Plan Cee (Secrets, Lies, and Second Chances Book 2)

by Hilary Grossman

  Cecelia: OK fine. U R right, I do want to come. At work now… Taking half day. I’ll be over at 1-ish. I’ll bring lunch.

  “Wow, this place is beautiful,” Cecelia commented as I opened the front door of the townhouse, which led directly into the state of the art kitchen. “Look at those appliances.”

  “You’re always full of surprises.” I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in for a kiss. She was wearing a loose-fitting floral sundress. Her long red hair was tied up on top of her head in a messy ponytail. And she smelled amazing. I smiled. “I would think the woman who could barely boil water wouldn’t know a Wolfe from a German Shepherd.”

  “Just cause I can’t use them doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate them.” She let out a whistle. “Man, whoever owns this house sure put a lot of love into this kitchen. How come they rented it anyway?”

  “They’re spending the summer in Europe. I’ll never understand some people. This place is paradise. Why they’d ever choose summer to leave the beach is beyond me. I’m not complaining. Their loss is our gain.” I reached for the paper bag she was holding. “Give me. Let’s have lunch on the deck and then we can hit the beach. I already called for chairs to be put out for us right by the shoreline. And I made sure to get an umbrella too. I can’t have you burning again, like last time.”

  She looked at the ground. “Thanks. Good thinking. After all, I’d have a rough time explaining to Bryce why I got a sunburn when I was supposed to be in back to back meetings all day.”

  I didn’t comment. I hated when she mentioned his name, and she always managed to somehow bring him up every time we were together.

  I led her to the deck where I had a bottle of white wine chilling in a silver ice bucket. I poured her a glass, and she set out the lunch she brought. She outdid herself. There was hummus, crackers, three types of cheese, large olives, white and purple grapes, a chunk of Italian salami, and sliced tomatoes with basil and fresh mozzarella.

  As we ate, even though we kept the conversation light, I couldn’t help feel frustrated and confused. Her comment about her husband noticing her getting sunburnt haunted me. Part of me felt bad. I knew this was putting her in an awkward position with him, but ever since our first dinner together she never said no to me when I suggested us spending time together. Yes, she usually hesitated, like today. In the end, she never disappointed me. So clearly she wanted to be with me too.

  I really knew nothing about her relationship with him. Whenever she mentioned his name, I changed the subject quickly. I haven’t asked her one question about him, her marriage, or even her children. I guess I should know if she was happy with him, but I honestly don’t care. All I cared about was getting what I wanted. And I wanted her! I was a man who was used to getting what he wanted.

  I poured the remaining wine into her glass, emptying the bottle. “Lunch was delicious, thanks.”

  She groaned. “I thought it would be light, but I ate so much. Ugh. I’m going to look like a beached whale.”

  “Never,” I said as I stood up and took my tee-shirt off. “Ready to head down?”

  She took a final sip of wine as she eyed my chest. “Still working out regularly, I see, counselor.” Her green eyes twinkled. She then stood up and slowly took her sundress off. She grinned, “I’m ready too!”

  “Um, what’s the deal with that bathing suit?” I asked with a frown.

  “What do you mean? I bought it especially for you. I thought you’d like it. It’s gold,” she beamed.

  I shook my head. “You have no business wearing a one piece, Doll.”

  “I had twins. Remember?” She smacked me on my rear end. “We all can’t be in the same shape we were twenty years ago.” She didn’t try to hide the fact she was eyeing me up and down, which turned me on. “And for the record, your honor, I kind of hate you for it.”

  “Come,” I reached for her hand. “Let’s go.” She grabbed her bag, and we walked slowly on the grass and passed the development’s practically empty pool. I opened the gate that led to the beach.

  “Wow!” Cecelia exclaimed as she looked from the right to the left. “When you said it was quiet here I didn’t expect there to be no one on this beach. This is nuts!”

  “I know. Pretty crazy, huh? Personally I don’t get it, but I am not complaining. When the real estate broker told me it’d be like this, I didn’t believe her. It’s always empty. Even on the weekend, there are only a handful of people here. It is so weird.”

