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“He thinks we should pick up where we left off, basically.”
“So why in the hell are you here?”
“You know why,” I say defensively. Setting my wine glass on the table, I begin to pace the room, my last conversation with Wyatt playing through my mind.
“What did he say, Chloe?”
“All kinds of things.”
“What is it that has you freaking out?”
“He wants us to be a family. He wants the family, the future, we planned together.”
“And you don’t?”
“Of course I do,” I holler at her, my admission catching me off guard.
Smiling, Addy relaxes back into the couch. She knew I needed to say it out loud. I wouldn’t believe it unless I said it myself.
“So, what are you going to do about it, then?” Addy asks after a few moments of silence.
“I don’t know.”
“It’s a simple answer, Chloe.”
“It’s anything but simple, and you know that. I can’t just pick up my entire life and move back to Fairview. I have a job, friends, and responsibilities. Denver is my home.”
“That’s funny. I thought home was where the heart is. Where is your heart right now?”
Trying to escape my chest through my throat, making it hard to breathe.
“Listen, Chloe. You can do this the hard way. You can fight what you want, what you know you deserve. You can fight your second chance at happiness with Wyatt. Or, and I know this is hard to believe, or you can go with it. You can take a chance at happiness and believe everything he said to you. You can believe that he still wants you, that he still loves you. What did I tell you before you left?”
“There was a chance he still loved me.”
“Why?”
“Because I still loved him after all this time.”
“And why do you still love him?”
“Because our love was the forever kind of love.”
“And what makes it that kind of love, Chloe?”
I don’t want to say it. I don’t want those words ringing in my ears again, but I also don’t want Addy here all night pestering me to say it.
“Imperfection is what makes it perfect,” I finally say after Addy clears her throat twice, waiting for me to reply.
“Nothing in life is perfect. Some things come close, others are far from it. The best things in life are worth fighting for. This is one of those things, Chloe. You know that. Wyatt knows that. Hell, even Adam knows that.”
“What is Jones fighting for?” I ask, the mention of his name catching me off guard. When Addy doesn’t answer but her face turns beet red, I laugh. “Oh my God. You love him, don’t you?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but I like him. A lot.”
“Enough that he’s worth fighting for?” I ask, using her words against her.
“All love is worth fighting for, Chloe. New love, old love. You just have to decide if you’re willing to fight for it. It can’t be a one-sided battle. You’re either all in, or you’re not. Wyatt’s all in, in case you were wondering. Not just because of Lola either. He’s in it for you. He’s loved you all this time, and you walked away from him. The only difference is that, this time, you didn’t leave a note.”
Her words strike deep, reopening the wound I’ve tried to close all these years. I knew that note would hurt Wyatt. It would confuse him and anger him. The only way I could have made it worse was to tell him that I was pregnant.
That would have destroyed him.
In a way, I wonder if finding out about Lola has destroyed a part of him that I’ll never see again. It doesn’t seem to have, but only time will tell.
Two weeks.
I have two weeks to figure out what I want. To decide what my next move is.
In my heart, I already know. I know what I want. I know where I should be. Now to get my head on straight so I can get there.
