Or had he played his cards all wrong and would now pay the price?
* * *
Holly found Madison sitting in her car, fuming. Can’t say I’d feel any different if I were in her shoes and had just seen the man who broke my heart, she thought.
She opened the passenger door and got in. “There was no way I could have known that Anderson was your ex,” she said. “He never told me he was once engaged.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Madison rolled her eyes. “He’s a player and he’s been playing you just like he played me—for an idiot!”
Holly was inclined to agree with her, but still wanted to give Anderson the benefit of the doubt that what they had was real. Or did he only see them as a romance-for-the-moment type of thing, in spite of his smooth words and passionate actions to the contrary?
“Let’s talk about this,” Holly said. “There’s a coffee shop right around the corner.”
Madison wiped away a tear that had stained her cheek. “Whatever.”
Holly took that as a yes and got out of the car. She watched as Madison did the same, and wondered how they would get through this, if at all.
Minutes later, they were seated at a window table.
Holly wasn’t sure where to start. Or, for that matter, what this unexpected turn of events meant for the future. She was still trying to get used to the idea of Madison and Anderson once being romantically involved.
“I can’t imagine what you were thinking when you walked into my house and saw him,” Holly said awkwardly. What would I have thought?
“You don’t want to know,” Madison said, stone-faced. “I honestly never thought I’d ever lay eyes on Anderson again.”
“Where did you two meet?” Holly asked.
“At a club in town,” Madison said, sipping coffee. “It was like instant sparks that quickly turned into a wildfire—especially in bed.”
A flash of jealousy passed over Holly as she thought about the two of them having sex. She couldn’t help herself, given her recent sexual relationship with Anderson. Could he have ever been thinking about Madison when they were in bed together?
Holly gazed at her friend across the table. “And how long were you two together when he asked you to marry him?”
“Five months,” Madison said. “At first I was like, but we haven’t known each other long enough. But he insisted that we did and that he loved me and wanted me to be his wife. So I said yes.”
“And then what?” Holly asked, feeling as if she needed to hear all the details.
“Then we made plans to get married. I picked out my dress, had the bridesmaids, the church, the reception—the whole thing was planned and set to go.” Madison paused and sucked in a deep breath. “Then out of nowhere, just two weeks before I was to become his wife, Anderson called and told me it was off. No real explanation. No apology. No nothing! I was left to try and explain the unexplainable to everyone.”
Holly could hardly believe that the man who had become her boyfriend would lead another woman along like that. It was almost like a real-life Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. How could he be so cruel?
Madison’s eyes narrowed. “Now it’s like my worst nightmare and humiliation has suddenly rematerialized, posing as your man.”
“I’m so sorry about this,” Holly said. She wasn’t sure if she meant she was sorry about what had happened between Madison and Anderson, or the fact that she was now dating him, or both.
“Me too. But that won’t make the pain go away. Or lessen the impact of seeing him with you now.”
Holly sipped her drink thoughtfully. “I know how weird that seems.”
“I don’t think you do,” Madison said. “How would you feel if one of your girlfriends was sleeping with the enemy?”
“That’s not fair,” she insisted. “Had I known that you and Anderson had a history when I met him, I would never have let it go any further.”
“It never occurred to me that I needed to give every detail about Anderson to keep someone I called a friend away from him. And evidently he thought it best to keep his dirty little secret to himself.”
Holly sighed, feeling as if she had been placed in the middle of a war that was still going on. It was clear that she would not be able to resolve it all by herself with just a talk at a coffee shop. Not without Anderson there to give his side of the story.
Holly looked Madison in the eyes. “I don’t want what happened between you and Anderson to affect our friendship.”
Madison shot her a cold stare. “Well, I guess that will be up to you.”
Holly got the message loud and clear. She would have to choose one or the other. And now that she saw Anderson from a whole new perspective, it didn’t appear as though her choice would be too difficult.
Chapter 12
Holly wasn’t sure if Anderson would still be at her house when she returned. But there he was, sprawled out on the couch, staring into space as if he had nothing better to do.
“You’re still here?” she asked.
“Yeah, I wasn’t going anywhere,” he said glumly, looking up at Holly. “Did you talk to her?”
“Yes, and she had a lot to say.” Holly crossed her arms. She was tempted to sit beside him, but decided to remain standing.
Anderson had no illusions about the ugly picture Madison had undoubtedly painted of him. All he could do now was try to defend himself and hope it was enough. “I’m sorry this went down the way it did.”
“I’m not really interested in your apologies,” Holly said, glaring at him. “Why didn’t you tell me you were once engaged?”
He rubbed his chin. “I told you there was someone in my past and that I made some mistakes then.”
“That’s not a good enough answer.”
He sighed. “Because it was over and done with,” he said flatly. “And it wasn’t exactly the type of thing you share with someone you’re romantically involved with.”
