The Broken One

by Cardello, Ruth

  Friends as well as lovers, I was beyond being able to imagine my life without her in it. My father was right, it was time to introduce her to the family.

  My phone buzzed, and I realized everyone was looking at me.

  My father snapped his fingers. “He’s been in a daze since he met this woman. Sebastian, answer your phone.”

  “Of course.” I stepped out of the room to answer it when I saw Heather was the caller. She never called me midafternoon. “Are you okay? Is it Ava?”

  “We’re both fine. I’m sorry, I know you’re busy. I should have waited until tonight.”

  “Heather, stop, you can always call me—always.”

  She let out an audible breath, and my heart started pounding in my chest. She sounded worried. Nothing would keep me from her side if she needed me.

  “My father called. He’ll be in the area this weekend. Cheshire has a strawberry festival. I told him we’d meet him there. Then I started to freak out as I thought about all the ways I could do this badly. I don’t want to rehash the past. I want him to see how amazing Ava is and for him to be the grandfather I know he can be. Was the festival a bad choice? Should I have chosen somewhere quieter? Should I meet with him first, talk everything out, or just plow ahead? I need to do this right.”

  “You will. Stop second-guessing yourself. Meeting at a festival sounds like a stress-free way to introduce them and a nice memory for both.”

  “Can you come with us?” she asked in a rush, and I swayed on my feet.

  My immediate impulse to say yes was tempered by my desire to move forward in a way that was best for everyone. “You want me to meet Ava for the first time on the same day she meets your father?”

  She went quiet for a moment. “I didn’t think of that. Are you free for dinner tonight? I know this is last minute, so if you can’t make it, it’s okay. I didn’t think seeing my father again would be so hard for me, but I’m freaking out a little.”

  That was an easy one to answer. “What time tonight?”

  “Five thirty? We eat early.” Her obvious relief made my heart soar.

  “I’ll be there.” She was strong and independent—exactly what my old-fashioned ass needed. With her, I’d be the man I should have always been.

  After telling her I’d call her when I was on my way, I ended the call and returned to the living room. My father said, “See that look on his face? I don’t even have to ask who called him.”

  I shrugged. “I’ll bring her home soon, Dad. When I do, I’ll have a ring as well.”

  My father’s face lit up.

  “Now those are words every father wants to hear,” Rakesh’s father said to the room in general.

  Rakesh groaned.

  I felt his pain. If he had a prospect, I had no doubt he would have loved to bring that joy to his father. Dates were easy enough to find, but someone worth bringing home to the parents? In families like ours, no man did that lightly.

  I walked over and offered my hand to Rakesh’s father. “My plans for this afternoon have changed, so I need to get back to the office.”

  My father rose and shook his hand as well. “This has been a pleasure.”

  Rakesh nodded toward the door. “I’ll show them out.”

  He and I fell into step as we walked out of the room. Rakesh said, “It has been a long time since my father has smiled so much. Thank you.”

  If apologies came easier to me, I would have given one then, but instead I shook his hand and said, “I’m glad we were able to come up with a mutually beneficial deal.”

  We didn’t need more than that.

  My father joined us near the door. “Rakesh, you should drop by Sebastian’s office.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “Why?”

  A smile spread across my father’s face. “Miss Steele is not only intelligent, she’s also attractive and, according to your mother, her last relationship ended recently.”

  “Dad.”

  My father’s answer was a shameless chuckle.

  As we made our way down the steps, my father said, “Your mother and I do want to meet Heather, but it’s more important to us that you’re happy.” At the bottom of the steps, he clapped a hand on my shoulder. “You deserve happiness, Sebastian. Therese would want this for you.”

  Rob opened a car door. As my father slid in, I took a moment to digest what he’d said before getting in myself. I directed Rob to take me to the office and my father home.

  After a moment on the road, I said, “When Therese died, a large part of me died with her. Lately, though, I feel like I’m waking from a long sleep. The sun is brighter. Food tastes better. Part of me feels guilty for it.”

