Page 62 of Restored Dreams

“But maybe—”

“Before you all go all man on me and conjure up some story of how she did it to get back at her sister, or she was with you for her own chance, I want to tell you what I see as an outsider.”

I wouldn’t say I was going to go to the extreme Midge suggests, and I’m not certain where she’s come up with the elaborate idea Lily slept with me to get back at her sister, but…

“That woman’s in love with you.”

My head snaps upward.

“And I dare say, she always has been. I bet even when you ripped her heart out, she still loved you and might have taken you back had you ever gone after her. Did you go to her, Brut?”

“Of course not. She told me to leave her alone, and I did. Why would I chase her?” Forget that I did call for weeks, even showed up at her house, but after my confrontation with Lauren, I didn’t persist. I should have asked Lauren how she could so coldheartedly tell her sister what happened, but my own guilt ate at me. Fighting with Lauren wouldn’t change what we did. Or how it hurt Lily.

“Maybe she needed reassurance that you really did want her. That you picked her. I’m even going to go out on a limb and say she might have taken you back and been willing to raise Chopper with you had you let her.”

“Why would she ever do that? I cheated on her.” My head pulls back as my hands fold together on my desk. Midge has lost her mind, and she’s staring at me like I have two heads. I know all about Midge’s husband cheating on her, so I think she’d have more understanding of Lily’s position.

“Because she loved you. She loves you, and she sees it now as a mistake from someone young, vulnerable, and a little messed up. She loves Chopper and wishes she’d had more time with him when he was younger. And it’s called step-parenting technically, but in her case, it would have been called being a mom.”

I stare at Midge, her brown eyes boring into mine. What is she saying? My stomach twists. I don’t even want to consider the lost possibility that Lily would have taken me back when she was only twenty, the age at the time Chopper came to me, and accepted him as her child to raise along with me. It’s a crazy thought.

“How do you know Lily loves me? Has she said that?” I hold my breath, knowing Midge has become closer to Lily over the past month. She makes an effort to spend time with her, going to lunch with her and having her over to their house. I assumed it was all that you-are-part-of-our-family stuff she and Hank told Lily at Lauren’s funeral.

“She doesn’t have to say it, Brut. It’s how she looks at you. How she looks when she talks about you.”

My eyes lower, and my fingers fold and unfold. Sweat pools on my palms.

“How does she look?” The quiet question resonates loud in my office. I know how I want Lily to look, and the expression I’d like to see on her face.

“Like she’s in love with a good man who made a bad mistake, and who might need to get his head out of his ass.” Midge’s brow rises. “Go after her, Brut. Stop letting time slip away.”

My phone buzzes, and I immediately turn my attention to it. The text appears instantly.

You bake me crazy.

I burst out laughing.

“Tick-tock,” Midge says, pointing at her wrist that doesn’t sport a watch. I’m smiling too big to glare at her, and she returns my grin.

“I’m on it,” I say although this makes me think dirty thoughts of being on Lily, which I miss.

You make the world a batter place, one cupcake at a time.

OMG! Stop. LOL.

While I envision her bent over laughing, and I can almost hear her sound in my head, it’s not enough. I need to see her, hear her, touch her.

I quickly find an image of two cupcakes holding hands and send it to her. Cupcake lovers is the caption.

It’s gonna happen, Lily pad.

Three dots appear and then disappear. I’m afraid I’ve gone too far, but she needs to know I’m coming for her. Tick-tock as Midge says. I’m not letting any more time pass.

34

24 hours really can change everything.

[Brut]