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I shake my head, still floored by this revelation. “And it’s specifically children’s charities?”
Lily nods. “I’m putting together an event for next year that will raise money for family vacations for terminally-ill children, and I was thinking if you had an in with Abby, I’d ask the Cypress Lane Foundation to be part of it.”
“Yeah,” I say numbly. “That sounds like the kind of thing she supports.”
“But if things are rocky with you guys, I definitely don’t want to make it awkward. I wouldn’t have said anything if I’d known you guys weren’t talking.”
“Yeah…sorry.” I scrub a hand down my face. “We left things in a pretty bad place. But I don’t know if we’re over. I hope not, but it’s not only up to me.”
Lily reaches across the table and pats my hand. “She’d be lucky to have you, Luca. Any woman would.”
“As long as she doesn’t mind wearing a strap on,” Jonah quips, lightening the mood.
“Jonah,” Lily scolds, rolling her eyes.
“What, he only likes it in the ass,” Jonah says, grinning.
“You’re an asshole,” I say, then turn and give Lily a wink. “You ought to leave his ass and be with me instead.”
“I think I’m stuck with this wannabe comedian,” she says, leaning against Jonah. “And I can tell you’ve got it bad for someone else, anyway. I hope you and Abby can work things out. And not because of the foundation. For you.”
I nod, thinking about the flood of emotions in Abby’s eyes at the charity game. “Thanks, Lily.”* * *After lunch, I only make it as far as my SUV parked outside the restaurant before I text Abby.
Me: Things got heated when we were texting the other day. I’m sorry. I don’t want this to be the end for us. Can we talk?
I don’t really expect her to respond, but she does.
Abby: I’m sorry for the way we left things, too. At the very least, I’d like us to be friends. I’d like to talk. When is good for you?
Me: Anytime.
Abby: I’m in between meetings right now, should I call?
Me: Yes.
My phone rings immediately, and I answer it.
“Hey.”
“Hi,” she says softly.
“How are you?”
She pauses before answering. “I’m doing better.”
Just the sound of her voice rouses something deep inside me. I never thought there could be a woman out there who was so kickass, independent and sexy, but also needs me the way I can tell Abby does.
She doesn’t just need a man; she needs me. And the more weeks and months that pass without me having any interest in other women, I realize maybe I need her, too.
“Listen,” I say gently. “I don’t have the right words to say—words that won’t make you feel defensive or upset. I wish I did, though.”
“Oh, Luca. It’s not you. Please know that. The issue that day at the game was not you or anything you’ve said or done.”
I hold the phone away from my mouth to exhale heavily before moving it back to talk again. “I’ve been thinking that I need to just let you go. Not because I want to, but because you’ve been so clear that you don’t want to be with me. And I hate that, Abby. But I had accepted it, until I had lunch with the head of the Blaze Foundation just now and she told me about your foundation and all the philanthropic work you do.”
There’s silence on the other end of the line.
“For children,” I continue, clearing the emotion from my throat. “So now I know you aren’t really a workaholic who doesn’t like kids.”
“Luca…” She sounds near tears.
“What am I missing, Abby? I know there’s a lot I don’t know about you, but I want to learn it all—the small stuff and the big stuff. And I’m missing something huge. Aren’t I?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to dig around on the Internet to see if I can find out what’s going on with you. I want to hear it from you.”
“I…had a family once.” Her voice is raw, tinged with the pain I saw in her eyes that day she saw me with Emerson. “A husband and a daughter. They both died.”
My chest feels like it’s caving in on itself. I close my eyes, oblivious to the traffic passing by as I sit in the driver’s seat of my SUV.
“Abby, I’m so sorry.”
“Tim and I met our freshman year of college,” she continues. “We got married right after graduation. We loved each other. What we had was so steady and sure. And then Chloe came.” Her voice breaks as she speaks her daughter’s name.”
“I’m right here,” I say, needing to remind her. “I wish I was there with you, holding you as you tell me this, but I’m with you in every possible way I can be right now.”
There’s a hint of a sad smile in her voice as she continues. “When Chloe was three, Tim took her out for ice cream one evening. I didn’t go because I…” Her voice shakes with emotion, but she keeps going. “I had a sinus infection and I was lying on the couch resting. I fell asleep and the phone woke me up not long after they left. They’d been rear-ended by a semi.”
