“Neither of us. “
“Another woman?”
“Where did you get that idea?”
“It’s obvious. You seem scorned,” said Nyle. “Was he not worth fighting for?”
“We’re not married anymore. We both have moved on,” said Savannah. “Now let’s drop it.”
Nyle raised her hands in surrender. “It’s dropped.”
After the server brought the check, Nyle grabbed it from the table and then dug into her purse. “I thought I had a few bloody pounds in here. I must’ve left them on the table at home.”
“Don’t worry about it. I have my MasterCard.” Savannah grabbed the check from Nyle. “I’ll take care of it.”
“I’ll give it back as soon as we get home.”
“No worries,” said Savannah, and she paid the check.
* * *
The pair hopped into the backseat of a hackney carriage. Nyle slid in first and hugged the driver from behind. “Where the hell have you been, you ornery man?” she asked the blond-haired older man.
“I’ve been bloody working!” The driver glanced at Savannah in the rearview mirror, and then gave Nyle a wide grin.
“This is my daughter,” Nyle explained.
“Wow! Really. She’s just as beautiful as you are,” he said. “You don’t look old enough to have a daughter that old.”
“Savannah, this is Xander. Xander, Savannah.”
“Pleasure meeting you, Savannah,” said Xander. “You’re not from here, are you?”
“No.”
“Will you be staying long?”
“I hope so.”
“Savannah has relocated from the US.”
“I see,” Xander said as he glanced at Savannah again. “Welcome. I think you’ll find it a wonderful place to live. What part of town are you looking at?”
“She’s living with me for the time being,” Nyle explained. “At least until she gets her feet grounded.”
Xander slammed on the brake to avoid hitting the car in front of him. He was distracted—too busy staring at Nyle in the rearview. When he pulled up in front of the Design Museum, Savannah exhaled. His driving made her nervous. Savannah and Nyle hopped out of the car. They took in the industrial and fashion design that the museum had to offer. They shopped for jewelry and had coffee at the little café that overlooked the Thames. They talked about fashion, and when they were done taking in the exhibitions, they walked out and found Xander, who was waiting with the car running. They visited three more museums.
Nyle had Xander stop at a liquor store, where she sent him in for a bottle of wine. And soon he pulled the car in front of Nyle’s flat. Savannah opened her purse to look for a few pounds to pay for the cab ride. Nyle placed a hand over Savannah’s and shook her head no. She snapped her purse shut.
“Thank you, Xander,” Nyle said.
“My pleasure.” Xander gave Nyle a wink in the mirror and waited for the ladies to exit the cab.
Savannah stepped out first and waited for her mother. Nyle whispered something to Xander, patted him on the shoulder and then exited the cab. Xander grinned at whatever was said and then slowly pulled away from the curb. Nyle hooked her arm inside Savannah’s as they walked up to the front door.
“What a fun day,” she exclaimed.
“I enjoyed it,” Savannah agreed. “You and Xander must be pretty close.”
“We’re old chums,” said Nyle as she unlocked the door. “Now let’s get that bottle of wine opened, kick our shoes off and have some girl talk.”
The thought of it sounded good to Savannah. She went to her room and pulled flannel pajamas out of her bag. She hadn’t completely unpacked. There was still some reservation from before, but she was starting to relax a bit more. She removed her underwear from her luggage and placed it in the top bureau drawer. She then put her socks and shirts in the middle drawer. She hung clothes in the closet. She grabbed her toothbrush and pajamas and headed down the hall to the bathroom. Turned on the shower. She desperately needed a shower.
As the water cascaded over her naked body, she thought of Edward. His touch and the way he had kissed her lips and made love to her on the beach. She missed Chloe, but had to admit that part of her missed Edward, too. She admitted that to herself, though she had no intentions of admitting it to anyone else. She wished with all her heart that she could get him out of her head. She had presumed that once she arrived in London, she could actually rid her thoughts of him. She didn’t expect to think of him more.
She dried herself off with a thick towel and sat on the edge of the tub. Grabbed her cell phone and logged on to Facebook. Edward had posted pictures of Chloe, and Savannah smiled as she scrolled through them. She even smiled at the selfie that Edward and Chloe had taken together, both of them sticking their tongues out and crossing their eyes. They appeared to be having fun together, and Savannah’s heart was filled with envy.
“Nice photos,” she typed.
We’re watching a movie.
Shouldn’t she be preparing for bed?
No. We’re about five hours behind you.
Savannah had forgotten about the time difference.
Did she complete homework? Make sure she has a bath. And make sure she brushes her teeth.
We got this. How was your day with Nyle?
Surprisingly wonderful. We’re about to have wine and girl talk.
That should be fun.
Maybe.
Well, don’t worry about us. We’re good. Go have fun and we’ll talk tomorrow.
Okay. Gn.
Gn Savannah.
She washed her face, brushed her teeth, and slipped into her pajamas. When she opened the bathroom door, loud music resonated through the flat—Jimi Hendrix sang “Purple Haze” and the stench of marijuana drifted in the air.
