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Although Carla had taken the news hard, I still remembered the resignation in her eyes when I told her, and I remembered how she’d held her head high, strong, and resolute. Choosing to leave the country to pursue her studies had been the right move, and I understood her need to put as much distance between us as possible.
Which is why I was surprised when she called me a week ago.
Of all the scenarios I imagined, the last thing I expected was to have Carla Oswald walk into my office and ask for a job. Considering how powerful and influential her family was, I’d assumed she’d go to them directly, and we wouldn’t have to see much of each other outside a few social events.
But Carla wanted to strike out on her own.
Just like I did.
Given that I’d broken her heart, I figured I owed her a chance.
“Love is weakness. You’ll learn that soon enough, and when you do, you’ll come and find me.”
“I won’t.”
With that, I pulled the phone away from my ear and hung up. My heart was thundering in my ears when I set it back down on the counter and inhaled several deep breaths. Over and over, I replayed the conversation in my head and wondered what he was planning to do next.
Had I made a mistake by giving Carla a job?
Chapter 18: Honesty
Rachel
“You still haven’t told him, huh?”
I hoisted the laundry basket up and eyed Taylor over the top. She sat on my living room couch, legs tucked underneath her, hair piled on top of her head, and a glass of wine in her hand. With a slight shake of her head, she took a few sips and sighed.
“I don’t know how to tell him.”
Taylor raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think it has anything to do with that. I think you just don’t want to.”
With a grunt, I set the laundry basket down on the coffee table and sat down opposite it on the brown leather armchair. “Why wouldn’t I want to?”
“Because you’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop this entire time. Now that it has, you think it’ll be easier this way.”
I leaned forward and reached for a pair of pants. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Taylor swung her legs forward and leaned back against the pillows. “Yes, you do. Rach, I love you, I do, but it’s like you’re afraid of being happy.”
“I am not afraid of being happy. Why would I be?”
“Because if you’re happy, it’s easier to get hurt and to have it taken away from you,” Taylor replied, pausing to take another sip of her wine. “Why else would you have a man like Bernard, who treats you and Ron like royalty, begging to be a part of your life, and you’re just sitting here with me doing laundry?”
“I like spending time with you.”
Taylor set her glass down on the small table next to her and groaned. “Rach, don’t use me as an excuse. You need to ask him about Carla. The only way you’re going to get the answers you want is if you do.”
I paused, set the folded pants down next to me, and reached for another. “She’s his ex-fiancé, Tay. There’s a reason he didn’t tell me about her.”
“Because she’s his ex. You didn’t tell him about all of your exes, did you?”
“I told him about Grant.”
Taylor linked her fingers together and blew out a breath. “Okay, but that’s different. Grant was a part of your life, and he was almost part of Ron’s life too. Bernard needed to know that.”
“And I didn’t need to know that he used to be engaged to this supermodel heiress?”
I’d spent the past week trying to make sense of it.
