The Heart of Tomorrow (Book Two) (The Tomorrow Series 2)

by Nugen Isbell, Megan

Ava was outside her office and she grinned when she saw me.

  “Can we expect you to be sick tomorrow?” she said, forming air quotes around the word sick.

  “No. I’ll be here. I may be tired, but I’ll be here.” A smile spread on my face thinking about being with Drew in just a few hours.

  “I’m sure you will be. Have fun,” she said and I quickened my pace to get home.

  I wanted to shower and get myself ready to see Drew. It’d been nearly a month since we’d seen each other and I wanted to look nice for him. I had the outfit planned out and how I’d do my hair, but that was all contingent if I could get home in time to eat dinner and get ready.

  I waited impatiently as the elevator seemed to move at a snail’s pace. The doors eventually opened though and I quickly punched in the code. I heard the door click and I pushed it open, eager to get inside. I stopped in my tracks though when I was greeted with a sea of voices and not the empty apartment I’d anticipated. My mouth must’ve been hanging to the floor when I spotted my father and brother sitting on the couch while Drew and my mother were cooking something in the kitchen.

  “What the…” I said, stopping myself before I could get the word hell out.

  All of their heads whipped around and stared at me. My eyes went directly to Drew who shot me a playful smirk before my mother’s voice broke the silence.

  “Surprise!” she sang out, leaving her post at the kitchen, crossing the great room and wrapping her arms around me. I hadn’t seen my family since I moved to New York City and I wasn’t expecting to see them until tomorrow night.

  “Mom…what…what are you doing here already?” I asked when she’d let me go and I dropped my bag by the door.

  “What are you talking about, Natalie? You knew we were arriving today.”

  “No. You’re supposed to be here tomorrow. You’re supposed to be here on Friday.”

  “No, dear. Thursday.”

  There was no way I’d gotten the dates mixed up. I didn’t do things like that, but when I pulled out my phone to retrieve their reservation, sure enough I had.

  “I could’ve sworn it was tomorrow.”

  “We can leave if you want us too,” she laughed.

  “No. I didn’t mean it like that. I’ve just had a lot of my mind I guess. I’m sorry. It’s good to see you,” I said, giving her another hug.

  My dad and my brother, Wes, stood up then, greeting me with a hug and I had to admit it felt strange having them here in the little world I’d created for myself. My eyes moved to Drew then who was still smiling at me from the kitchen.

  “And what are you doing here?” I asked, leaving my family and walking over to him, wanting nothing more than to throw myself at him. That was obviously not a possibility at the moment though. “I know for certain your flight wasn’t supposed to get in until eight.”

  “It’s called an earlier flight, my love,” he said, gently resting his hand on my arm and planting a chaste kiss on my cheek, which only made me want him more. “Like your mother said though, I can leave if you want me to.”

  “No,” I said as my pleading eyes met his and then I added quietly so only we could hear. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  Our gazes held for a moment and I knew we were both thinking the same thing: my family needed to hurry up and get to their hotel.

  “I hope you don’t mind that we’re having dinner here tonight, Natalie,” my mom said, interrupting our reunion. “I thought you could use a home-cooked meal. Drew was kind enough to take me to the market so I could make fried chicken.”

  “He’s wonderful like that,” I said, grinning playfully over at him.

  “It should be ready in about a half an hour. Why don’t you go freshen up or whatever you need to do,” my mom said and I looked up at Drew, pleading with him to follow me.

  “I’ll just be a minute,” I said, heading towards the hallway.

  “I’ll get your bag for you, Natalie,” Drew said and I grinned to myself, knowing I wouldn’t have to wait any longer to kiss him the way I wanted to.

  A moment later I was walking into the bedroom and I heard the door close behind us. I turned to see Drew set my bag down and stride quickly across the room, taking my face in his hands as he pressed his lips to mine at full speed, not waiting to show me how much he missed me.

  “That felt so good,” he said, pulling away, his eyes still closed, licking his lips and breathing in deeply before opening his eyes and looking at me. He took my hand and stared down at the ring. “Just checking to make sure you still had it on and hadn’t changed your mind.”

  “Never,” I said, kissing him again and then he sat on the bed, watching me as I changed out of my work clothes. “How the hell did I forget they were coming today?”

  “Because you were too preoccupied with my impending arrival.”

  “You’re probably right,” I said as I slid a t-shirt over my head. “How’d it go? Meeting them for the first time?”

  “It was fine. I was my usual charming self and they loved me,” he grinned, but I knew he was probably right.

  “How’d you guys even meet up?”

  “Your mom called me when she couldn’t get a hold of you. I told them to come over to the apartment so I went and picked them up. I didn’t want them attempting the subway or a cab ride alone yet,” he said with a laugh.

  “Thank you for looking after them. I can’t believe I spaced like that.”

  “I was glad to do it,” he said, pulling me next to him on the bed, draping his arm around me.

  “Can we just lock ourselves in here for a little while longer?”

  “Don’t you want to spend some time with your family?” he asked and I turned to look at him.

  “Yes and no,” I hesitated. “My mom can be trying at times.”

  “She seems perfectly pleasant.”

