Romance: Unlikely Love Boxed Set - A Billionaire Romance Series (Romance, Contemporary Romance, Billionaire Romance, Unlikely Love Book 4)

by Nancy Adams

  He was silent for a long moment and I forced myself to look up to see if he was still there. He was, and the look in his eyes hurt. I could see clearly the disappointment there. It pained me to know that I’d disappointed him, and I tried to swallow back tears.

  He laughed humorlessly. “Well, that’s not the reaction I was hoping for, but I’m sure this is the last conversation you expected to be having tonight.”

  “Yeah,” was all I managed to say.

  “I’ll let you get back to your mom.” He then kissed me again and said, “I love you.”

  I gulped and he laughed. “I plan to say it often. That way, you can get used to hearing it. I’ll give you your space, but it won’t mean that I’ll love you any less.”

  And with that, he turned away and went back to his car. He honked his horn once, waved to me and was gone. I just stood there, trying to digest all that happened.

  “Did Jay just say that he loved me, and did I just respond by pretty much telling him to get lost?” I whispered to myself, still in a state of shock. I walked back into my home and closed the door. I was so out of it that I didn’t notice my mom sitting on the couch attempting to light a cigarette until she guiltily cleared her throat.

  “Please don’t light that in my home,” I said, more acerbically than I intended. I was feeling angry, resentful and downright irritable.

  “Sorry,” she said with a shrug. “I was just trying to relax.”

  “Relax?” I said bitterly. “You’ve been asleep for close to ten hours. I’m sure you’re relaxed enough for the both of us.”

  “What’s wrong with you today? Why are you being so mean?” she said in Hungarian.

  I gritted my teeth and growled, “I’m angry because I had to convince an officer of the law to not arrest my mother for a host of crimes such as public intoxication, indecent exposure—”

  “Indecent exposure?”

  “Apparently you mooned someone,”

  She giggled. I hadn’t heard her laugh in so long that I smiled too. Her laugh had always been contagious, and I remembered hearing her laugh a lot before Dad left. After Dad had left, she rarely smiled, yet alone laughed, but for some reason I could see pieces of who she used to be as she put down her cigarette. Her giggles turned into deep belly chuckles and I began to laugh as well.

  When I was able to take a breath, she patted the couch next to her. Reluctantly, I sat down. We just sat there in silence, not looking or speaking to each other.

  Finally, I broke the silence. “What happened this time, Mom? And why are you here? You didn’t tell me you were coming.”

  She sighed. “Of course I didn’t tell you. You made it plainly obvious how you felt about me meeting up with your father.”

  My face hardened as I said, “Of course, this was about Dad. When will enough be enough, Mom?”

  “Sarah—”

  “Don’t! Just don’t! I’m done! Ok?” I yelled. “I spent my teenage years picking up after the broken version of you he left behind and I’ve spent my adult years watching you become less and less of the person I loved—”

  My voice broke, and Mom refused to look at me. She kept her hands folded and her expression impassive.

  “He left us, Mom. Why won’t you just let him go? He comes back and wreaks havoc. He doesn’t care about you,” I said, feeling terrible, but knowing that I had to tell the truth. “And he definitely doesn’t care about me. Not once, when he came home, did he ever ask about my life, or go to one of my school events or even bother to learn the names of my friends. We were just his safety net, somewhere he knew he could crash until he moved on to the next stage of his life. He didn’t want us, Mom. He didn’t want to be our family. We were just convenient for when he needed a place to sleep or, in your case, someone to worship him.”

  Mom flinched and I knew I went too far, but I was angry. Angrier than I could ever remember.

  “I’m sorry—” I said, not wanting to hurt her, even though I knew that I had.

  “No. I should be the one apologizing. I messed up. I don’t deserve you. Your love. Your time. I was a fool.”

  “But nothing will change, will it Mom?” I said, wiping again at tears. “When he beckons, you go running. Did you know that he got remarried?”