  “You shouldn’t. If you had gone first, would you have wanted Therese to live out the rest of her life alone and mourning for you?”

  “Of course not.”

  “She loved you just as much as you loved her. She’s smiling down on this. Who knows, perhaps she even placed that stuffed animal in your path because she knew it was time for you to wake up.”

  As far-fetched as that sounded, I liked the idea of it. Therese was always generous and loving, a better woman than I had deserved. Someone like that wouldn’t see my relationship with Heather as a betrayal—she was always looking for a way to make people happy.

  If you did bring Heather to me, Therese—thank you. I promise you this time I won’t take a moment for granted.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  * * *

  HEATHER

  When I invited Sebastian for dinner, I was thinking about Ava and how it really would be good for the two of them to meet before the strawberry festival. I didn’t think about the state of my house or remember that my cooking ability was mostly limited to a simple meat, the occasional pasta, and cookies.

  The plus of not being a great cook: Ava was accustomed to eating vegetables raw, thus I could claim my style fit a healthy trend. I would have liked to impress Sebastian, though. It was a beautiful day, and Ava had wanted to ride her bike in the driveway, which meant the time I had after work to cook and clean was drastically reduced, so I settled for what we normally ate.

  I’d made time, though, to wrap an important surprise for both Ava and Sebastian.

  Sweaty and flustered, I checked my reflection in the mirror after I heard the doorbell. I smoothed a stray hair. Deciding there was nothing I could do about the rest, I rushed for the door.

  Ava looked up from playing with her dolls on the living room floor.

  “My friend Sebastian is here to eat dinner with us. Do you remember him?” I’d considered preparing her for his visit, but sometimes that made her anxious about things that she otherwise simply accepted.

  She jumped to her feet. “Sebastian? My Sebastian?”

  “I guess that depends if your Sebastian is six feet tall with black hair.”

  “My hero?”

  I ruffled her hair. “Yes, then your Sebastian is the one at the door. Should we let him in?”

  Ava beat me to the door. “Hi, Sebastian.”

  Hands on knees, he bent to her height. “Hi, Ava. Nice to see you again.”

  “Want to play dolls?” she asked.

  His eyes flew to mine. I laughed. “Dinner still has a few more minutes to cook, so there is a little time.”

  He mouthed, “Thanks,” but he smiled as Ava led him to the living room.

  I was glad he hadn’t kissed me. I wasn’t ready for that in front of Ava. It would happen, but I wanted Ava to be comfortable having Sebastian around first.

  “Sebastian,” Ava said firmly, “you have to sit on the floor. Here, do you want to be the mommy or the daddy?”

  Sebastian tossed his suit jacket on the arm of a chair and rolled the sleeves of his dress shirt up before lowering himself to the floor beside the tree house Ava had set up. His expression was serious. “I’ve never played dolls before.”

  Ava brought a hand to her heart. “Never? Don’t you have a sister?”

  “Only brothers,�
� he said in a solemn tone.

  I heard the oven beep, but I lingered a moment longer.

  Ava looked down at her dolls, then to the man I was falling more in love with by the second. “It’s really easy. Here, you be the mommy. You have to say things like ‘Don’t touch that. No running around. Be nice to everyone.’” She picked up the male doll. “I’ll be the daddy.”

  “What does a daddy say?”

  Ava stage-whispered, “Charlotte’s dad says bad words sometimes. Like stupid. One time when he was driving he called someone a stupid dumbass.” She giggled behind her hand.

  “Ava, I’m going to check the chicken. Be good,” I said as I stepped farther away. Our open-concept home meant I could see them from the kitchen area, but I was less worried about how it was going when I heard Sebastian laugh.

  Sebastian and Ava looked more like they were having a conversation than actually playing dolls, but they both looked so happy I hated to announce dinner was ready. Once I did, though, they both came and helped me carry the food to the table.

