by ANDREA SMITH
“I want to know why you have hired someone to take my shifts. What is it that I am supposed to do?”
“You don’t have to do a thing, Gina. Stay home - wherever that happens to be at the moment. You will still share in half the profits. I just think it will be better this way.”
“Better? Better for whom, Tristan?”
“Better for both of us,” he replied, looking away from me. He stood up, raking a hand through his thick, dark hair. He turned away from me as if it was painful for him to face me.
“What? So you can’t stand the sight of me now?”
“I didn’t say that, Gina. I just think for now it is better for the business if we don’t become some soap opera to entertain the staff and patrons. I don’t want us to become some humiliating sideshow.”
“Oh, I get it. You feel like people think I’ve made you look like a fool? You allowed Ian to succeed in doing exactly what he set out to do haven’t you?”
“Gina - I don’t want to discuss this now. I’m not up to it.”
“When Tristan? When will you be ready to discuss it?”
“I’m not sure. I just know that it’s not now.”
“I see. So you’re not comfortable having me here; you’ve got this all played out in your head already, don’t you? Well let me tell you this, Tristan. I should have told you about Ian and I hooking up once I found out I was pregnant. The only reason that I didn’t was because first and foremost, I thought he was sterile. Secondly, I guess I didn’t want you to think badly of me for jumping back in the sack with my low-life cheater husband. I mean we both know I couldn’t have had much pride in doing that, right?”
“Stop it, Gina,” he snapped, turning back around to face me. “This is my problem to deal with, not yours. This has dredged up memories for me that have nothing to do with you. This has caused me once again to question my own judgment. Having you near is a constant reminder of that. If you insist on staying here, I will simply hire someone to take over for me as co-manager and return to Bristol to run the winery.”
I panicked now. I couldn’t let Tristan see how panicked the thought of him going away made me. I couldn’t bear it if he left Atlanta. That would mean that it was truly over and it couldn’t be. My mind was screaming, ‘Baby come back!’ Outwardly I remained composed.
“No Tristan, I get it. It’s not a problem. I think I could use some time away myself. Maybe I should pay a visit to my mother in Hoboken. It’s been awhile.”
“Okay then,” he said, quietly. “I will take care of things here. Please don’t worry.”
“I won’t Tristan. Goodbye.”
I wasn’t sure how I had managed to collect my things and find my way back to Jo Anna’s apartment, but I did. I refused to shed another tear over this. It wasn’t good for me; it wasn’t good for the baby. I just needed to know that Tristan would stay in Atlanta. I needed to know he wasn’t done with me.
I booked a flight to Newark leaving at 7:18 that evening; I phoned my mother and told her what time to pick me up at the airport. I left a note for Jo Anna. I phoned Tylar to let her know. She insisted on driving me to the airport. I looked down as the plane lifted from the runway and watched as Atlanta disappeared beneath the cloud cover. What I needed right now was not in Atlanta; I needed the comfort of my mother. I hadn’t needed that in a long time, not since my heartbreak over Ian. It was what I needed now, once again.
CHAPTER 3
The two weeks spent in Hoboken with my parents had been therapeutic for me. Once I had gotten my mother to calm down; things had gone smoothly. She was tickled at the prospect of being a grandmother again. This baby would be her second grandchild; the same as for the Sinclair’s I thought. My brother and sister-in-law had a six month old baby boy, Ethan. My mother had no shortage of pictures to show me.
My dad was a quiet man. He hadn’t said a lot about any of it. My mother was the vocal one of the two. My dad had caught me later in my room. He had told me that everything would work out; he said Tristan needed time to digest what Ian had said. A man had his pride, he had advised me, pulling me close for a hug. He told me not to judge Tristan too harshly; he assured me that he would come around. It had made me feel better. My mother’s first reaction had been to hunt Tristan down and geld him; she was ‘east coast’ that way.