“Is she serious?” Savannah whispered to herself.
She walked to her room and grabbed her bathrobe, wrapped it around her body and tightened the belt. She crept down the hall and into the living area to see what Nyle was up to. She peeked around the corner and Nyle was sitting in the easy chair in the corner of the room, a glass of wine in one hand and a joint in the other. She took a long drag from the joint and leaned her head back in slow motion. Xander had returned and was sitting across the room from Nyle. Laughter filled the air.
So much for girl talk, Savannah thought. She walked back to her room, pulled the door shut and sat in the middle of the bed. She took a novel out of her backpack and started to read.
Chapter 21
Edward was having a hard time balancing his career and Chloe. Handling her alone had become a challenge, but he would never give Savannah the satisfaction of knowing that.
He pulled into the parking lot of the elementary school. Chloe and Miss Jennings sat on the steps. He hopped out of the car and rushed toward them.
“I’m so sorry, Miss Jennings. I had a late meeting,” he explained.
“How are you, Mr. Talbot?” Miss Jennings’s usual flirty smile wasn’t there. She had an edge of disappointment in her voice. “We’ve been waiting for almost an hour.”
“I’m sorry. I promise it won’t happen again,” he said, and grabbed Chloe by the hand. He threw the strap of her backpack over his shoulder.
She gave him a smile. “Please see that it doesn’t, Mr. Talbot.”
He smiled at her brown face and hoped she realized that he really was sorry. She gave him a look of disappointment, one that she might give one of her kindergartners when they misbehave. He was grateful that she hadn’t read him his rights or threatened to take some action.
“Her mother is away, and I’m doing this on my own.”
“I understand,” she said. “Her homework is in her backpack.”
“Thanks.”
<
br /> “And don’t forget to bring her cookies for the celebration tomorrow.”
“Cookies?” Edward asked.
“Yes. Each of the kids is bringing a snack for our little celebration. They have to prepare it themselves...with the help of a parent, of course. There was a note about it in her backpack last week.”
“I didn’t see it. I missed it,” said Edward.
“I told you about it, Daddy,” Chloe said. “But you were working.”
“It’s okay,” Edward told Miss Jennings. “We’ll bake cookies.”
“Well good, then. I’ll see you tomorrow, Chloe, bright and early. And don’t forget to complete your homework assignment.”
“I won’t, Miss Jennings.”
“Good night, Mr. Talbot.” She gave him a semismile that time.
“Good night, Miss Jennings.” He gave her a genuine one.
Chloe snapped her seat belt on as Edward pulled out of the parking lot.
“Daddy, you were so late! All of the kids were already gone, and I thought you weren’t coming,” she whined. “Did you forget about me?”
“Of course not, sweetheart. I would never forget about you. Daddy just had a late meeting and it was hard getting here. Traffic was a son of a b...traffic was bad.” He reached into the backseat and grabbed her small hand in his. “I promise to do better. Okay?”
“It’s okay, Daddy.”
“Forgive me?”
“Yes.” She smiled. “Can we go for ice cream now?”
“After dinner,” he said. “We gotta figure out how to bake these cookies. Or maybe we could just buy some already baked ones at the Piggly Wiggly. We can put them in a plastic container and everything. Pretend. You don’t tell, I won’t tell.”
“We can’t pretend, Daddy. We have to bake them for real.”
Edward huffed. “Okay.”
* * *
Edward rushed to the hardware store. He needed to repair the kitchen sink, which had leaked water all night. The leak would damage the wood in the cabinet, not to mention send his water bill into orbit if he didn’t repair it right away. He dropped by McDonald’s and grabbed Chloe some chicken nuggets. A feeling of guilt rushed over him. He’d promised himself that he would take better care of her, and at least feed her a healthy diet. She’d eaten frozen fish sticks the day before because he’d run out of time, and pizza the day before that. All thoughts of healthy food had gone out the window.
After patching the leak, Edward and Chloe found themselves at Piggly Wiggly, making it through the automatic doors in just the knick of time. Chloe was already sluggish and winding down, and Edward worried that she wouldn’t stay awake long enough to see the cookies to their fully baked state. But Miss Jennings had insisted that the children prepare them themselves.
“I know it’s past your bedtime, sweetheart, but you have to stay awake,” he warned as they rushed through the express lane. “You have to bake these cookies.”
“I know, Daddy.”
He grabbed his receipt from the freckle-faced cashier and picked Chloe up. Carried her to the car. She was sound asleep by the time they pulled into the garage. Edward sat in the car for a moment. He sighed. Wondered how Savannah managed to do all of this by herself—keep house, manage a career and take care of Chloe. All of it was next to impossible for him, yet she made it seem effortless.
Chloe stood on a step stool and placed little squares of chocolate chip cookie dough on the pan. Edward heated the oven, and then placed the cookie sheet inside. He set the timer and then grabbed the television remote, flipped to ESPN, relaxed on the leather sofa. Chloe rested her head in his lap. The cough he’d heard that morning and the night before had returned. She shivered.
“Are you cold, sweetheart?” he asked.
“Yes.”