  “I think it is heaven. Once I sit down I’m never going to want to leave.”

  I adjusted the orange beach chair so it was positioned perfectly under the umbrella. “That’s exactly what I’m counting on, doll.” I stole another kiss before she sat down.

  I yawned and opened my eyes slowly. I realized I must have dozed off. I turned my head and stared at her. She looked so relaxed.

  Cecelia rested her Kindle on her lap. “Oh, good morning, sleepy head. You had quite the snooze going on.” She crinkled her face. “You still snore, loudly, by the way.”

  “So I’ve been told.”

  She gave me a closed mouth smile and picked her Kindle back up and focused her attention on the device. It was funny. She was the married one, yet when I made any reference to women, she clammed up. It was adorable. I think she may be jealous.

  “You seem pretty engrossed in your book.”

  “Yeah. Sorry. I don’t have much time to read these days. Dylan and Donovan really keep me on my toes. By the time I get them to bed, I am usually pretty shot myself.”

  “Don’t apologize. I want you to enjoy yourself. What are you reading anyway?”

  She grinned, “A book called Dangled Carat. It’s about a commitment-phobic guy like you. I’m only about halfway finished, but I’m hoping, unlike us, the characters have a happy ending.”

  I leaned over and squeezed her thigh. “There is still time for us, you know.”

  She pushed her sunglasses up onto head. I saw sadness in her eyes, “Is there?”

  I stood up and reached for her arms. I pulled her up off of her chair so she was standing next to me. I engulfed her in my arms and kissed her neck by her collarbone. I kissed her again and again, each time moving an inch or so higher until I finally reached her hungry mouth.

  She moved her arms from my neck slowly down my back and rested them slightly above my ass. She held me so tight. I could barely breathe from desire.

  As I kissed her again, I ran my hand down her neck, over her shoulder, and then over her breast. I circled it with my thumb and then slowly slid my hand under her bathing suit so I could feel her bare skin. She moaned.

  I reached down, and massaged her ass. She lifted her right leg and wrapped it tightly around my waist, getting as close to me as possible. “Oh God,” I moaned. “I want you so bad.”

  She grabbed hold of my neck tightly and wrapped her other leg around me so that she was now completely in my arms. “Oh, Keith,” her voice was barely a whisper. “I want you too.”

  I didn’t need to hear anything else. With her in my arms, I walked back to the house, kissing her every step of the way. I carried her upstairs to my bedroom. I slowly laid her down on the bed.

  I ran my finger down her cheek. I stared into her eyes, “Are you sure?”

  She didn’t blink. She reached up and kissed me deeply. “Yes.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CECELIA

  I couldn’t stand it one more second. I felt like I was bursting at the seams. I needed to talk to someone. Now! I had no idea how I managed to get through last night without having a mental breakdown. It took everything I had in me to pretend everything was normal when I waltzed through my front door and greeted my unsuspecting family.

  Part of me feared, or possibly even wanted, Bryce to realize something was wrong the moment he laid eyes on me. But he didn’t. It was just an ordinary night at the Reynolds’ house. Bryce had barbecued chicken; the four of us ate outside, and then the boys chased fireflies until I had to
wrestle them to bed.

  On the outside, it was exactly like any other summer night, yet with every passing moment, guilt gnawed at me. I must have asked myself what I did a million times. Fortunately, soon after I managed to get the boys to sleep Bryce dozed in front of the television. Normally I’d wake him, but I didn’t want to talk, to face him. Instead, I grabbed a large glass of ice tea, which I spiked, and headed outside to the back deck. I couldn’t stop the tears even if I wanted to. I sent a text to Anna to see if she was able to talk. I desperately needed to cleanse my soul after giving Keith access to my body. Not only did I have to confess, I also needed advice. I knew I messed up big time and didn’t have a clue what to do next. She never wrote me back, and when I called her cell, I immediately got her voicemail.

