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I'd arrived earlier to get out of my apartment, and since it was right down the road from the club, I figured I'd be safe. I'd gotten pretty used to the area, and the staff knew me well. Just as he approached, I finished typing THE END at the bottom of my novel and closed my laptop.
I was speechless as he sat in front of me. Unsure how to act, I lifted the coffee cup, realizing it was empty. I sat it back down.
“Let me get you another,” he offered.
I shook my head. “It's okay. I should probably get home, anyway. I've been here for a while.”
“Can we talk for a bit?” He shifted his weight, nibbling his bottom lip, unsure of his own question.
I nodded. “Why don't you get yourself a drink, and I'll wait.”
“What are you drinking?” He stood. “I'll get you a refill.”
I sighed. Today wasn't the day that I wanted to run into him. I’d missed him like crazy, but I had a lot on my mind. We'd all just been through so much, and Elizabeth and I had already gotten together yesterday. It went better than I thought it would. She said they'd had lunch a few days after everything came out and she wanted us both happy. I wasn't exactly sure if that was her giving us her blessing, but I didn't want to chance it just yet.
“Will you just get me a water, please?”
He nodded subtly before he disappeared into the restaurant. I opened my laptop, double-checking to make sure I had saved my progress in the document before I closed it again and slipped it into my bag. Looking in the window, I watched him through the reflections in the glass, able to make out his muscular figure and handsome, troubled expression as he waited in line.
Several minutes later, he emerged again, setting my bottle of water in front of me and sitting with his drink. I unscrewed the cap, took a sip, then secured the lid back on. Neither of us seemed exactly uncomfortable, but it was clear we didn't know what to say anymore. I asked the obvious first to break the ice.
“How was the funeral?”
He drank a little of his coffee and set the cup on the table. “About as expected. A lot of tears from several people, but mostly from her side of the family and her yoga class.” He rolled his eyes. “And I didn't see him, but the boyfriend that she supposedly broke up with had the audacity to show up. I was so busy trying to make sure my kids were okay that I didn't even notice him. He must have snuck in at the back.”
“Wow,” my eyes widened, “who told you?”
“Vinny,” he snorted. “He told him to leave at some point. You know, Vinny was just there out of obligation. He wasn’t crying a river.”
“Are Eliza and Lucas okay now that the funeral is over?” I shifted in my seat.
He nodded once. “Yeah, I mean they’ve been sad about the situation, but unfortunately, because of the way she treated them and me, it was an easy goodbye… as horrible as that sounds. I think their sadness was more for the way their own mother treated them instead of her actually dying.”
I inhaled a deep breath, scared to know the answer to my follow-up. “And how are you?”
His gaze locked on mine, so intense I was sure he could see into my soul. “Maddie, I’m fucking miserable without you.”
My heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest. My breath hitched. I opened my mouth to speak, but words got caught in my throat. Emotions flooded to the surface and my eyes pooled with tears. I fought them back.
He stood, dragging his chair closer to mine, and sat again. Taking my hand in his, he continued, “I want to be with you. I'm sorry for the way things went at the party that night. I should’ve fought for you. And I'm sorry I didn't. I've always put my kids first because their mother never did.” He took my other hand in his, circling his thumbs around my knuckles. “Part of being in a relationship is putting that person first as well. I know I fucked up.”
“It’s okay.” I sighed. “I didn’t make it any easier. I’m sorry.”
“You don't have anything to apologize for.”
“I never texted you back because I was scared to think about not having you anymore at all. So, I avoided it and decided to just focus on my own stuff, in hopes that your family could fix the pain that I had caused.”
“You are family and you've always been family regardless of our relationship.” He withdrew a hand and continued, “I feel like she's coming around. And I'm done being without you any longer. From now on, whatever comes our way, I want to be there right by your side.”
Swallowing hard, I darted my gaze around before bringing it back to his. He withdrew his other hand, rubbing my arm as he studied my expression, trying his best to read me.
“There’s something you’re not telling me.” He arched his brow. “What is it?”
I blinked my tears away, and he swiped his thumbs underneath my eyes, erasing them. “My period’s late… by a week.”
Another tear rolled down my cheek, but he didn't erase it this time. Instead, he sat stunned, staring at me. It felt like an entire year had passed before he finally blinked rapidly several times.
He buried his fingertips into his temples. “Have you taken a test?”
