by L. D. Davis
The emerald earrings Marco had given me the night of Brodie and Aiko Herrington’s party were still there, still dazzling and beautiful. Some major part of me knew without question that those earrings were purchased specifically with me in mind, and no one else. I had left them in New York because I hadn’t believed I could use them in Ohio. There weren’t too many billionaires throwing parties around my way—at least, none that I would be invited to.
Suddenly, all that energy drained out of me, and I was just…fucking exhausted—physically, emotionally, and mentally drained. I put the box down, and quickly dressed in Marco’s clothes before hobbling over to the bed and getting under the blankets. I didn’t even bother to turn the lights off, too tired to care. I smelled him on the pillows. Tears leaked from my eyes to the pillowcase, but in minutes, with his scent drifting lazily around me, I fell asleep.
In the morning, before we left, I took the earrings with me.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lydia
A heaviness was in my heart when I woke up. I could’ve let it weigh me down and lay there forever, but that wasn’t an option. I didn’t have the luxury to just check out of my life. Three and a half little people depended on me. Plus, I couldn’t abandon Sofia.
The first thing I did after using the bathroom was check my phone. Marco messaged me during the night to tell me he was about to board a flight to New York. After he landed, he had some important business to tend to, but promised to be on a flight to Ohio later in the day. Shaking my head, I snorted sardonically. I had to fly halfway back around the world to get him to take me seriously.
I went through the motions getting the kids up and dressed and thought about how I was going to move forward from that point. Unlike before, I couldn’t just cancel Marco from my life. Whether I liked it or not, he was going to play a major role in my life. One thing was certain, I would not be so easily swayed back into a relationship with him. If he thought he was going to simply issue an apology and fix everything, he was wrong.
On the plane, I sat beside Gavi. Even after a night’s sleep, he wasn’t the most pleasant person. Maybe a few thousand feet in the air wasn’t the best place to have this conversation, but I didn’t think it could wait. Sofia had the girls occupied and it wasn’t a full flight. No one would hear us.
“Gav, I’m ready to talk. Are you ready to listen?”
Reluctantly, he nodded. “I want to know what’s going on.”
I took a breath. The situation was messy, and maybe other parents would hide that from their kids, but I didn’t think he’d benefit from me glossing shit over. I wouldn’t tell him about the pregnancy yet. Already too many people knew, and it was still so early.
“Marco made a bad decision. He’s sorry and he is trying to fix it, but there are consequences to his actions that effect all of us.”
He stopped to consider my words for a moment. “Are you splitting up? I…I really love his family, and I really love Marco. I know he makes mistakes, Mom, but I don’t want to be away from him again. It…it hurts. It hurts like when I lost Daddy.”
I wanted so badly to take my son on my lap and hold him until he didn’t hurt anymore, but I knew he would never allow that. I really just needed to calm down.
I cleared my throat and nodded my understanding. “I don’t have any intentions of keeping you apart, but that doesn’t mean that Marco and I are going to be together. Some of your friends have divorced parents. It will be similar.”
Inside, I was confident Marco wouldn’t abandon my kids. I believed him when he said they were like his own, so I felt safe to say that about him.
“Did Marco’s mistake have something to do with Armano’s mom?”
I eyed my son. “You’re very astute, Gav. Do you know what that means?”
He shook his head.
“It means you are very perceptive, or…observant. You see true things about people others may not see.”
“Ohhhhh. My teacher calls that being nosey.”
I let out a laugh. It felt nice to put a small dent in the clusterfuck of emotions I had in me.
“Maybe sometimes it can be nosey, but in this case, you’re just…astute. To answer your question, yes, it has something to do with Armano’s mom. Why did you assume that?”
He shrugged. “Because of all that stuff that happened at Thanksgiving, and because Armano heard her tell someone on the phone that they were moving to America to live in the cabin.”
I tried not to growl at that. If that woman ever moved into that house, I would never be able to forgive Marco for that.
“I have no doubt that Miss Celia really loves Armano and his siblings, but some people can really love certain individuals, and still be very ugly inside. Celia is very ugly inside, and Marco just couldn’t see that for a long time. Not everyone is as good at seeing things as you are.”
“Does he know it now? Does he see how bad she is?”
I sighed. “I think so. I hope so.”
He was quiet for a couple minutes, and I thought the conversation was over, but then he looked at me and said, “I want to see Armano again, but not his mom. I never liked her.”
I squeezed his hand. “Same here, Gav. Same here.”
When we landed in Columbus, I was so relieved to be back in my hometown. I was now only a few minutes from home, to everything familiar. The kids were also excited, knowing they were also only a short drive away from all the things they’d left behind. Sofia’s eyes were wide, which was funny, because Columbus didn’t have anything on New York City, but she seemed just as awed.
I sent Shawna and Cliff a text, letting them know we were back. I’d missed them, too, which made me really consider what it would be like once they moved to Florida. They were people I’d been used to seeing for most of my life, and now they would be a good thousand miles away.
Soon, our luggage was lined up on the sidewalk outside my house. I dug out my keys and couldn’t help but to smile as I slid the key into the lock and turned. Pushing the door open, I immediately smelled something that didn’t belong. My nose crinkled as I stepped through the door. I made it a few steps in, past the formal living room and steps and stopped at the edge of the family room.