  “Don’t you love me anymore?” I asked as I stood in the doorway of her office. “You never answered my text last night or even this morning.”

  Anna frantically typed away on her cell phone, then she tossed it to the side of her desk as if she was repulsed by it. She looked up with me with bloodshot eyes. “I’m sorry, Cee. I just couldn’t talk last night.”

  “What’s wrong?” My heart beat fast. Instantly I forgot my own troubles. “You look like you’ve been crying.”

  “Yeah, I have been.” She took a deep breath and reached for a tissue and blew her nose, loudly.

  “Is it the kids? Are they okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah. They’re fine.”

  “What about Cole? Connie? Your mother?” I asked in rapid fire.

  She gave me a closed mouth smile, “No. Everyone is fine. Well, physically that is.”

  I perched at the end of her desk. “What’s wrong then?”

  She shook her head from side to side. “Everything else.”

  “Are you going to tell me or are you going to make me guess?” Sometimes she was so dramatic, it was infuriating. Since I was already on edge, with my own nervous energy pulsing through my veins, I couldn’t stand the suspense.

  She ran her fingers through her hair and put it up in a messy ponytail. “So you already know all about Cole’s job and how worried he’s been.”

  “Yeah, of course. We’ve been talking about him being on an up and down roller coaster for months, ever since he found out about his firm’s acquisition. Did something else happen with the shopping center?”

  “Yep. It was stalled, indefinitely. It had something to do with permits or zoning or something. I don’t know. Without the project, the likelihood of him having a lasting place at the firm, especially with all the restructuring they have been doing, is pretty slim to none. He feared this would happen. He’s been preparing and reaching out to pretty much everyone he has ever worked with to see if they had any leads.” Then with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes she added, “His networking apparently paid off.” She reached for another tissue and wiped her eyes. “He landed himself a great new job.”

  “That’s wonderful!” I exclaimed. “I don’t get it. Why are you upset then?”

  “Because the job isn’t in New York. It’s in Boston ”

  “As in Massachusetts?” I studied her face. I couldn’t figure out if she was joking with me.

  She nodded slowly as another tear streamed down her cheek. “Yes. He got the offer yesterday morning. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime, and he’s over the moon excited. But if he takes it we’d have to leave New York. We’d have to move.”

  “Well, that’s not happening.” I answered as a matter of fact.

  She didn’t reply. She nervously started to unravel paperclips.

  “Seriously, Anna. Are you guys really thinking of leaving?”

  She shrugged her shoulders, “We have to consider it. Believe me, moving to another state is the last thing I want to do, especially now. I finally have a decent relationship with my mother. She and the kids have been getting so close. I don’t want to drag them away from her and Walter now. And don’t get me started about leaving Connie and Patrick. They have been my rocks even before Cole and I married. And you,” she reached for my hands. “I’d hate not seeing you pretty much every day too.”

  I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, “What about your job? Are you going to just walk away from it for his?”

  “That’s a whole other issue. I’m sure I can work something out so I can still be part of the team. After all, I already do work remotely part of the week. Let’s face it, work is truly the last thing on my mind right now, although I did schedule a meeting with Janice in an hour to let her know what was going on.”

  I cracked my knuckles, “You sure aren’t wasting any time. It’s like you already made up your mind to go.”

  She shook her head. “No, we didn’t. I didn’t.” She blew her nose again. “We talked the issue to death last night. I promised Cole I’d keep an open mind about it, and that’s what I am doing. I was up all last night, thinking.” She reached for her water bottle and took a large gulp. “I can’t decide what I really feel. Part of me is so sad and completely freaked out about leaving. I don’t want to move and leave the house where my kids were born. Another part of me is actually a little excited. Except for college, I’ve lived my entire life on Long Island. It would be fun to explore another state. And it would be liberating to be completely on our own. Sure, I love how helpful Connie and Patrick have always been. I also know I rely on them way too much. I honestly think it would do Cole and me a lot good to be more independent for a change instead of always being surrounded by his family.”

