Dane

by Leddy Harper

  Janette came to my office just before five, needing to go over a few things. Apparently, the story of my arrest had disappeared, the public had moved on to more important news. And people were no longer concerned with my ability to do business. She asked how things were with Gabi, and then offered a comforting smile when I explained how we’d ended it.

  “Have you talked at all to Eden?” I asked before she got up to leave.

  She froze for a moment, and that was enough of a reaction to answer my question. She must’ve known she couldn’t lie, because she settled into the chair. “I saw her in the hall yesterday and spoke to her for a few minutes, but she was busy so I let her go. I finally gave in and went to her office before she left.”

  “And…?”

  “I started off by telling her my story. I could tell she was a little taken aback by my forwardness, but she sat there and listened. Once I got to the part about having to give my baby up for adoption, and not knowing if it was a boy or girl, she seemed to understand where I was going with it. But don’t worry, I didn’t tell her I’d asked you. All I said was that you’d mentioned she was adopted, and I was able to figure out the rest.”

  “And how did she take it? How was she?” My questions were rushed and frantic. “She sent me a text last night saying she wouldn’t be in today. Was she upset when you left her?”

  “She didn’t seem to be. We had dinner last night to talk about everything, and she seemed accepting of it all. She told me all about her childhood, her brother, how she found me. Then we talked about Trevor and Landon. I got a little choked up when she referred to them as her brothers. But when we left the restaurant, she didn’t seem upset. Maybe a little overwhelmed. She probably just needed to take a day to absorb everything. I wouldn’t think too much about it or let it bother you.”

  I ran my hands over my face and took a moment to calm down. “Things have just been so weird between us. She’s been so distant, and I don’t know how to handle it. I don’t want to lose her. I love her, and I need her to know that without me pointing out everything I’ve done for her.”

  “What all have you done?”

  “I bought a house.”

  “For her?” Janette’s eyes widened and she moved to the edge of her seat.

  “Not really. Kind of. I mean, it was for me. I needed out of that condo, put it all behind me. But yes, when I went looking at houses, and then found the one I bought, I had her in mind. I wanted a place we could call our own. Something we could raise a family in.”

  “And she doesn’t know?”

  I shook my head, but decided to explain. “She wanted me to take some time to figure out who I am and do things for myself. That’s what I have been doing, but also with her in mind. If I tell her these things, she’ll think I did them all for her. She won’t believe that I’ve done what she’s asked of me. I was hoping I could just wait for her to come to me, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Ever since last Friday, she’s been pulling away from me.”

  “And you’ve let her know you’re still interested in her?” The way she asked led me to question if she knew more than she was letting on, but I ignored it, hoping I’d be able to learn the truth through this conversation instead of pressing her for information.

  “I might’ve said some things that could’ve maybe given her the idea that I’d given up. But I tried to reach out to her last night to let her know I hadn’t. After she texted me about not being in today, I tried calling her. I sent her more texts, making it very obvious what I wanted.”

  “Just give her time, Dane. As much as you’ve had on your plate this last month, so has she. Think about it…she’s had to watch you play the role of someone else’s hero. Whether she understands or not doesn’t matter. No woman wants to sit by and watch her man strap on a cape and fly off to save another woman—especially another woman with a lifetime of history with the man she loves.”

  “Did she tell you this?”

  “She didn’t have to. I’m a woman. I know how we operate.” She winked at me and stood with a smile. “Everything will work out, Dane. You were right when you said she has abandonment issues, and those fears don’t go away overnight. Trust her, and in turn, she’ll trust you.”

  Her words rolled through my head on repeat long after Janette left my office. She hadn’t told me anything I didn’t already know, but just hearing someone else say them changed everything. She was right…I couldn’t expect Eden to trust me if I didn’t show her the same respect. I started to feel more secure in the prospect of eventually having Eden by my side.

  Until I checked my email.

  Preparing to shut down my computer for the weekend, I happened to see I had an email from the HR department. As soon as I opened it, my stomach flipped. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I’d never felt the weight of defeat like this before. It was completely debilitating.

  Displayed on the screen in front of me was notice of resignation for Eden Clare.

  Effective immediately.

  25

  I must’ve dialed Eden’s number a hundred times, but she never answered. In fact, it never even rang. It went straight to voicemail as if she’d blocked my calls. I sent her a dozen messages. Rather than the standard “delivered” or “read” message beneath the text, it was blank.

  Eden had officially cut me out of her life.

  I didn’t want to go home and be surrounded by the reminders of my failures. So I decided to head straight to the bar from work. I found myself at the same table I sat at the night I met Eden, for the same reasons as before—not wanting to go home. Only this time, I wasn’t in need of an escape from the person at home waiting for me. It was because the one person I truly wanted to be there never would. And that was something I wasn’t ready to accept yet.

  It was funny how everything seemed to come full circle.

  Except I was the one on the outside.

  While sitting at the sports bar, I continued to try to get ahold of Eden. Nothing worked, and eventually, I propped my elbows on the table and dropped my head into my hands. I knew there had to have been a solution, but I couldn’t find one.