  Chicken breast. Raw broccoli. Raw cauliflower. Ava was excited about it, but I shot Sebastian an apologetic smile.

  He gave me a curious look I couldn’t decipher.

  As soon as we sat, Ava started talking nonstop to him about how her whole class had spent the morning in another classroom because a little boy peed on the rug during circle time, then how she was learning to ride her bike but still had to use training wheels, and finally about how sad she was that she didn’t have a pet when everyone else in the world had one. Everyone. Else.

  Sebastian met my gaze across the table. Rather than looking bothered by Ava, he seemed to be genuinely entertained. “When I was her age, we had a dog.”

  I almost kicked him under that table.

  “Really?” Ava exclaimed. “See, Mom. What was his name?”

  “Digger,” Sebastian said. “He was an Irish setter who loved to dig up our backyard. When I was little I used to think his name was Get Out of the Garden.”

  Ava laughed. “He was a bad boy.”

  “Sometimes,” Sebastian said, then lowered his voice as if whispering to her, “we used to sneak him into the house so he could sleep with us, and my mother would get angry because he was so dirty.”

  “Mom would be mad too. She said we don’t have room for one, but, see, he could use my bed.”

  I shot Sebastian a look. “Easy there on the sharing. We don’t have enough yard here for a dog.”

  Ava slumped a little and started eating.

  Sebastian made a pained face and mouthed, “Sorry.”

  I shrugged it off. There was no way for him to know that I felt guilty I wasn’t superhero single mom. I could handle running my business and raising Ava, but I was afraid of adding another responsibility. The only thing worse than not getting Ava the dog she wanted would be to get her a dog and have to rehome it when we realized we didn’t have the time to take care of it properly.

  Ava’s mood rebounded as soon as Sebastian asked her what color her bike helmet was. He didn’t seem to mind that she answered that simple question by telling him all about her helmet, her bike, her kneepads, and her broken old scooter. She said she didn’t just like toys when they worked, but she also liked fixing them. “When I grow up, I want to be a car veterinarian.”

  “The world needs more of those,” Sebastian answered in a serious tone. Ava looked completely taken by him. No wonder. Although he could appear stern when he didn’t smile, my daughter wasn’t intimidated by that at all. She saw through his hard exterior to the man I’d sensed when I’d first met him.

  After both Sebastian and Ava had cleaned their plates, I said, “Ava, Sebastian brought a present for you. Would you like to open it?”

  “I did?” he asked.

  “You sent it earlier, remember? I thought today would be the perfect time to give it to her.”

  “It’s not even my birthday,” Ava said with wonder.

  “I’ll be right back.” A moment later I returned with the present I had covered with purple wrapping paper, Ava’s favorite color.

  Sebastian’s smile was as wide as Ava’s. “It’s really a present for Wolfie.”

  Ava’s eyes rounded, and she tore off the paper, uncovering a large basket with the small stuffed wolves. “Puppies!” She held each one up to her face and hugged them in turn. Then she bolted over to Sebastian and hugged him.

  She ran out of the room, but I knew where she was going. A second later she was back with Wolfie and Wolfina. “Wolfie, you have a family now. You’re a daddy.” She stopped, turned to Sebastian, and asked, “Are you somebody’s daddy, Sebastian?”

  He shook his head. The pain I expected to see in his eyes didn’t materialize. His expression was somber, but not tortured like it had been the first time he’d met Ava.

  Ava looked from Sebastian to me. “I would like a daddy.” With that, she went back to introducing the stuffed animals to each other.

  “Ava, why don’t you take your pack to the living room?” I suggested.

  She didn’t need more encouragement than that to gather them up and take them to where her dolls were. I smiled as I watched her introducing them all as if they were real.

  When I turned back to Sebastian, I said, “I hope you don’t mind that I sprang the gift like that. After we talked, I remembered I’d stashed them in my closet.”

  “This was the perfect moment.” He leaned across the table and laced his hand with mine. “You have an amazing daughter, Heather. So young, but so confident. I see a lot of you in her.”