  She closed her eyes then and her lower lip quivered. She was trying to hold back tears, but was unsuccessful; a few slipped down her cheeks. “I had my suspicions, but I was in denial. How long has he been remarried?”

  I opened my mouth to answer but she cut me off. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. I can’t handle being a drunk, deadbeat mom and an adulteress.”

  Neither of us said a word for a while, until finally she spoke again. “I did come to Massachusetts to meet up with your dad, but he stood me up.”

  She laughed at herself harshly, but in that laughter all I heard was sadness, and all I felt was pity. I didn’t say a word. I just waited for her to continue. “I made myself a reservation at a fancy rehab center in Arizona as soon as I realized what happened.”

  I looked at her in surprise.

  She shrugged nonchalantly. “Apparently this old dog can learn new tricks. I do want to change. I do. You deserve better. So much better than this,” she said, gesturing to herself.

  “You’re my mother and I love you. Faults and all.”

  She squeezed my hand and said, “I know honey, but it’s about time for me to start loving me too.”

  “So when do you leave?”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll get out of your way soon.”

  “I don’t mean it like that, Mom. You’re always welcome here.” I stood up then and said, “I’m proud of you, for taking a step to do better. Unbelievably proud of you.” I hugged her briefly and then headed to my bedroom.

  “Oh, Sarah?” she called from the couch.

  “Yes, Mom?”

  “I heard a man’s voice outside. You’re seeing someone?”

  I felt ridiculous as my cheeks turned red. I felt like a teenager caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to.

  “Are you guys serious?” she asked.

  “I—uhhh—I think so. I mean, I know so. Yes, we’re serious.”

  She smiled. “I’m glad, but honey, be careful.”

  “Be careful?” I said, not understanding.

  “Be careful with love, Sarah. People are right. It’s much stronger than hate. I hated your father for destroying our family, but I loved him too much to do anything but accept him back into our lives whenever he wanted. Don’t be like me. Don’t give up who you are or the things that are important to you for love. It’s just not worth it.” And with that, she disappeared down the hall towards the guestroom.

  I tried not to focus on her words as I prepared for bed that night, but it was difficult. What if she was right? Maybe I needed to be careful. Things were moving quickly between me and Jay. He wasn’t Dad, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of doing what Dad did. Heck, I didn’t even think Dad was capable of that until he did it. With conflicting thoughts, I fell into a restless sleep.

  Chapter Ten

  I dropped Mom at the airport and expected to be happy, but her departure was bittersweet. I knew she wouldn’t get better overnight and she had tried Alcoholics Anonymous before, but I had faith in her. I felt that this time, just maybe, things would work out. Her words to me still bothered me though. I knew she wasn’t trying to discourage me from finding love. But her warning about losing oneself in the desire to be loved really stuck in my head. I couldn’t stop thinking about what her words meant in regards to my relationship with Jay. Jay and I were from two different worlds. His parents came from wealth. I came from a struggling, working-class family. My mother abused alcohol. His mother sat on the board of multiple charities. Ultimately, I felt that I related better to animals, while he was amazing at reading people.

  I began to doubt whether or not he could be truly happy with me in the long run. And did he really love me or did he love the idea of loving me? Would it tu
rn out like a situation with my parents, where he would wake up one day and realize that he no longer wanted to be a part of my life? Even though I still wasn’t sure of my own feelings for him, part of me knew that if he abruptly left me, I would be crushed and probably swear off love. I wouldn’t be like my mom. I wouldn’t keep hoping and praying that my marriage would come together. As I was pondering those things and driving aimlessly, I received a call from Eleanor. To my surprise, she was crying softly.

  “Eleanor? What’s wrong?” I asked, immediately pulling over. Several angry drivers honked at me, but I didn’t care. I considered Eleanor a friend and needed to know she was alright.

  “He found out.”

  “Who’s he?” I asked, genuinely not following.

  “Hugo!”