  “What about me?” Selfishly I had to ask. “Don’t I get a say in any of this? How can we not see each other all the time?”

  “I know. It’ll suck but Boston isn’t really that far away. It’s only about a four-hour drive. We can come back here so easily, and everyone can come visit us too.”

  A wave of nausea hit me as I contemplated life without Anna being so close, “On paper, it sounded perfect, but you won’t be back here so often. No one ever is. You’ll all get busy. You’ll have a new life there.”

  Her voice was barely a whisper as another tear streamed down her face, “I know. That’s my biggest fear.”

  “So when do you have to decide?”

  “We’re sort of lucky. Cole would be replacing someone who is getting ready to retire, so he’s flexible about timing, so there isn’t a major rush from the firm. Cole’s already been to the firm a few times, but I didn’t travel with him. I was pretty much in denial that this was a real possibility. I’ve actually only been to Boston once, for a long weekend, when I was in high school. So I know nothing about the area. We’re going to go up there in a couple of weeks, with the kids, to check everything out, look at some houses in the suburbs.”

  It was ironic how quickly life is sometimes put into perspective for you. The pained look on Anna’s face made me forget my own issues and indiscretions. I knew she needed me way more then I needed her right now.

  “Listen to me. For the record, the last thing in the world I want to happen is for you to move to Boston, but it is what it is. So if you end up hightailing it out of here, you’ve got to be smart about it. Don’t go rushing things.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When you go up there, focus on areas, don’t fixate on houses. Find a neighborhood you like, one with good schools, and nice stores and restaurants. Then, I can’t believe I’m saying this… Move as quickly as you can. You want the kids to be able to start school as close to the start of the year as possible. It’ll be hard enough for them to leave New York; you don’t want them to show up mid-term when everyone has already found their bestie. Whatever you do, don’t try to immediately sell off your house and buy a new one. First, you will make yourself insane. Second, financially it will be a disaster; you don’t want to rush these things. And third, before you commit to a new house up there, you want to be sure of the area. There is no way to do that in such a short period of time. Bryce has a friend from dental school whose wife grew up around Boston. She’s a great girl. I’ll
get you her number so you can call her and get some inside scoop.”

  Anna opened her mouth to speak. I didn’t give her a chance.

  “And not to be a Debbie Downer, but there is no guarantee the new job will work out for Cole. Sure, I have the utmost faith in him, but why give up everything here without really knowing what you are heading into. Doomsday scenario, he hates the position, you can just hop back in the car and resume your life here, in your old house. If by chance you all love it there, you have time to properly sell your house and eliminate some of the stress.”

  Anna beamed. “See. Reason four hundred and seventy-six of why I love you. You always know how to control a situation and take charge.”

  Guilt about my lack of self-control ate at me, “I wouldn’t say that,” I replied unable to look her in the eyes.

  “Well, you didn’t I did. You always know how to make me feel better about stuff, Cee.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s my job. That’s what friends are for. Don’t worry, Anna. Everything will all work out in the end.”

  “I know.” She gave me a small smile. “Life is just so unpredictable sometimes.” Anna reached for a tissue and dabbed at her eyes, “I always pictured Cole and me growing old in this house, hanging out with our grandkids there. I learned a long time ago planning is pointless. When we least expect it life throws us a curveball, and like it or not, we have to adapt.”

  Another tear rolled down Anna’s cheeks and I sensed she was thinking about her brother, Brody.

  I went around her desk and engulfed her in my arms. She’s gone through so much. “Whatever happens, you’ll be okay.”

  She whispered into my hair, “Yeah, I know.” Then she broke the embrace and looked directly into my eyes, “I’m sorry. You wanted to talk to me, and I have been droning on about my own problems. So what’s going on?”

  I opened up my mouth to speak, but then I closed it. Anna was going through enough. I desperately wanted to talk to her and get some advice, but I didn’t want to burden her further with the mess I was making out of my life by sleeping with my ex. “You know, it really wasn’t anything important.”