  “Until she starts nitpicking everything I do.”

  “She won’t do that,” he said, trying to reassure me.

  “We’ll see about that,” I groaned reluctantly and then he stood up, taking my hand and pulling me to my feet.

  “It’s so good to see your face again, Natalie,” he said softly, grazing my cheek with his fingertips. “You don’t know how much I’ve missed you.”

  “Yes, I do, because I’ve missed you more.”

  He smiled at me, kissing me again before taking my hand and leading me out to my family.

  ~~~

  Dinner was actually nice and I had to admit, it was good to eat my mom’s cooking. She and I may have locked horns sometimes, but she was my mother and I loved her and no one made fried chicken like she did.

  Drew was on his best behavior. I knew he was trying to impress my parents and I had to laugh to myself. He never worried about impressing people. He’d probably already made more money in his short time in the business world than my parents ever had and yet he still wanted to prove to my parents that he was going to take care of me.

  He tried helping with the dishes when we were done eating, but my dad and Wes were interested in talking to Drew about his work and so they sat on the couch while my mom and I cleaned up.

  “I’m glad you guys could come out for the party,” I said as I rinsed dishes.

  “Me too, honey. We’ve been meaning to come out and when you and Ethan broke up,” she started, but then hesitated for a moment. “Well, to be honest, we expected you’d come back to Iowa.”

  “I like New York,” I said and she only nodded as she put leftovers in a Tupperware. “What do you think of Drew?” I asked when the quiet settled in.

  “He’s very nice,” she said and then grinned over to me. “And very handsome.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at the fact my mom had been checking out my fiancé.

  “Yes, he is.”

  “I didn’t realize he was so successful. This apartment is quite nice.”

  “I told you he was a partner in an architecture firm.”

  “You did, but I didn’t expect you to b
e living some place like this. You’re going to be quite comfortable,” she said and after putting the food in the fridge, she stood by my side as I worked, leaning against the counter.

  I could see Drew, Wes and my dad engaged in a conversation. Drew was sitting between them, looking through magazines that featured his work.

  “I probably am,” I said and I could feel myself starting to get annoyed with her as I tried to decipher her implications.

  “Are you ready for that?”

  “For what, Mom?”

  “To live in the city for the rest of your life,” she began and then reached over, taking my left hand that was still wet from loading the dishwasher, and looked at my engagement ring. “To have such material things.”

  “What are you implying?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

  “I’m not implying anything.”

  “I think you are. I think you’re implying I’m after Drew’s money.”

  “I am not, Natalie,” she said defensively. “I only want to make sure this is what you want. You’ve only known Drew for a few months.”

  “Try seven months, not a few.”

  “You know what I mean. You moved all this way with Ethan and now you’re engaged to another man.”

  “You don’t know anything about Ethan and me. We changed. We grew apart and I fell in love with Drew. I’m happy. Why can’t you just let me be happy without having to nitpick everything?”

  “I’m sorry if you think I’m nitpicking. Someday when you’re a mother, you’ll understand,” she said and the tension was heavy between us. “I like Drew. He appears to adore you, but just remember who you are, okay?”

  “Thank you for the advice,” I said sarcastically as I put the last dish in the dishwasher and turned it on.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” she continued. “But we’re having lunch with Ethan tomorrow while you’re at work.”

  “What?” I exclaimed louder than I thought and I saw Drew’s eyes glance over to us in curiosity. “You’re having lunch with Ethan?” I asked, making sure to keep my voice much quieter this time.

  “We just want to see him and say hi. That isn’t a problem, is it?”

  “No, Mom. It’s not a problem at all.”

  I didn’t wait for her to respond. Instead, I walked into the great room and sat down in a chair, trying to keep the annoyance off my face.

  “I think we’re going to head back to the hotel,” my dad said a few minutes later. “Traveling always tires me out.”

  “Let me get my keys,” Drew said, standing up.

  “That’s not necessary, Drew, but thank you,” my dad said. “I’m actually looking forward to making my way around New York City.”

  “Are you sure, Dad?” I asked skeptically.

  “Positive. And if we get lost, we can always call you to come to our rescue.”

  I laughed and then stood up, hugging him good-bye, along with my brother. My mom approached me too and we exchanged an awkward embrace before they were gone, finally leaving Drew and I alone.

  “You look troubled,” Drew said, sliding his hands around my waist and pushing a piece of hair behind my ear. “I hate seeing you distraught.”

  “A night wouldn’t be complete without my mother having to offer her two cents.”

  “She seemed fine.”

  “You weren’t in the kitchen doing dishes with her,” I said and he took my hand, leading me over to the couch.

  We sat down side by side and I sunk in beside him, resting my head on his shoulder.

  “What’d she say?”

  “Technically nothing…just implied I’m with you for your money.”

  I heard him start to laugh, low and slow, and I sat up.

  “You think that’s funny, Andrew?”

  “Andrew? I don’t think you’ve ever called me Andrew. I think I like it,” he grinned. “And for the record, yes, I do think it’s funny. Your mom should be happy you’ve landed yourself such a stable man.”

  He was grinning smugly and part of me was annoyed he was so lighthearted about the situation.

  “I know you don’t think I should worry about it, but I do. I don’t want people thinking that and if my own mother thinks that, God knows what everyone else thinks.”

