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“My life is with you. My work can be anywhere I want it to be.”
“But . . .” Addie exhaled and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“I’m the boss, remember? I can work from anywhere. I also have the ability to fly where I want, when I want. Location and distance are non-issues in our relationship, Addison. So if you want to call this off—if you want to run—you’re going to have to do better than that because I’m not him. I’ll fight for you every goddamned step of the way,” he said, winking at her. “Keep that in mind, all right?”
Addie turned and stared out the window again, but she couldn’t hide the smile on her face, hard as she tried.
William reached for her hand. “It’s okay to be scared, you know. I think it’s a part of this whole love thing; it just sort of comes with the territory.”
“Are you scared?” she asked, quietly.
William inhaled and hesitated before speaking. “Am I scared? Hmmm, yeah, I guess you could say there are a few things that scare me.”
She turned her head to face him. “And they are?”
He smiled. “Well, for starters, I’m scared of losing you. I’m scared that this . . . that my life is too much for you and that you’ll want to leave or that maybe you already do. I’m scared that your children won’t like me, because I have no idea what I’m doing in that department. I’m scared that you won’t let me give you everything I have to give. But mostly, I’m scared that if it takes me the rest of my life, even if that’s another hundred years or more that it still won’t be enough time to show you how I truly feel about you.”
Addie wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and offered up a slight smile. “Touché.”
As Penny closed the front door behind the last of the members of the garden party committee, she exhaled a sigh of relief. She hadn’t been certain which way it would go. These days, she wasn’t certain of much. Sitting down at the bar, she put her head in her hands. After having just hosted a luncheon for thirty-five ladies, she was exhausted. Ever since everything had happened, she’d been a mess. Her son was no longer speaking to her, and her husband wasn’t too far off. Any communication they had was fairly selective these days, and he’d been spending all of his time at his apartment in the city. Addison refused to see her and even went as far barring her from the hospital. Her friends were constantly asking how she was doing, and Penny was afraid that she’d only be able to keep up her front for so long. People were going to start talking, as if they weren’t already.
She tried going through Patrick’s mistress, but she’d given Penny a run for her money. Penny had thought Addison was bad all these years; well, this woman put her to shame. Penny wasn’t one to give up, and this lady was going to be the mother of her granddaughter, so she’d keep trying, if she had to. But admittedly, part of her wondered if that baby was her son’s at all. If it were her, she’d be demanding a paternity test ASAP. She was going to have to talk to Patrick about that when and if her son ever started speaking to her again.
She’d heard from her husband that Addison had been released from the hospital and that she and the boys had been staying with that Hartman character. She was going to have to talk to Patrick about that too. She couldn’t see how her son could be okay with that. Not to mention the fact that her relationship with her grandsons would probably never be the same.
Penny had started seeing a therapist after the incident at the lake house, which had since, unfortunately, been put on the market. Penny hated to see that house go—she always did love it so—but her husband hadn’t given her a choice in the matter. Anyhow, at her husband’s insistence, she started seeing this therapist, which she clearly didn’t need, especially after he’d tried to diagnose her with something called NPD in addition to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which she was pretty sure she suffered from. While she liked the guy and agreed with the PTSD theory, she vehemently denied having Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Dr. Brandt explained that she appeared to be a classic case and that there was treatment for this sort of thing but it required first admitting that there was a problem. Needless to say she hadn’t been back. Therapists were a dime a dozen, anyway; she just needed a second opinion.
Addison met Jess for coffee at their usual spot about six weeks after she’d been released from the hospital. They’d spoken several times since the incident in the hospital but never about how Addie had treated her that day. The weather was finally starting to warm up a bit, which may have been the reason the coffee shop didn’t seem as busy as it usually did. As Addie opened the door, it suddenly took her by surprise just how much she was going to miss this. She considered how much their lives had changed since they’d first started meeting here, and she smiled to herself, thinking back on it all. She pictured them meeting here as girlfriends in college before kids, before marriage, and then with babies in strollers, and then toddlers they couldn’t contain, and suddenly, everything came rushing back to her. In some ways, it felt as though this were yet another one of the transitions that time often brought with it. But in others it also felt like an ending of sorts. Or maybe it was just a beginning that hadn’t quite happened yet. That’s the thing about life and all of its ups and downs. Usually you don’t quite know where it is you are, until you’ve arrived.
Addie stepped just inside the door and stood watching Jess for a moment before approaching the table. Jess was writing in a notebook, and Addie couldn’t help but notice how tired her friend looked. It made her feel bad because she’d been so wrapped up in her own problems lately she hadn’t even stopped to consider that her best friend might need an ear too.
Jessica looked up, meeting Addie’s gaze head on, and suddenly her serious expression gave way to a smile. She stood and waved her over.
Jess nodded at the two cups on the table. “I got here early, so I went ahead and ordered for you.”
Addie kissed her cheek and sat down. “Thank you. So . . . how are you? I feel like we haven’t actually talked about you for a while. And I really want to apologize for that, among other things.’
“I’m fine. You know it’s just more of the same for me, anyway. There’s no need to apologize,” she replied, waving Addie off.
“But there is. That day in the hospital . . . The way I acted was totally uncalled for. I never should have talked to you like that, and I’ve regretted it ever since. I love you, and I’m so sorry, Jessica.”
“Oh that. Come on. I knew you’d been through a lot, and I was pressing. I was the one who was out of line. Plus, I knew you didn’t really mean any of it.”
Addie inhaled. “How are you, Jess? Something’s going on . . .”
Jessica looked away. “I’m fine. The kids are driving me crazy, and I’m working on a new project that’s been keeping me up, but enough about me.” She smiled. “I really did come here to hear about you. This time next week you’re off, huh?”
“Project? What sort of project? A PTA thing? You know you need to get the other moms to do at least half of the work you’re doing,” Addie insisted.
Jess threw her head back and laughed. “No, it’s not a PTA thing. I’ll tell you all about it, but first, I want to hear about you. This time next week you’ll be in Switzerland. How crazy is that? And how’s everything going with Mr. Handsome.”
Addie bit her lip and grinned. “Yeah, it’s a little bit surreal. First we’re headed to Geneva, where we’ll be for three to four months, and from there, it’s looking like either St. Kitts or possibly somewhere in the Dominican—”
“Wow. Yeah, the boys tell me how excited they are. It seems like they’re really looking forward to it.”
“Yeah. Partially, I think because Kelsey’s coming. They just love her. She’s the best nanny ever, I swear. But also because William is dead set on making it fun for them. Patrick seems to be doing okay with it all. And . . . I think that helps. Truthfully, if I felt that they weren’t on board with the whole thing, I wouldn’t be going. It’s pretty amazing how much life can change in a year, you know.”