  That made me smile. “Nature versus nurture. I was always serious, always needed to feel in control. Brenda was a much freer spirit. She believed in things like luck and fate. We were very different people—but in the ways that mattered, we were the same. My hope is that Ava gets the best of both of us.”

  He nodded. “In the future I have no doubt car veterinarians will exist. With a powerhouse like Ava, how could they not?”

  I loved how easily our hands fit together; would our lives blend as smoothly? I wanted to believe so. “Thank you for not pushing to get to know her before I was ready.”

  He raised my hand to his lips for a gentle kiss. “This is too important to rush.”

  My breath caught in my throat. The last few weeks had been magical, but we hadn’t talked about the future. Nor had he said he loved me.

  I understood why. Some men might throw the word around or use it for gain, but Sebastian wouldn’t say it until he felt it.

  He didn’t play games.

  “So,” he said, “when is this festival?”

  “Saturday.”

  “Do you want to meet there or for me to pick you and Ava up?”

  Forward, not back. “Let’s all go together.”

  His smile said it was the answer he’d hoped for; then his expression turned serious again. “What do you think will happen when you see your father?”

  I tightened my hand on his. It was a question that took a moment to consider before answering. I lowered my voice. “I’m not sure, but I know I need to give him a chance. In the past when something scared or disappointed me, I closed the door on it. I want to do better—for Ava.”

  He was quiet for a moment. “When you’re ready, I’d like you and Ava to meet my family.”

  “Your family?” A small panic washed over me even though I knew it was the next logical step.

  “We gather at my parents’ home every Sunday. You’re welcome whenever you’re ready for that step.”

  I didn’t thank him for his patience, mainly because I couldn’t breathe. We’re doing this. We’re taking this to the next level.

  Yes, I’d asked him to meet my father, but that was because Sebastian was more than a lover now—he was also my friend. So far, though, being with him hadn’t had a stronger impact on the life I’d made for myself.

  Meeting his parents was a big move, especially to a man like Sebastian. Despite my feelings for him, I wasn’t sure
if I was ready to make that leap.

  Everything would likely change.

  If things got serious—where would we live?

  Would he understand that I still wanted to work?

  Would he want children? Would I? How would that affect Ava?

  All those questions and more awaited me as soon as I agreed to meet his family. I sat there, slightly hyperventilating, wishing I could think of something—anything—to say.

  The front door of my house flew open, and Erica’s three children poured in with Erica fast on their heels. She looked uncharacteristically flustered. “I hate to do this, but Bob was in an accident at work. He’s at the ER. He got his arm stuck in something. It might need surgery. Could you watch the kids so I can go to the hospital?”

  “Of course.” I was on my feet in a heartbeat. “Have they eaten?”

  Sebastian was at my side.

  Erica brought a hand to her mouth. “Yes. No. We were in the middle of dinner when Bob called.”

  “I’ll drive you,” Sebastian said.

  Still looking panicked, Erica said she was fine, but Sebastian insisted. “Erica, we’ll take your car. I’ll get a ride back. While I’m out, I’ll pick up pizza for the kids.”

  Relief spread across her face. “Sebastian, you’re my hero.”

  “Mine,” Ava chimed in. “He’s my hero.”

  “Look! He brought puppies,” Charlotte exclaimed.

  Erica answered her phone. “I’m on my way, Bob. No, I’m not; Sebastian is driving. Fifteen minutes tops.”

  I stopped Sebastian near the door and gave him a quick kiss. “No, my hero,” I murmured against his lips.

  He lifted his head and winked. “Save your gratitude for when we’re alone.”

  I chuckled and told Erica to call me as soon as she knew anything. Wrapping my arms around myself, I watched him sprint down the stairs with Erica, and I realized it was already too late. Even if moving forward held uncertainty, I loved Sebastian and I wanted him in my life. Not just on the phone, not only for lunchtime romps.