“I had a right to know before things got too serious between us.”
“It had nothing to do with us.”
“But it had everything to do with Madison. Why on earth would you pull a stunt like that?”
“It wasn’t a stunt,” he said. “I just decided I wasn’t ready for marriage at that time and did what I needed to do.”
Holly locked eyes with him. “Why lead her on if you had no intention of marrying her?”
“I had every intention of marrying her,” Anderson said. “But then I had second thoughts.”
“You mean you got cold feet?”
“Something like that.” He stood up. “It wasn’t as simple as that—”
“Nothing ever is.” She purposely kept some distance between them. If he thought for one moment that he could sweet-talk her, he was wrong. “That doesn’t excuse your behavior. What type of man calls his fiancée on the phone to call off a wedding? That was really classy.”
“I admit it’s not one of my proudest moments. But at the time, I didn’t know how else to tell her without making things even worse.”
“I don’t think things could have gotten any worse for Madison than finding out that the man she loved and was supposed to marry in two weeks turned out to be a total jerk.”
“I am not a jerk,” he said. “And I’m not perfect either. I made a mistake with Madison and I’ve regretted it ever since.” He moved close to Holly and was glad to see that she didn’t back away. “The one thing I’ve never regretted was meeting you.”
Anderson ran his hand down the side of Holly’s face and for a moment, she nearly gave in to its strength and warmth. But she was not about to dismiss this as merely an error in judgment. Didn’t history have a way of repeating itself?
“Did you ever love Madison?” she asked.
“Yes, at one time
.”
“Were you in love with her when you pulled out of the marriage you asked for?”
Anderson shifted his eyes away from Holly’s and then back again. “I loved her, but I was no longer in love with her.”
Holly felt even more unsettled with his answer. Just how exactly did he define love and in love? And which way did he feel about her?
Sensing precisely what was going on in her head, Anderson said, “I’m in love with you, and I know the difference.”
“Do you really?” she asked skeptically.
“Yeah, I do.”
“When we made love, were you ever thinking about Madison?” Holly understood that a past relationship that had nearly turned into marriage must have had a strong sexual connection. She hated to think that he was comparing the two of them.
“I swear to you that I have never thought about her or any other woman when we’ve been intimate,” Anderson said. “You’ve been more than enough to be my sole preoccupation.”
“Why do I feel you used that line on Madison, too, at some point?”
“I haven’t,” he insisted. “Believe me when I tell you that I have no interest in anyone but you.”
“Even if that were true, you can’t run from your past, and I can’t ignore it. Madison is my friend, and we can’t just pretend she doesn’t exist because that’s more convenient for you.”
Anderson’s brows knitted. “So what are you saying?”
Holly met his gaze, steeling herself so she wouldn’t give in to her impulses. “I’m saying that I can’t do this right now. I think you should leave.”
He took her hands, which were trembling. “Don’t let something that’s been over for two years ruin the good thing we’ve got going.”
“I can’t help the way I feel,” she told him, removing her hands from his. “You need to work things out with Madison.”
Anderson raised a brow. “Are you asking me to start a relationship with her again?”
Holly wasn’t sure what she meant. She only knew that they needed to deal with their unresolved issues without her being caught squarely in the middle. She wondered if she was actually sending him back into the arms of a woman who may still be in love with him. But under the circumstances, it was a risk she had to take, even if it meant losing him for good.
“That’s up to you,” she said. “You can show yourself out.”
Holly retreated to her bedroom and hoped he didn’t follow her.
She waited until she heard the front door close before lying on the bed and trying to understand how their romance had suddenly come to a crashing halt.
* * *
Later that afternoon, Anderson sat in a tavern waiting for Lester to arrive. He could scarcely believe he suddenly found himself in this predicament. One moment he and Holly were exchanging kisses and declarations of love while feeding each other popcorn. The next, all hell broke loose as Madison showed up unexpectedly and caused chaos. Now he had been backed into a corner, his relationship with Holly was in jeopardy and damned if he knew what to do to save it.
What he did know was that whatever existed between him and Madison was over and there was nothing he could do to change that. She hates my guts and maybe deservedly so, he thought. How would talking to her make any difference or allow him to wipe the slate clean so he and Holly could get back together?
“You look like a man who’s lost his best friend,” Lester said as he walked up.
Anderson looked up. “Thanks for coming.”
“How could I not? You made it sound pretty damned urgent.”
“It is,” Anderson said miserably.
Lester took a seat and poured beer from the pitcher into a mug while studying Anderson. “So what’s up?”
Anderson tasted his own beer and wiped the foam from his mouth. He told Lester about Madison’s unforeseen appearance at Holly’s house and the chaos that followed.
“Oh, man,” Lester said, shaking his head. “That must have really thrown you for a loop. Not to mention Holly and Madison.”