“Oh shit,” Mandy said.
At any other time, I would’ve admonished her for her language. However, her exclamation was fitting. “Oh shit” said it all. From the mouths of babes.
The ceiling of the family room was destroyed. It had caved in. Large pieces of plaster and insulation, wet and droopy hung from what used to be an intact ceiling. Everything under that monstrous hole was covered in ceiling debris and water. In fact, the entire room was wet. The carpet squished under my feet. What I’d smelled when I first walked in was the mold that had begun to populate, and that musky aroma caused by damp things.
At that point, I had two options: Have a nervous breakdown and get carted away on a stretcher or laugh. Either way, I was about to crack open like a grade A nut.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Marco
When I landed in New York, I tried to call Lydia. I wanted to know that they all made it to Columbus safely. I honestly didn’t expect her to answer, so when she didn’t, I called my sister. Sofia may have been angry with me, but she would never ignore my calls.
“Hello?”
“Sofia, how are you? Did you all get there okay?”
“Uhh…yes…” She sounded uneasy, which immediately put me on high alert.
“What is wrong?” I demanded to know.
All sorts of horrible images flashed through my mind in the three seconds it took for her to answer. “There is a problem, Marcello. When we got to Lydia’s house, the ceiling in her living room had collapsed. It was a mess. Almost everything in there is covered in debris and water. Lydia saw it and…”
“And what?” My heart was pounding. Had she gotten sick? Was she so distressed she was in danger of losing our baby? “What happened, Sofia?” I barked.
My sister sounded befuddled
. “She has been acting crazy.”
My brows furrowed. “Explain.”
“Do you remember Aunt Loretta?”
Of course I remembered my mother’s aunt. When she got very old and her mind began to go, she laughed all the time, at everything. It was sad and rather creepy. “Yes. What about her? What does she have to do with Lydia?”
“Well,” she started slowly. “Lydia has gone the way of Aunt Loretta.”
I waved down a cab and tried not to yell at my youngest sibling. “I don’t follow, Sofia. Just say it, please. I don’t have the patience to play twenty questions.”
In a rush of words, she told me something that took me off guard. “Lydia has lost her mind and has not stopped laughing since we saw her house. After the initial shock wore off, she laughed, Marcello, like a mad woman. She laughed so hard that she almost fell over. She kept right on laughing while she tried to look at the damage, and she giggled when I told her that it might not be safe for us to be there. She was still laughing when she called Mr. and Mrs. Mills. We are at their home now, and Lydia is still behaving strangely. She acts as if nothing is wrong.”
My mouth fell open. If the cab driver looked in his rearview mirror, he would see me catching flies. I closed my mouth, and concern replaced my shock.
“I will be there this evening. In the meantime, I will give Shawna and Cliff a call. Are you okay? Are the children okay?”
Sofia sighed tiredly. “Yes. They are upset about their house, but they are also nervous because of their mother’s strange behavior. Their grandparents are helping them stay calm. Oh, and when we walked into the house and saw the mess, Mandy said ‘oh shit.’”
I let out a little laugh, but that would have to be addressed later. “I am sorry your move is not going as expected.”
“Oh, I am sure things will level out. Besides, I have decided that in a couple weeks I’m taking a few days and visiting Celeste in the city. She is going to take me shopping, and to the theater, and to meet men.”
I closed my eyes for a long moment. “We shall see about that last part. I will talk to you later. Call me if you have any problems.”
I hung up with a minor note in the back of my mind to talk to Celeste about her plans for my sister and went straight to my office. The project was still slipping from my fingers, but it was important that I was with my team as a show of solidarity. I stayed there for a few hours before going back to my apartment for a quick shower before my flight.
When I walked into my bedroom, I saw the unmade bed and knew Lydia had slept there. I picked up a pillow that had a couple strands of red hair on it and smelled it. Her scent was all over the pillow—and probably all in my bed—but I didn’t have time to investigate. Besides, it would’ve been crazy if I sniffed the bed like that.
I took my shower, noticing that her bodywash and shampoo had been used. The familiar smells perfumed the air. I loved the idea that she had been in my bed and showered in my apartment. She belonged there…or anywhere I lived.
The closet light was still on. I smiled, but it quickly fell away when I saw the mess. Almost every item of clothing and every shoe was on the floor. I dropped to my knees, where I sat for a long time, staring at the mess with a tight, aching chest.
It was late when I arrived in Columbus. As much as I wanted to rush over to the Mills’ home to see Lydia, the kids, and my sister, it would be very rude to show up at almost midnight. Out of morbid curiosity, and so that I could get a general idea of what we were dealing with, I drove to Lydia’s house to see the damage. When I pulled up in front of the house, I was surprised to find Lydia’s minivan in the driveway. Light gleamed from behind drawn curtains in the house.
I let myself in moments later, not knowing what to expect, and there she was. My redheaded, fiery little woman, standing with her back to me, staring up at the massive hole in her ceiling. Mio Dio, it was a big hole. I had my suspicions about how it occurred, but I would speculate in the morning.