  “And like I’ve already said,” he began, turning my chin so I met his eyes. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. You and I are the only ones that matter and I, for one, do not want to waste any more time on this bullshit. I love you, Natalie, and I’d do whatever it takes to give you what you deserve in life. I just happen to be in a position to already be able to do that. I know you love me too and I know you’d love me even if I didn’t have a dime to my name, so can we just accept that and move on? We’ve got an entire week together and I can think of a million other things I’d rather spend our time doing than worrying about this.” He leaned in, kissing me softly before pulling back and standing up and extending his hand out to me. “And I’d like to begin right now by doing nothing but lounging in bed, watching a movie and holding you all night. Would you care to indulge me?”

  “You always know what I need,” I said, taking his hand as we walked to the bedroom.

  “Don’t ever forget it,” he said, stopping suddenly as he grabbed me by the waist and dipped me into a deep romantic kiss that was so much fun we were both laughing when he pulled me back up.

  “I can’t wait to laugh with you for the rest of my life,” I said and he wrapped his arms around me even tighter, looking into my eyes.

  “I can’t wait to do everything with you for the rest of my life.”

  He took my hand, kissing the back of it as he stared at me with those intoxicating green eyes and I nearly forgot about earlier because he was right. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought. We were the only people that mattered and right now, I’d never been happier.

  Twenty-Three

  I’d barely woken up on Saturday morning when the designer arrived to get the apartment ready for the engagement party. It was a relief Drew was there to oversee it all. I still wasn’t comfortable with delegating. I hadn’t grown up attending formal parties. We always did our own decorating and we’d never paid anyone to make food for any sort of event. This was all new to me, but Drew seemed perfectly comfortable with it.

  I tried to stay out of the way by having brunch with my family and taking them around the city. I didn’t ask my mom how lunch with Ethan had gone, but I knew she’d be sure to tell me and she did as we made our way through the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

  “Ethan is doing well, in case you’re wondering.”

  “That’s nice,” I said, pretending to concentrate on an information plaque.

  “He may be moving back to Iowa,” she said and this grabbed my attention. He hadn’t mentioned that to me during our run in at the club.

  “Why?”

  “He may have an opportunity at the theatre in Des Moines, but if you ask me, I think he misses home. I don’t think he’s cut out for the city,” she concluded and I loved how my mom thought she knew him so well.

  “I hope everything works out for him,” I said as we moved to the next exhibit.

  “He was surprised when I told him you were engaged. I thought you would’ve told him.”

  “Ethan and I don’t talk. Why would I tell him?”

  “I don’t know. I thought news such as this warranted a personal response from you…considering the situation.”

  “Situation?”

  “How things ended with the two of you.”

  “I’m not proud of how things ended, Mom, but you weren’t here. You weren’t living it, so please don’t judge me.”

  “I’m not, dear,” she said, placing a hand on my arm, using that tone she did when she pretended to be sweet, but when in actuality, she was being condescending. “He sends his best though.”

  “Thank you,” I said, picking up my pace to catch up with my dad and brother, knowing I needed to get away before I said something I’d regret.
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  I decided not to tell Drew about the conversation with my mother. Talking about it would only make me more frustrated and frustration was not something I needed as I prepared to smile and greet our family and friends as we toasted our engagement.

  My family had returned to their hotel to get ready and the caterers were bustling around the kitchen setting up while I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom. I was nervous. My hands were unsteady as I applied my eyeliner and I couldn’t decide how I would wear my hair. Drew had invited people I didn’t even know. Work associates and old friends he told me. He didn’t want to leave anyone out and offend them. When I thought of the guest list though, I had to admit it made me a little sad that very few people on it had any association with me. There was my family, of course, and Court and Anna Beth, and Ava and Kara from work, but that was it. I felt as if I’d be a stranger at my own party. I was disappointed none of my friends from back home would be there, but then again, I hadn’t done a very good job of staying in touch. Ethan had been my best friend for so long I hadn’t really had many friends aside from him and once I moved to New York, it had only been Ethan until Drew came along. As I brushed on my mascara, I thought for a twenty-three-year-old, my life was actually pretty lonely.

  A low whistle interrupted my thoughts and I looked in the mirror to see Drew standing there, eyeing me.

  “I can’t wait to show you off tonight,” he said, stepping closer and brushing my hair off my neck so he could kiss it. “This dress was made for you.”

  His hands started running down the sides of my knee length cocktail dress. It was black with a lace overlay and small cap sleeves, the perfect combination of class and sex all rolled into one.

  “It’s okay for tonight?” I asked, sudden doubt setting in as I moved to my jewelry box, searching for my grandmother’s pearl earrings that would go just right with my dress.

  “It’s absolutely perfect, just like you,” he said as I continued to look for the earrings, finding one and putting it on before continuing to scour the jewelry box, moving quickly through the assortment of earrings.

  “Have you seen my other earring like this?” I asked, showing him my ear.