“Tell me about it,” Anderson said. “Things blew up in my face in a hurry.”
“I’ll bet. You had to know this would happen sooner or later. I mean, you and Madison still living in the same city, it was just a matter of time before you occupied the same space again.”
“Yeah, but why now and why that space?” Anderson grumbled.
“Are you asking me that or yourself?” Lester tossed at him.
Anderson shrugged. “I don’t know what the hell I’m saying or where to go from here.”
“I think you do know where to go from here,” Lester said.
Anderson eyed him. “Where’s that?”
“Where else? To see Madison. You need to make things right with her.”
“Yeah, and how do I do that without her trying to rip my head off?”
Lester chuckled. “I can’t guarantee that she won’t be out for blood. It’s a risk you have to take, especially if you ever want to get past this and get back on Holly’s good side.”
Anderson conceded that Holly had pretty much said the same thing. But he wasn’t sure that would solve anything, and it might even open up a new can of worms and cause things to truly spiral out of control. As if they could get any more out of control.
“I definitely want things back the way they were with Holly,” he said. “I just don’t see how reliving the past can—”
“Don’t overthink this, just do it,” Lester insisted. “You’ve asked for my advice as a friend and now I’m giving it to you. Remember, I’m the guy who was going to be your best man when you were supposed to marry Madison. Don’t think I didn’t hear what people were saying about how you went about ending the relationship. I figured you already had enough on your plate without hearing it from me. But now you’re going to hear it. Get over yourself and make amends in any way you need to with her. I can’t guarantee that it’ll save your relationship with Holly, but it just might turn things around with Madison so that at least you can give her and yourself some sort of closure.”
Anderson sat back and took a breath. He couldn’t outright reject his friend’s words of wisdom. And he couldn’t forget Holly’s beauty and the love he felt for her. He had to own up to his past mistakes and hope Madison could somehow forgive him. And at the same time he had to let Holly know he was very serious about their relationship and would not give her up without a fight.
“All right,” he told Lester. “I’ll talk to her, assuming she’ll let me.”
“I think she will. My sense is that Madison just wants some answers so she can put this behind her, just like you’d like to.” Lester leaned forward. “You’ve come a long way in your life since then. Now’s the time to show her that.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Anderson was not about to run away from his troubles. Not anymore. If facing his demons was the way to get past them once and for all, he was game. Madison did deserve that much. He probably should have contacted her long ago to set things straight, but there never seemed like a good time. But there was no more putting it off.
Not when everything he’d built up with Holly was on the line. He had found in her the one thing that was missing in his life: a woman with whom he connected in every way. To lose that would be losing the best thing to ever happen to him. He would do whatever he had to do to prove his love to her.
Chapter 13
Two days later, Holly was already having second thoughts about kicking Anderson out of her house. But what other choice did she have? He had broken the heart of her friend Madison. How could she ignore that and continue her relationship with him? Especially since Madison had more or less given her an ultimatum: it was either her or Anderson.
Normally, Holly would never choose a female friend she had only recently met over
a boyfriend whom she had fallen in love with. But this was far from a normal situation. It could well be some sort of sign that what had happened to Madison could happen to her. Did she really want to wait and find out? What if Anderson was simply a serial heartbreaker who either couldn’t help himself or just didn’t give a damn?
She had waited far too long for Mr. Right to wind up with Mr. Wrong, and she didn’t think it was wise to disregard the clear warning signs.
Holly was still trying to battle the overpowering and conflicting feelings of love and desire she felt for Anderson when she walked into the Velvet Restaurant on Texas Street.
She saw Blythe sitting at a table, waving her in. Blythe stood when she got there and gave her a hug.
“I took the liberty of ordering us drinks, figuring you could use one about now,” Blythe said.
“Yes, I could,” Holly said as she sat down.
“That must have really thrown you for a loop to find out that Anderson had left a woman high and dry at the altar.”
“It was definitely an eye opener,” Holly said, tasting the cocktail. “These types of things just don’t happen to me.”
“Welcome to the real world,” Blythe said, running fingers through her hair. “While my ex didn’t exactly get cold feet before the wedding, he might as well have. He spent more time in bed with other women after we got married than with me.”
Holly frowned. “Men can really be bastards sometimes.”
“Yes, they can. But at least you got to see your man’s true colors before you got too deeply wrapped up in him.”
“The problem is, I am still deeply wrapped up in him,” Holly admitted.
Blythe looked at her. “Don’t tell me you’re in love with Anderson.”
“I wish I could say otherwise, but it’s true. Falling out of love won’t be easy, even if I have a very good reason for it.”
“Maybe he’s gotten it out of his system,” Blythe said sympathetically. “If so, he might be worth keeping.”
“Honestly, I’d like to believe that,” Holly said, setting down her glass. “But do men who run away from commitments ever really change?”
Love is in the Air Page 10