Mom had taken me shopping for maternity wear. She had tried to convince me to stay in Hoboken with them. I loved my mother, but there was no way in hell I could have made it through my pregnancy without killing her or her me; that much I knew. She asked me what last name the baby would carry. I hadn’t even thought about that. She urged me to take my maiden name back and have the baby carry the family name as well.
“You are a Valenti, Gina,” she had said, “You and the baby should carry that name with pride. We are Italians. Italians are proud people and they understand the importance of family during good times and bad.”
“Okay Mom,” I had replied, “I think that’s a plan. I promise; I will consider it.”
She had hugged me tightly at the airport; tears streaming down her cheeks.
“I will be with you when the baby comes, Gina Marie,” she promised. “You call me when you get back to Atlanta. Mothers worry.”
“I will Mom. I love you.”
Tylar was waiting for me near baggage claim after my flight had arrived. She spotted me quickly, coming over to hug me.
“How are you doing, Gina?”
“I’m good,” I replied, honestly. “It was good being with Mom and Dad. I feel better. How are things going with you?”
“We’re settled in the house. Jean will be moving in sometime within the next few weeks. Tristan’s been out there a couple of times.”
“Really,” I said, feigning disinterest. “That’s nice.”
“Yeah, I think he’s come to terms with the situation.”
“What situation is that?”
“Come on Gina. Stop acting as if you don’t care. You love Tristan, remember?”
“Loved,” I corrected her, “I loved Tristan once.”
“I don’t believe for a minute that you suddenly don’t love him anymore, Gina. That is just you being stubborn and putting up one of your protective walls.”
“Oh, is that what I do?”
“You know it is. Look, Trey had a talk with Tristan. He told Tristan he was being an ass. He told him that he would regret his actions if he didn’t make it right with you as soon as possible.”
I found it difficult to believe that the ‘Hot Nazi’ would have jumped to my defense like that. What was up with that?
“Trey came to my defense? Has hell frozen over and no one told me?”
“Stop,” Tylar laughed, “Trey is a reasonable person and he knows that Tristan over-reacted on this. I mean the truth will be out eventually, right? How stupid will Tristan feel after the baby is born and he sees that it is his and that he has lost you?”
“Why are you so sure that the baby is Tristan’s?”
“I just am,” she said, shrugging. “I’ve never doubted it.”
We got my suitcase and headed out to the parking lot.
“So, do you want me to take you to Jo Anne’s or to Tristan’s?”
“Tylar, what makes you think Tristan is going to welcome me back? What makes you think I even want that at the moment?”
She rolled her eyes, clicking the remote to unlock the hatch on her SUV.
“Fine,” she said, “Where to?”
“Jo Anna’s.”
Jo Anna updated me on how things were going at the club since I had been gone. She made it a point to tell me that Tristan had been spending twelve to fourteen hours a day there.
“It’s as if he has no place to go home to or no one,” she remarked. “Not that Sunny minds him being there so much. She is offering to take anyone’s shift for them just so she can hang out with Tristan.”
“Hmm, perhaps she has some sort of ‘daddy’ issues,” I replied impassively. Inside my blood was boiling. I
pictured Sunny’s face at the receiving end of my fucking fist.
“Daddy issues? Come on, Gina. Sunny is like two years older than you are, so what are you saying? Do you have ‘daddy’ issues?”
“Why are you telling me this, Jo Anna? What can I possibly do about it?”
“The Gina I know would claim what was hers,” she remarked with a shrug.
“Yeah, well I’m not about to go down there and claim someone who has made it perfectly clear that he is no longer mine. How hard up do you think I am?”
“Just sayin,” she replied with a smile.
“Payroll is out tomorrow though, isn’t it? Perhaps I will stop by to pick up my check. I’ll see if Tylar wants to go shopping in town.”
Tylar picked me up the following afternoon. Trey was working at home with a new junior partner that had started at the firm. Her name was Amber Stratton. It was obvious that Tylar didn’t care for her one bit.