  “Mind if I join you?” Someone sat down on the stool on the other side of the table.

  I glanced up and just stared. She had long red hair, but it wasn’t the same. Her eyes were dark, but even under the dim lighting, I could tell they were brown, nothing special about them. Her lips were colored pink, not red. And they didn’t have the same fullness as the set I couldn’t get out of my head. Nothing about this woman was right. She was all wrong. Because she wasn’t Eden.

  “Actually, I do mind.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Are you expecting someone?” She seemed genuinely apologetic, but it didn’t matter.

  “No. I just want to be alone.”

  Her dull, brown eyes narrowed and she tilted her head slightly. “Having a bad day? Wanna talk about it? I’m a nail tech, so I’m used to listening to people’s problems. I’ve been told I’m a good listener.”

  I couldn’t help but feel like the universe was playing some kind of cruel joke on me.

  “Hi, I’m Amanda,” she said as she extended her hand across the table. In the process of invading my privacy, she knocked over my pitcher of beer, spilling the contents all over the table, into my lap, while soaking my phone in the process. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry. Here, let me help you clean that up.”

  “No need. I was about done anyway.” I wanted to yell at her, curse her for being so careless, but I just didn’t have it in me. It was obviously a mistake, and I could tell she felt horrible about it. Not to mention, I was sure this was God’s way of forcing me to leave Eden alone…at least until my phone dried up. I took it as a sign, wished her a good evening, and drove home.

  I’d spent all week looking forward to the first day I got to pull into the garage of my new home, but now that I had, I couldn’t find any joy in it. I dragged myself inside and immediately headed for the shower, needing to get rid of the st
ench of beer. I wanted to stay under the hot spray longer, waste time before I could crawl under the covers and give up on the day, but I knew it’d do no good.

  No matter how much water I wasted, I’d still get out to an empty house.

  With only a pair of gym shorts on, I grabbed a beer and headed down to the dock. It was the only place I felt connected to Eden, which was humorous considering she’d never even seen it, but I was hoping it’d offer a little bit of clarity. The moon wasn’t out, making it hard to see in the dark, so I watched my steps as I made it down the wooden pathway. As soon as I got to the dock, I glanced up, hoping there would be enough light to at least see the water. But instead of a dark lake, I found someone standing in front of me, facing me, hands twisted in front of her.

  I froze. Unable to do anything other than stare.

  “Why did you buy this house?” she asked, taking a step closer when she realized I’d stopped moving.

  I glanced over my shoulder, as if for some reason I needed to clarify which house she meant. “My realtor showed it to me and I liked it. So I bought it.”

  “But why this house?”

  Still stunned at her presence, I could only open my mouth and answer her. “The dock. This right here. It reminded me of you. Of the pier. Of us. And I’d hoped that one day we’d be able to make this ours like we had the one at the beach.”

  “You didn’t have any other reason to buy it?”

  I waited until she stood only a foot away from me and then cocked my head to the side. “No. Why?”

  “So you had no idea this was the house I wanted?”

  I blinked at her a few times, my sight already adjusted to the darkness. As if seeing her here wasn’t enough of a shock, I was completely stunned by hearing her say this was the house she’d told me she’d cry over if she couldn’t get it. The one I’d bought with her in mind. The one I’d pictured raising a family in with her. “This house?”

  “Yeah. I had no idea you’d even bought a house. I thought you were just getting new furniture for your condo. But when I went there to talk to you, I was told you’d moved. They wouldn’t give me your new address so I had to call Janette to get it from her.” She took my hand and linked her fingers with mine. “Imagine my surprise when I drove up and realized it was the same house I’d looked at and tried to buy.”

  I withdrew my hand from hers and moved to the railing along the side of the dock. I set the bottle of beer along the ledge and leaned forward. When she moved to stand next to me, I turned my head to face her and blurted out, “You resigned.”

  Her head dropped forward and she took a deep breath before locking her gaze on mine again. “You weren’t supposed to know that until we talked. That’s why I didn’t give it to you.”

  “Then maybe you should’ve talked to me about it first. It would’ve been a bitter pill to swallow either way, but at least it would’ve gone down easier hearing it from you instead of receiving an email from HR.” I stood up straight and squared my shoulders. “Effective immediately?”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. It’s why I came here. Did you not get my text?”

  “What text? I’ve tried all night to reach you but your phone kept going to voicemail and my texts weren’t being delivered. I haven’t gotten anything from you.”

  “My phone was dead. I was out of the house and didn’t have a charger with me. I got your messages, though. And then I sent you one. About half an hour ago. On my way here.”

  I shook my head, not believing my luck. “No. Someone knocked over my pitcher of beer and it spilled on my phone. It’s not working. What did your message say?”

  “Pitcher of beer? Where did you go?”

  “I went to the bar. The one where we first met. I was upset and didn’t want to come home, but it proved to be a waste of time. What did your text say?” I asked again, with a little more impatience this time.

