Chapter 49

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Alex

MARISA WAS A WELCOMING sight as she entered my office first thing in the morning.

“Have you talked to her?” I asked.

“I did. She came to the Lamaze class with me last night. She’s understandably upset, but you know Rose, she bounces back quickly.” She looked away, seeming a little uneasy on the subject, like she was betraying her by talking to me.

I nodded, not wanting her to feel like she needed to tell me any more. As long as I knew Rose was okay, that’s all that mattered.

“Alex, she’s really got a lot on her plate right now. Just give her some time.”

“Yeah, I know,” I muttered, feeling a little defeated.

She flashed me a sympathetic smile and stood up, turning around as she was halfway out of my office. I watched as she purposely pulled a small slip of paper from her pocket and dropped it on the floor.

“Oh, shoot! Would you be able to grab that? It’s so hard for me to bend over…well, ’cause, well, ya know!” She looked down at her pregnant stomach and laughed before walking out the door.

I waited until she was out of my office before getting up and snatching the piece of paper from the floor. Written on it was the name of a hotel and a room number. It only took me a few seconds to figure out this was where Rose was staying. I crumpled up the note and placed it in my pocket. As much as I wanted to see her, I wanted it to be on her terms. I didn’t want to take her off guard by showing up at her hotel and leaving her no other option but to talk to me, especially after the way things were left between us. She was pretty clear I was the last person she needed.

I sat back down and concentrated on my computer—or at least tried to anyway. Work was the furthest thing from my mind, but I had about twenty unopened emails that weren’t going to answer themselves, so I had no other choice but to focus. That was until one in particular caught my eye, from “Miss Demeanor.”

Dear Pompous Ass,

It sounds like you certainly lived up to your screen name. I’m sure this girl is feeling pretty lousy over what you did, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t still have feelings for you. Lies hurt the most when they’re told by those we truly care about. Clearly this girl was afraid to give her heart away in the first place, but she reluctantly did, and then you had to go and break that trust! I think she has the right to be pretty pissed off, don’t you? Especially if you were well aware of how she felt about honesty in a relationship. You say if you could get her back, you would keep her heart safe, but how could she be sure of that? Maybe that’s what she’s scared of the most. Maybe that’s why she said things to you that were more hurtful for her to say than they were for you to hear, and most of all maybe she just needs some time and space to sort things out.

~ Miss Demeanor

I stared blankly at my computer screen, trying to figure out how to reply or if I even should when my uncle jolted me from my thoughts.

“Got a minute?” he asked, taking a step in my office.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Have you heard from Rose?”

“Umm…no,” I lied.

He nodded, seeming like he was a million miles away. “I was hoping you would’ve. She may need a shoulder to cry on.” He finally snapped out of it.

“Why? What happened now?”

“Phillip York called me earlier, asking for her number. He wanted to meet up with her today.”

“You didn’t give it to him, did you?”

“I did.”

“Why the hell—”

He held up his hand to halt my wrath. “Alex, Rose is a big girl. If she doesn’t want to meet with him, she won’t. This is her decision. Let her make it.”

I knew Rose’s fairy-tale way of thinking, and she was going to have her heart smashed all over again after meeting with this guy. He was nothing but a selfish prick. For the past twenty-five years, he lived his life, never even acknowledging he had a daughter. Now that the cat was out of the bag, he wanted to be father of the year.

“This is gonna be another major blow to her.”

“It may be, but she needs to know the truth. All of it.”

“Did you know all of this?” I asked.

“I did.” He nodded. “But it wasn’t my secret to tell.”

“So, you and her aunt Kate…you were never a couple like Rose thought?”

“No. Not because neither one of us wanted to be. I always liked Kate a lot. She was…is still a beautiful woman. She was a lot like Rose when she was her age. Free-spirited, stubborn, an explosive personality, but her heart was guarded. Charles Perkins was one of my best friends, and I guess, I just kind of knew that getting into a relationship with his sister wasn’t the best of ideas for our friendship. She wanted there to be something between us, and I just couldn’t go there. I knew her track record with men, and I knew if we pursued something and it didn’t work out that may have put a wedge between my friendship with Charles. Then when Phillip came to visit, and she met him, it was all over for any other guy.”

“So, that was it? You never pursued anything with her any further?” I knew my uncle, he loved competition.

“She got pregnant. He went back to London to his estranged wife. I was her shoulder to cry on, then after she had Rose, she moved to Paris for a year for an internship for some clothing designer.” He let out a regretful sigh. “When she came back, I was engaged to Bridgette, and we all know how that ended. By the time my divorce was final, she was engaged to Patrick Reardon, and that was that. Charles moved out to California, and we still remained in contact, but Kate and I lost touch.”

Rose was right all along, there was always something there between the two of them. “It’s never too late to go after a missed opportunity.”

“What happened to my cynical nephew?”

“Don’t know. I think maybe Rose rubbed off on me.”

“That’s a good thing.” He stood up and gave me a knowing smile.

“Yeah, maybe it is,” I muttered.