I was half-listening to her rant and rave about the bitch. Something about her having big, brown eyes, shiny brown hair, pouty lips, and graduating at the top of her class from Stanford Law School. She was convinced Amber wanted Trey; yada, yada, yada.
I was focusing on what Jo Anna had told me about Sunny. Had she only done that to see my reaction? If that was the case, I was pleased that I hadn’t given her one. I was doing very well these days in keeping my emotions under check. That included my Italian temper. I was especially pleased with myself about that. I truly hoped that tempers couldn’t be genetically passed down.
Then I thought about Jo Anna. She was a friend to me. She wasn’t my BFF like Tylar, but still, I couldn’t picture Jo Anna telling me the stuff about Sunny for the purpose of upsetting me. She didn’t roll that way. She was trying to warn me. In her own way, she was letting me know that if I did still love Tristan, I needed to take action of some kind. It was clear to me now; Sunny wanted Tristan.
“So what is your take, Gina?”
“The bitch wants him,” I snapped.
“I knew it!”
(What? I hadn’t even told Tylar about Sunny!)
“Who are you talking about, Tylar?”
“The same person I’ve been talking about for the last ten minutes, Gina; Amber Stratton, the new partner that Trey is mentoring at the firm. Who did you think I was talking about?”
“Sunny,” I said, my cheeks now warming in anticipation of seeing her at the club. The bitch better not be sniffing around Tristan. I still had the authority to fire her and any other bitch that looked at him that way. In fact, I may just use my authority to incorporate some new hiring guidelines. The first guideline would be that any new hires had to be approved by both owners. That should solve a few problems.
“Who the hell is Sunny?”
“Really, Tylar? Do you always come late to the party?”
When we arrived at the club, Tylar parked and turned her car off.
“I’m just going to be a minute, Tylar. I’m just picking up my check.”
“I know. I just want to say ‘hello’ to Tristan. We don’t see him as much as we used to and I wanted to invite him out this weekend for dinner on Sunday. That’s about the only day he doesn’t spend hours on end at the club.”
“Yeah, so I heard,” I replied with a shrug. “Suit yourself.”
I had taken pains with my hair and make-up this morning. My hair was growing out and I liked the way it framed my face in a softer, more feminine look. I had visited a colorist when I was in Jersey. I had her tone the blond highlights down and put some low-lights in as well. It brought out my brown eyes which my mother had always claimed was my best feature.
I was still fitting into my skinny jeans, though they were a bit harder to button these days. My bulky sweater managed to cover the tiny bump nicely. My boobs were bigger than before. I secretly hoped that Tristan noticed. He was definitely a breast guy.
I popped a piece of bubble gum into my mouth. It was my crutch for when I was nervous. I didn’t want my mouth turning to sand if by chance Tristan and I managed a conversation. There was nothing worse than getting dry mouth when you had something important to say. My stomach was doing flip-flops.
It was only a little after one in the afternoon. Tristan would be in the office getting the payroll checks ready to disburse. As soon as Tylar and I entered the club I saw Sunny stocking the main bar. She had a couple of customers sitting there drinking beer.
“Well hey, Gina! I heard you were back in town,” she greeted me sweetly, as if we were old friends.
“Who’s that?” Tylar whispered as we crossed the room.
“Sunny,” I hissed under my breath, snapping my gum.
“Oh shit,” Tylar commented softly.
“Hi Sunny. Is Tristan in our office?”
“Sure is, hon. I just popped in there a few minutes ago to get my check and he is working away like always.”
I turned to Tylar.
“I need a minute with Tristan, Ty.”
“Sure,” she replied, nodding her head. “I’ll just go over and get acquainted with Sunny.”
I walked to the hallway that led past the kitchen and to the office at the end. The door was shut. We had moved the office downstairs after we had remodeled. The old office upstairs had been torn down to open up the loft to add room for the second bar.
I gathered my nerve and tapped lightly on the door.
“It’s open,” I heard Tristan’s voice from the other side.
