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They learned that Celebration was founded in the mid-nineteenth century and had been settled by the Rice family. They stopped in front of the sprawling Victorian mansion that overlooked the east side of the park.
“This was the home of the Rice family,” Cece said. “They decided to name the town Celebration because, after months and months of searching, the family had finally found a place to call home, and, of course, this was a great cause for celebration.”
As Cece and Ronnie joked about her play on words, Nick was struck by how the whole town seemed to be all about family.
The thought of a man sacrificing everything to give his family a safe place to call home made Nick ache with a vast emptiness. What was wrong with him that he couldn’t man up for Becca?
He had to admit that his panic over her accident really was just an excuse. It was selfish justification: if he didn’t get attached, then he wouldn’t hurt those he loved, and in turn he couldn’t get hurt himself.
Was he really that weak?
Weren’t things with his father so much better than he ever could have hoped for? It was a fresh start for both of them, and it never would’ve happened if he hadn’t taken a chance.
Ronnie was laughing at something that Cece had said, but Nick had missed it, and he didn’t want to ask her to repeat herself. His mind was wandering too much to concentrate on the tour.
“There’s something I need to take care of,” Nick said. “Would you excuse me?”
“Everything okay?” Ronnie asked.
“I hope so,” he said. “I’ll let you know when I see you tonight at dinner.”
* * *
Becca should’ve told Nick no instead of betraying the new stronger, tougher, I’m-tired-of-beating-myself-up-to-win-your-love woman she’d become.
But here she was parking her car in front of Bentleys across the street from the hospital.
Of course she would go to him. Her office was in Dallas and his was right here.
God, would she never learn?
Of course, if she’d told him no the first time instead of spending the night with him, they wouldn’t be meeting to have this conversation.
Of course, he’d been cryptic about why he wanted to meet her today. Since he hadn’t indicated otherwise, she was going to assume that this meeting was goodbye.
Well, goodbye to any notion of them being a couple or a traditional family. The thought made her heart hurt, but they might as well establish things now. Because the longer they dragged them out, the harder it would be to separate herself.
She’d already let herself fall in love with him, and look where that had gotten her.
As she got out of the car, she squared her shoulders. This would be the last time she would accommodate him. And she intended to tell him that when she saw him.
Her heart felt hollow and fragile. Her eyes burned with the threat of tears that she would not let fall. She couldn’t, because if she started crying now, she might not stop.
She couldn’t let him see her that way. She knew him well enough to believe he wasn’t a cruel man who would take pleasure in watching her suffer.
No, this was more a case of not humiliating herself in front of a man who didn’t want her. It was as plain and simple as that. The man she’d fallen in love with didn’t love her back. He didn’t want her.
That reminder dried up any threat of falling tears. It would be her mantra when she was feeling weak. Her pillar if she felt as if she was starting to fall.
As she pulled open the door to the restaurant, she had another sinking spell. Her mind skipped back to that night. That fateful night when she’d accommodated Rosanna’s demand for space, and she’d come over to Bentleys to get out of the way.
She’d fallen for him the minute she’d laid eyes on him, and all common sense had gone out the window.
Why had she agreed to meet him here?
As she approached the hostess stand, she reminded herself that it was too late now. She was here—ohhh...and there he was sitting at the same booth they’d shared that night.
She took back the benefit of the doubt that she’d afforded him. Because choosing that table just seemed cruel.
When he’d called and asked if she could meet him there, she’d assumed that he was asking for his convenience. So he could get back to the hospital fast.
Now she wasn’t sure.
In fact, she wasn’t sure of anything except that she should’ve insisted on him meeting her halfway between Dallas and Celebration. In the future, when they had to see each other for a matter that had to do with their children, she would make sure that they split the difference the same way they would split everything else—expenses, holidays with the kids...
