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She saw her relationship with Braden as if in movie form. A movie of emotions. The way she’d slowly pulled away from him, starting when she’d found out she was pregnant. The relief and the exhilaration of knowing that she’d finally have a biological connection on earth. That she belonged to someone.
She saw, too, that maybe, just maybe, she’d never thought she and Braden would be married forever. People changed. Lives changed. And those you loved moved on.
Her mother had tried to keep her, till her life required differently. Her foster mother had been there, until she’d moved to Florida and found a new family. She was fine with both of those circumstances, didn’t blame either woman.
Nor did she feel sorry for herself.
Now she realized that all along she’d expected Braden to do the same. To move on at some point, when their worlds no longer coincided.
So when Tucker came along, maybe she’d pushed Braden on his way.
Oh, not completely, and certainly not consciously. She’d never in a million years have done that. But the self-honesty which she’d had to learn to access to recover from Tucker’s death told her that she couldn’t keep ignoring the fact. She’d cut Braden out of her and Tucker’s lives far more than she’d realized. She’d been living a future without him, while he’d been right there with them.
And when Tucker died, and Braden hadn’t been able to handle her grief, she’d just kept right on pushing him away with her anger.
He’d been wrong. And so had she.
She’d spewed ugly words at him for things that weren’t his fault. And yet, she’d been unable to let him go.
Because she’d still been in love with him.
Some things hadn’t changed. Maybe some never would.
But some had to.
She had to quit needing Braden for things he couldn’t possibly give her.
That’s why she’d opted to have a child alone.
It was the only way that was going to work for them.
And so she sat alone in the night. She fought debilitating fear. She prayed. And, eventually, she went back to bed.
* * *
Braden had a great weeken
d. With everything falling into place he was able to play a round of golf, at which he had the chance to speak with the owner of several apartment complexes who was interested in having Braden Property Management take them on. Mallory would be glad to know that his L.A. presence was already being noticed.
She worried about such things.
He knew better.
But he was glad to know that she cared. The same way he was glad to know that he was going to be formally acknowledged as the biological father of her twins.
Throughout the weekend he thought of it often, at random times, and each time the thought gave him a lift.
He and Anna had a nice dinner-and-concert date on Saturday night, but things took a turn on Sunday. He got a call telling him a condominium complex that was a client of his in San Diego had sprung an underground leak, and more than a thousand people were without water.
The city was claiming the issue was the responsibility of the complex. Insurance said it was the city’s issue. First thing Monday morning it became Braden Property Management’s issue. He had an agent in charge of the account working on it and reporting to him.
But the owner of the complex, Alex Mason, also owned five other properties in the San Diego area, all of which Braden’s company managed. He thought it best to be on hand. Just in case.
He called Mallory to let her know he’d be in town, and when she didn’t pick up, he tried the daycare number.
Julia answered.
“She’s not here this morning,” Mallory’s second-in-command said. “She figured it was best if she waits at home, just in case. She doesn’t want to alarm the children.”