I opened the door and went quietly inside, closing the door softly behind me. Tristan didn’t look up. He probably thought it was one of the employees coming in for their paycheck.
“Hey Tristan,” I said, softly. He looked up immediately, his eyes meeting mine.
(Oh God, I’ve missed him so much.)
He was on his feet immediately, closing the distance between us. He stopped in front of me. I wanted him to touch me but the next move had to be his.
“Gina,” he breathed, pulling me to him, “I am so sorry, Gina.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face into his chest. I was in his arms again. It felt so right.
“Can you forgive me, Gina?”
I nodded against him. I was afraid to speak. I just needed him to keep holding me.
“Can we talk about what happened?”
“I’m not sure what there is to say, Tristan.”
He pulled back from me to study my face. He raised my chin so that my eyes met his. I could see the confusion on his face. The truth was I could forgive him just as I knew that he could forgive me. I just wasn’t sure that I could forget how he had made me feel with the things that he had said to me that night. The weeks of silence that had followed had convinced me that Tristan hadn’t cared enough to work it out. I had suffered through it alone.
He pulled me over to the couch. He sat down, pulling me down next to him.
“I don’t understand, Gina. You said you forgave me.”
“Tristan, I do forgive you; I hope that you will forgive me for not being upfront with you from the start. That was wrong. I know that now. I’m just not sure what it is you want to talk about.”
He nodded, waiting for me to continue.
“I just can’t forget so easily the things that you said to me. It was like you were someone else; someone that I didn’t know. It was scary, Tristan. Then you hired someone to replace me here. You said you didn’t want to be around me. That hurt even more.”
“Gina baby - I just had to sort it through. It was like I told you then; it stirred up some memories.”
He was brushing my hair back with his hand. He framed my face with his hands; he lowered his lips to mine kissing me sweetly and softly. His touch melted me, as always. I shivered as I felt the familiar goose bumps.
“Are you cold, babe?”
“I’m fine,” I said, resting against him.
“I’ve missed you so much, Gina.”
“I’ve missed you too, Tristan.”
“Can we have dinner
this evening?”
“Where?”
“How about at the apartment?”
“Tristan - I’m not sure that would be a good idea.”
I knew we would end up in the sack and as much as I wanted him right this second, I wasn’t sure if that was the healthiest thing to do at the moment.
“Anywhere you want then.”
“Pick me up at Jo Anna’s at seven,” I said, “We’ll decide then where to eat.”
“Okay, babe. I’ll be there.”
I got my check and told him that Tylar wanted to say hello to him. He walked me out to the bar where Sunny was obviously bending Ty’s ear about something. Tristan’s hand was on the small of my back as we walked over to Tylar. I saw Sunny’s expression change as soon as she noticed. I smirked inside at her obvious displeasure.
(That’s right, bitch. He is still mine, all mine . . .)
Tristan and Tylar conversed for a few minutes while I pretended to listen, watching Sunny in my peripheral vision. She was trying to act busy but I could tell she was eavesdropping on their conversation.
“Ready, Gina?”
(Hmm? What?)
“Oh yeah. Let’s go.”
Tristan pulled me back to him. “Don’t I get a kiss goodbye?”
I saw Sunny’s head snap up out of the corner of my eye. She was making no attempt to hide the fact that she was watching us. I heard Tylar snicker softly on the other side of me.
“Sure, babe,” I cooed sweetly to him, tilting my head up.
He lowered his mouth to mine; his kiss was a bit more passionate than before in the office. His lips and tongue worked my mouth expertly.
(That’s right, baby. Give me some tongue in front of Sunny.)
Too soon the kiss was over. My face was flushed. Damn.
“See you at seven,” he said, as he kissed the tip of my nose.
“Yeah - seven.”
Once Tylar and I got back into her car she immediately turned to me.
“Oh my God, Gina! Sunny so wants Tristan!”
“I knew it! You did tell her that he was mine, right?”
“Actually, no.”
“What the fuck, Tylar?”