  “Ok, start from the beginning—”

  “I—Oh God, this is hard. Can you just come over?”

  I nodded and then realized that she couldn’t see me. “Of course. Where are you?”

  “My place. It’s an apartment complex off of State Street. You can’t miss it. It’s yellow and has a giant koi pond in the front. It’s the ugliest building in town, you can’t miss it,” she repeated.

  I knew exactly which apartment complex she was talking about. “I’ll be there in ten.”

  “Thank you,” she said, half-sobbing. My heart hurt for her as I hung up and made my way to her part of town. I didn’t know what she had to tell me, but part of me wondered if it had something to do with her past. I’d never asked any questions; I just hired her on gut feeling, knowing that my mom thought highly of her. But now I wondered what skeletons could be hiding in Eleanor’s closet that would make her so afraid of Hugo finding out.

  * * *

  I pulled up to her building, which bordered the forgotten part of town. It was a part of town that I was very familiar with given that I’d grown up in it. I parked in front of her complex and noticed her standing there with her arms folded across her chest. She was wearing jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. And she looked a mess. Her hair was sticking up all over her head and her normally meticulously applied makeup was a no show today. She started chewing her nail as I approached and I realized her large eyes were red, most likely from crying.

  “Do you mind if we walk a little bit? I need to clear my head.”

  I nodded and we walked down the street. When the silence stretched on, I cleared my throat and said, “Do you want to talk about it? Talk about whatever’s going on?”

  At first, she said nothing, and I felt as if she wasn’t going to respond. But then, hesitantly, she began, “You know how I was the chemical dependency counselor for your mother’s group?”

  “Yes…She said you were one of the best.”

  “I was. I definitely was, and that’s because I could identify with the members of the group very well. Too well for my comfort, in fact.”

  I felt the last statement was really cryptic and so I inquired, “What do you mean?”

  She took a deep breath and blew out a sigh. “I used to abuse prescription drugs, Sarah. And getting clean was what made me want to become a counselor, so that no one else would go through what I went through alone. After the military, I suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. When I first became a chemical dependency counselor, I was so optimistic and hopeful. But then I watched my clients slip back into their old ways, and after a while, being a counselor started to drain me. That’s why I left. I had to get away.” She stopped and sat down on a bench in front of a bus stop and I joined her.

  “So what’s wrong? Did someone from your past come around?”

  “No. Nothing like that. I was just trying to run from myself. And I realized that I was through running. So I told Hugo. I just wanted to be honest with him. I wanted him to truly know the person he was going to marry…” The tears started falling.

  “And how did he react?”

  “He didn’t react. That’s just it. He just got up and walked away from me. He didn’t say a word. He just walked away. I called after him, but he just kept on walking. I waited an hour, assuming he would cool down by then and called his cell. I called a million times. And I texted. No answer. I’m starting to panic. What if he doesn’t want to be with me anymore?” She started sobbing then, and I wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

  “It’s okay, Eleanor. It’s just a lot to process. I mean, how long ago did you tell him? I’m sure he just needs time to process it all.”

  “I told him last night,” she said sniffling.

  “Hugo loves you. He’s not going to end it just because you might have made some bad decisions a long time ago. That’s in your past. And when you love someone, you love all of them. And your history, your experiences, good or bad, are all part of who you are and the reason you’re the person you are today. And that’s the person he fell in love with. And trust me, he loves you so much. It’s clear in how he looks at you. How he treats you. He would give the world for you. He just needs time to process what you told him.”

  “What if that’s not true? What if he doesn’t love me anymore?”

  “That’s not how love works, Eleanor. Someone doesn’t just stop loving the other because they find out something questionable about them.”

  “You don’t know that,” she said wiping her nose with her sleeve.

  “Actually, I’m sort of an expert on this subject,” I joked, thinking of my mom’s love for my father. Eleanor looked at me curiously. “But anyway, I do know that when someone truly loves the other, they accept them for who they are, baggage and all.”