I made enough noise so that Lydia would know she was no longer alone, but she didn’t turn around to face me. She just kept staring up at the hole. I stopped beside her and stared at her blank face. I wanted to hold her, apologize, and make promises, and grovel and…I wanted so much in that moment, but I knew she would not react well to any of it. Instead, I decided to talk about the problem at hand.
“I will have someone come out and appraise the damages as soon as possible.”
“An insurance adjuster will be out in the morning.” Her words came with no inflection in her voice, as if she were bored and didn’t care.
“Okay. Whatever insurance doesn’t cover, I will take care of it. We will get this fixed quickly. I understand some things cannot be replaced, but everything else—like furniture, rugs, and such—I will buy all new.”
I fully expected an argument on this. Lydia never accepted assistance without a fight, but she didn’t fight.
“After all the repairs are done, I’m going to sell,” she said quietly. There was emotion in her voice this time, sadness and defeat.
My mouth opened and closed. That was the last thing I thought she would want to do. “Are you sure?” Before I could finish the question, she walked away from me.
I watched for a moment while she gathered salvageable items and put them in a box on the coffee table. Her limp was bad. That made me realize how much better she’d been walking before, even though I hadn’t noticed at first.
“In the morning, you need to make arrangements for short-term housing for me, the kids, and your sister,” she stated impassively without looking at me. “It has to be close so I can get the kids back and forth to school and get the house ready to sell. You need to find a good real estate agent to handle the sale.”
I blinked at her demands. I was more than ready to capitulate to all of them, but it was so out of character for her. She was so calm that it scared me.
“I can do all of that.” With a forced casualness, I put my hands in my pockets and added, “I will get the cabin ready for you all as well. Once the house sells, you will want somewhere more permanent for the kids.”
I’d spoken to Lydia several times about her moving in with me, and she had always declined. I expected that response, but it was dawning on me that my expectations meant nothing. She was so altered that I could not predict her next move.
“You should move most of the kids’ personal items in before they get there. It will make the transition easier for them. Can you do that?”
I blinked. “Uh…yes. Yes, I can.”
She gave up on packing the box. With a sigh, she zipped up her coat, slipped on her gloves, and headed toward the door without a word to me, as if she knew I would follow. Of course, I did.
“You aren’t arguing with me about moving into the cabin,” I said with open suspicion as we reached the door. “You are very agreeable.”
“My little bit of time with Salina taught me a lot. I need to do what is right for my kids.”
We stepped outside, and she waited for me while I locked up. When I turned around, she was looking at me directly for the first time since I arrived, and there…there was that fire, those claws, and teeth, and venom I loved about her. But in the past, she used them as a defense mechanism. Now, they were weapons. Against me.
Her breath plumed out of her mouth as she spoke. “You chose Celia over me. You wanted me to trust you, but you didn’t trust me. You didn’t trust my instincts. You didn’t trust my words or my intentions. But I trusted you enough to leave everything behind and go to a foreign place where I barely comprehend the language. You constantly left me alone. I lost my job, and still, I trusted you, but you didn’t trust me.
“I don’t have a choice but to move in with you, even if this disaster hadn’t happened. I would never keep you away from your baby. That also means I have no choice but to co-parent with you as well, but I will not be with you. All the love I’ve ever had for you will be withheld, locked up tight. No matter how much you help me, no matter how
much money you spend, how many times you apologize, you will never be able to make up for losing my trust and belief in you.”
She held my gaze for a moment before walking away. When she reached her door, she paused before getting inside.
“I have a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday. I’ll text you the details—if you care to go. It’s not like you believe this baby is yours, right?”
A minute later, her minivan was backing out of the driveway. I stood in the middle of the yard, alone in the cold, staring down the street in the direction she went in, long after she was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lydia
I squeezed my thighs together and anxiously drummed my fingers on my knees. “What is taking so long?” I muttered, glaring at the ladies behind the glass as if they had anything to do with it.
Marco reached for one of my hands, but I snatched it away and transferred my glare to him. He sighed. “Be patient. It has only been a few minutes.”
“Easy for you to say. You don’t have thirty-two ounces of water sitting in your bladder.”
It was about a week after my return from Italy. Marco unsurprisingly flew in to take me to my doctor’s appointment. We’d spoken a few times out of necessity, but I refused to entertain any of his attempts at intimacy or listen to his apologies. The flowers he’d sent the day after I came home to a disaster went into the trash, because I hadn’t wanted to enjoy them, even accidentally.
If I were as heartless and cruel as I wanted to be, I wouldn’t even have allowed him to participate in anything baby related until he or she was born. Instead, when he offered to pick me up for the appointment, I accepted. Driving still made me nervous some days, and there was fresh snow on the ground from a fast-moving storm a couple days ago.
I filled out a ton of paperwork, and like Dr. Battista had done, Dr. Gray asked a lot of questions about my history with my other pregnancies and general health. Marco had listened intently, repeated many of the questions he’d had in Italy, but was much calmer this time. He didn’t have to ask if the doctor had anything to “shove up in there” to check the health of the baby, because Dr. Gray already had her own plans to do that very thing.