  She took my face in her hands and forced me to look into her eyes. That one act alone seemed to calm the storm raging inside me. My pulse began to slow and my breathing became easier, making it possible to catch the scent of gardenia. “Yes.”

  I was confused and waited for her to say more, but she never did. “Yes? Yes what?”

  “Yes to all your questions.”

  Pulling away, I squinted at her. “What questions?”

  “The ones you texted me with.”

  I shook my head, still confused. “I’m not following, Eden. The only things I remember asking you tonight is where you were and why you decided to quit. ‘Yes’ doesn’t answer any of those.”

  “No, Dane.” Her chest began to heave and I could tell she was getting nervous, unable to control her breathing. “Not your questions from tonight. The ones you’ve been bombarding me with over the last couple of weeks. The ones you asked me again last night.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Rather than give her a chance to correct me, tell me I was wrong and had misunderstood her, I grabbed her face and claimed her mouth with mine. She immediately held onto my sides and yanked my body closer. That one action alone was enough to give me solace that I hadn’t been wrong. That I hadn’t misunderstood the meaning of her answer.

  Leaning back to catch her breath, she began to giggle and tucked her chin closer to her chest. “Are we crazy? This is insane, isn’t it? I mean, we’ve technically only been together for one night. Are we nuts for doing this?”

  I picked her up and set her on the railing before moving to stand between her legs. My mouth hovered close to hers while I said, “Stop talking. You can’t take it back now. You can’t change your mind. Stop second guessing it.”

  “I’m being serious, Dane. I’m not changing my mind or taking it back.” She had her hands pressed to my bare chest, keeping me at enough distance to look into my eyes as she spoke. “I only want to make sure this is the right thing and we’re not being impulsive. It didn’t become real until just now. I knew what I was saying when I told you yes, but now it hit me.”

  “When did you decide to resign?”

  “This afternoon. I was at the beach, at our pier, and then headed straight to the office to give my resignation to HR.”

  “Why? I mean…why did you do it? Why quit if you wanted to be with me?”

  “Because you said I can’t be your assistant and be with you at the same time.”

  I kissed her again, slow and thorough this time. “I love you, Eden.” The rush of saying those words to her was exhilarating. “I’m so damn in love with you.”

  “I know,” she said with a smile. “I told you that when you were, I’d know it.”

  “When did you know?”

  “Shortly after I realized I’m in love with you, too. Thinking of you choosing a couch and tables meant for a bachelor pad made me realize how much I desperately wanted you to pick the ones meant for a family. And then I thought about you as a family man with someone else, and I couldn’t handle it. That’s when I knew I was in love with you. But I didn’t know what to do about it, because I didn’t know how you felt. Then, on Thursday, the furniture store called the office looking for you. They were calling to confirm the delivery. I knew I shouldn’t have, but I needed to know, so I asked which items they had on the truck. They told me, confirming they were all the pieces I’d picked.”

  She wiped away a tear I hadn’t even known had fallen.

  “You chose me, Dane. Knowing you picked out and bought every piece I’d chosen proved to me that you chose me. You chose the family man, chose the couch and tables and entertainment center that I had liked. That’s when I knew how you truly felt.”

  “Then why did you disappear? Why didn’t you come to work today?”

  She shrugged and looked to her lap, but I wouldn’t let her turn away from me. I placed my finger beneath her chin and made her look me in the eye.

  “I was excited to come to you, to tell you how I felt, but then Janette came to my office to talk to me.” Her glossy eyes met mine. “I know you know. Y
ou don’t have to act surprised. I don’t know how you figured it out, but I’m kind of glad you did. I’m glad she did. We talked…a lot, and even though it was good, it kind of overwhelmed me. On top of my feelings for you, discovering your feelings for me, I then had to organize my thoughts and feelings about Janette knowing she’s my mom. I needed space to sort it all out.”

  “And you have it all sorted now?”

  “Yes. When I left the pier to turn in my resignation, I knew without a doubt I wanted to be with you. When I found out you’d moved, that’s when I knew the answer to your questions. It was one thing when I discovered you’d ordered the furniture, but it was another thing entirely when I realized it wasn’t for the condo you’d shared with Gabi. However…nothing solidified my decision more than finding out you were the one who bought the house I wanted, and you did it without knowing.”

  “Say you love me,” I whispered against her lips with my eyes closed.

  “I love you, Dane.”

  I held her against me and kissed her as if it were the first time. As if the act of kissing had been undiscovered until this moment. Until my lips met hers. Because no one had ever kissed like this. No one had ever felt this much joy, relief, or passion before. This kind of love was what everyone else strived for, and I’d found it with Eden.

  I dragged her off the ledge, and with her legs and arms wound tightly around me, I carried her inside. I didn’t stop until I’d made it to the bedroom, where I laid her gently on top of the mattress and held myself over her. I stared into her emerald pools and allowed myself this one moment to take it all in.

  Slowly, she slid her hands up my chest to cup my face. It was enough to push me into action. To wake me up so I could see this wasn’t a dream. This was real. Eden was in my arms, in my bed, in love with me. And I’d never let her go again.