  “What if this baggage is just too much for Hugo?”

  I sat there quietly and said, “Then he’s not the one for you.” She looked away from me, but reached out and squeezed my hand and then softly began to cry. I held on to her, letting her cry. It was then that I saw the car—Hugo’s car, to be exact. He spotted us, did a U-turn and pulled over.

  I pulled away from Eleanor who was still crying. “Ummm, Eleanor?”

  She looked up, batting her eyelashes against the glare of the sun, and then her eyes grew wide when she spotted Hugo. “Oh my God!” she said and began attempting to fix her appearance in vain.

  Hugo, expressionless, stood there looking down at her. They stared at each other and then Eleanor said, “If you’re going to break up with me, just do it.” She folded her arms across her chest and looked away from him defiantly.

  “I’m not going to break up with you. Why would I break up with you?”

  She looked at him from over her shoulder. “You’re not?” Hope had finally entered her voice.

  “I love you, Eleanor. I…I couldn’t be without you if I tried,” he said, coming over to her, kneeling down and taking her by her hands.

  I took that moment to excuse myself, wanting to give them privacy. I saw him let go of her hands and gently take her face between his hands. Whatever he said next must have been a winning statement, as I heard her laugh.

  I walked back to my car, knowing that everything between Eleanor and Hugo would be alright. But what about between me and Jay? No, we weren’t fighting, but he had exposed his emotions to me and I had let him leave without talking about my own. But how did I feel about Jay?

  I had told Eleanor the truth. If you love someone, you do accept them for who they are. And hadn’t Jay done that? But yet I was doubting the sincerity of his declaration of love. And instead of focusing on building something with him, I had been too focused on my mother’s warnings to realize that I wasn’t losing myself or compromising myself by loving Jay. If anything, accepting Jay’s love made me feel stronger, confident and secure. It didn’t matter that our backgrounds were so different. I couldn’t let my insecurities come in between us, and after my mom’s words, I had seriously considered running away from Jay like I had done with other men in my life.

  I had spent so much time making up excuses about why I couldn’t be with anyone that I pushed everyone away. But Jay was different. He hadn’t given up on me. In fact, he had f
ormed a friendship with me and worked daily to build on it. Little by little, he had worked his way into my heart, and I didn’t realize it until now.

  I drove straight home and sat down on my couch. I didn’t know what to do next. I didn’t know what to do now. I had never felt this way about anyone before. And it was scary. Knowing that I was surrendering to love scared me more than I ever thought it would.

  So I did what I always did when I had to make a big decision or when my life took a weird turn—I called my friends.

  Marie picked up first. “Hey, you!” she said happily when she heard my voice. “I was just thinking about you. Do you think you could come to the baby’s Christening ceremony?”

  “What? You already had your baby?!”

  Marie laughed. “No, silly. I’m just making plans because Ezra and I were talking about having a party for Baby’s baptism.”

  “Oohhhkay,” I said, not knowing what she was talking about. “Sounds great!”

  Marie was quiet. “You sound distracted. What’s going on?”

  I blurted out, “Jay said that he loves me.”

  “Oh my God!! That’s wonderful.” She then yelled to someone in the room, “Jay’s in love with Sarah!”

  I heard applauding, whistles and cheers and sighed. “You’re at the resort?”

  “Yep. It’s drum circle night, and the baby sleeps surprisingly well after drum circle.”

  I didn’t question it. I was still getting used to this new hippie version of Marie. Instead I said, “What do you think I should do?”

  “About what?” she said, clearly clueless.

  “You know, about Jay?”

  “Umm…love him too?”

  I sighed. “You’re not helping.”

  “I’m trying to be helpful, but I don’t understand the dilemma.”

  “What if, I don’t know, I’m not good enough for him? What if he leaves me like my dad left my mom? What if he just up and decides he doesn’t want to be with me anymore? What if—”