dylan, stop.”
He paused and turned to her. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”
He walked away and she stood there, watching. The hall was deserted and the bright sunlight coming through the windows seemed to say this day was too cheerful to fail. She took a deep breath and called after him.
“I broke up with Evan. The night you moved out.”
He stopped. She held her breath, waiting. Finally, he turned, but he didn’t walk back to her. The fifty feet that parted them felt like miles.
“Why?” he asked.
“He’s a jerk. And I’m in love with you.”
He crossed his arms and pulled his lower lip into his mouth. She was dying to know what he was thinking in that moment. Maybe he didn’t want her after all.
What felt like hours later, he walked slowly to her and stopped several feet away.
“After Melanie died, I decided that I would never marry again. I would focus on Kylee and being her dad and that was it. I didn’t want to get over my wife. I’d vowed to love her forever and just because she’s gone, that didn’t mean I had to stop loving her.”
Julia nodded, but sorrow crept over her heart, threatening to suffocate it.
“Then I moved in with you. It was cramped and awful and I felt like we were in the way the whole time. It was obvious you didn’t want us there.”
“No, I just—”
He held up a hand to stop her. “But then one morning, you did yoga with Kylee. You didn’t know I was watching you, but I was. And I saw in your actions something I never thought I’d find again.”
Julia pulled her eyebrows together. She remembered that morning. She’d knocked over the lamp and been frustrated with Kylee falling into her, but watching the determination on the six-year-old’s face had softened her and made her want to help her succeed.
“Over the months, I saw someone who could treat my child like her own, who could care for her like her own mother had. And not only that, but someone who my daughter loves as much as I do.”
Julia’s breath caught at his words. The dark cloud over her heart vanished.
“When we left and didn’t have you around anymore, it was like someone dying all over again. Kylee has been miserable missing you, and I’ve been miserable, too. But you were with Evan, and I didn’t want to mess that up for you. But, if you’re saying it’s over, really over, then…”
She took a long step toward him. “It’s really over. It’s been over for weeks.”
He took two steps and was close enough to wrap her in his arms. They embraced, then let their mouths come together. When their lips finally parted, he whispered in her ear, “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she said. “And I’m kinda wishing you never moved out.”
“Our new place has plenty of room.” He laughed and pulled her into a tight hug. “We even got a few yoga mats and have enough room to do all the stretches in the living room. Though, to be honest, I’m terrible at it.”
She chuckled. “I guess the three of us will have to do it together, then.”
“I’d love that, and so would Kylee. She really does miss you.”
“And I miss her. It’s not the same without her giggles filling the house.”
“Julia.” He brushed the hair from her face and kissed her. “Thank you for showing me I could love again.”
“Thank you for letting me.”
Bonus Book 2
Secrets of
the Rich and Famous
© Copyright 2016 by FamiMK Media & Publishing, LLC - All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Conclusion
Introduction
Maria heard the familiar sound of her apartment’s front buzzer, but still the noise startled her. She certainly wasn’t expecting any company at this time of night and whoever it was wouldn’t lay off the buzzer’s button, ringing it frantically. Maria rushed to the window to see who it could be and to also scold them for almost waking up the baby. By the time she got it open however, the person had gone. It could also just have been the fancy intercom system in her state of the art apartment building on the fritz again; she swore that for an expensive and high tech building it had more problems than the old dilapidated building she used to call home. Nonetheless, it gave Maria a case of the chills. She didn’t have much time to dwell on the phantom bell ringer and cursed under her breath as she could hear her infant daughter begin to fuss and cry in the next room.
She was accustomed to having but one visitor to her apartment, very few people even knew where she lived and she had only recently moved there. Her new digs were courtesy of her love interest, who spared no expense to make sure that Maria had the best of
the best. He had forbidden her from talking about him to anyone or even using his real name while they were together, so Maria lovingly gave him the nickname Ritchie Rich. She now rocked her beautiful four month old daughter Rosalina in a state of the art and beautifully decorated nursery, also paid for by Sir Ritchie Rich.
Although she had anything she could ever ask for or need at her fingertips, being a new parent was difficult work and by Rosalina’s last nighttime feeding Maria found herself exhausted and unable to keep her eyelids open any longer. She sprawled out on her brand new king size bed and under her five hundred thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, reflecting on how wonderful her life had become and falling asleep with a broad smile on her face.
Chapter 1
Michael Lavine slammed his cell phone down on his kitchen counter, feeling exasperated and tired. It was his fifth and final attempt at phoning the babysitter, who as she did often decided not to show up to work or bother to answer her phone. Michael cursed out loud, angrily tossing his coffee mug in the sink and feeling no better as he watched it shatter into several pieces. It wasn’t until he saw Liam’s small brown eyes, wide with fear and watching him from the hallway that he felt remorse for his outburst. He couldn’t believe how silently that boy could creep around like he was a little mouse. Michael had no idea how Linda had been able to keep track of Liam all the time, in a house that felt too big now with just the two of them.
Five months ago Michael would have never stopped to ponder little things like his son’s small footsteps. Hell, in the two short years that Liam had been alive Michael barely knew his son at all. Michael had to admit that he hadn’t always been a good father or husband; actually he knew he had been horrible at both. He also knew that dwelling on his shortcomings and past mistakes wouldn’t change anything, but that didn’t make the realization that he was the sole person to blame for his family falling apart any easier to bare.