The weather had been mild, and he hadn’t turned on the air conditioner for days. Chloe was shivering uncontrollably. He grabbed a throw from the linen closet and wrapped it around her. He felt her forehead, and it was warm.
“You have a slight fever,” he announced to her, and went to the bathroom in search of the Children’s Tylenol.
“I don’t feel good, Daddy.”
“What’s hurting?” he asked.
“I’m tired,” she said. “And my throat hurts from coughing so much.”
Savannah would know what to do in situations like this. He wanted to reach out to her, but didn’t want to alarm her. Chloe needed Tylenol for the fever and cough syrup for the cough. He found the Tylenol in the medicine cabinet, but not the cough suppressant.
He went to the kitchen and placed the teakettle on the stove. Perhaps a hot cup of tea would do the trick. His phone rang, but he ignored it. Instead grabbed two mugs and two tea bags from the pantry. His phone rang again and he looked at the screen. Quinn. He didn’t have time to humor her, but he answered anyway. Placed her on speakerphone.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Did you hear the news?”
“What news?”
“Whitman dropped out of the election.”
“What?” he said. “No! We need him in the race.”
“He’s out, dude,” said Quinn. “You know what that means, right?”
“What?”
“You have to run,” she said. “Stop straddling the fence and make a decision. Just do it.”
“I can’t right now. Too much going on.”
“Oh, right. You’re reuniting with Savannah,” she said. “How’s that going, by the way?”
“It’s not.” He was frustrated and annoyed. “Quinn, I can’t talk right now. I have a sick child and I need to get to the store for a bottle of cough syrup.”
“I can drop by the store and grab a bottle of cough syrup for you.”
He thought for a moment. As much as he wasn’t up for Quinn’s company, he hated the idea of dragging Chloe out to the store again even more. The thought of her bringing cough syrup was actually quite appealing.
“That would be great,” he said as he pulled burned cookies out of the oven.
“I’ll be there shortly.”
* * *
Quinn held on to Chloe and rocked her to sleep. The coughing had ceased, the fever had gone down and Edward exhaled. He’d panicked, but somehow Quinn had saved the day, and he was grateful.
“I think she’s ready for bed now,” said Quinn.
Edward stood and lifted Chloe into his arms. He took her to bed and pulled the covers up to her neck. He turned on the humidifier and put the lights down low, then left the door ajar just a bit so that he could hear her. When he returned to the living room, Quinn had made herself comfortable, remote control in hand and flipping through the channels.
“Thank you,” he said.
“My pleasure.” She smiled.
“You’re good with her.”
“She’s sweet.” Quinn made herself at home as she usually did, went into Edward’s kitchen and located a bottle of Merlot. She opened it. “Want some wine?”
“Yeah, I’ll have a glass.” He followed her into the kitchen, pulled two glasses from the cupboard.
“I’m really surprised that Savannah would rush off to London, and leave her daughter like that. Especially when Chloe’s not in the best of health,” Quinn stated.
“It’s not like she just abandoned her. She left her with me, her father.”
“I’m not knocking your parenthood, but girls need a mother,” she said. “Seems kind of irresponsible.”
“She’s definitely not irresponsible. She’s a great mother.”
“Well, you’re defensive. Especially since it seems she abandoned you, too,” she said. “I thought you were about to propose, and then suddenly she’s gone.”
“I don’t know what happened. I tried calling her t
hat Sunday after we returned from the Bahamas and she never returned my calls. So a few days later I dropped by...” Edward took a sip from his wine.
“To switch the luggage.”
“Yeah.” A frown on his face, he stared at Quinn. “How did you know that?”
“Know what?”
“That I went there to switch our luggage.”
“You told me.”
“I never told you that.”
“You’re mistaken. You told me that you had her luggage and she had yours.”
“I never told you that, because I didn’t even realize it until the next day. By that time you were long gone. When I opened the suitcase in search of my shaving cream the next morning...” He gave Quinn a look of skepticism. “You have something you want to tell me?”
“No.” She wrapped both hands around the bowl of her wineglass, her fingers intertwined.
“What did you do?”
Quinn sighed. “Okay. I might’ve have answered your phone when you were in the shower.”
“You what?” He became angry.
“Savannah called that Sunday when you were in the shower.”
“And you answered my phone? Did you also delete the call?”
“I was trying to help you, Edward! You were talking marriage, and proposing...and I know that you’re not ready to go down that road again. First of all, if it didn’t work the first time, what makes you think that it would work now?”
“Are you out of your mind?”
“No, I’m quite sane,” she said. “And did I mention that you should be running for the US Senate...not running around chasing your ex-wife?”
He was livid. Stood and paced the floor. He wanted to make sure he maintained control. He would never strike a woman, but the thought sure crossed his mind. “You have to leave.”
“Edward.” She giggled. “Don’t be silly. It’s me, Quinn.”
“I’m trying not to throw you out, so I would advise you to get your ass up and walk out that front door without saying another word to me.”
“You’re serious?”
He breathed deeply. She was trying his patience. His jaws were tight.
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