by Jillian Dodd
“Yeah. I mean, it’s what was expected of us. We’d graduated college and everyone was asking when we were getting married. It seemed like the next step. But I’d had the ring for two months when she said she was going to Seattle without me. Every time I thought about proposing, something stopped me. So I think it was meant to be. Overall, she wants different things out of life than I do. She’s so serious. Everyone always said that it was good we were opposites. I know opposites attract, but you still need to have the same basic core values, the same goals in life. She didn’t know if she wanted to have kids. I don’t want them right now, but I definitely want them. Family is important to me, even more so after what happened with Whitney. I spend a lot of time with my nieces. I’m totally their favorite uncle. Speaking of that, you didn’t do a shot last night. You knocked up?”
I bite my lip, trying not to smile.
“Ha! Knew it!” he says. “Congratulations.” He goes and pours two shots. “And to prove just how happy I am for you, I’ll drink a couple shots in your honor.”
“You look sad,” Riley says as he sits down next to me.
“I’m watching my baby sister dance with a boy. She looks so pretty and grown up tonight. It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that I used to rock her to sleep.”
“My parents always say they blinked and we were all in college. I think you’re doing the right thing, taking time off after you have the baby. And I think we should take the offer to sell off Captive.”
“I don’t know if I could ever sell it, Riley. It’s our baby.”
“Yeah, and we blinked and now we’re going to send it off to college. Dallas thinks we should take the offer too.”
“I know he does and I don’t want to downplay his role, but he hasn’t invested in it the same way you and I have.”
“We’ve invested in it with our lives. Don’t you think it’s time we get them back?”
“You know I want to slow down. It just sounds too perfect to be true.”
He leans back and holds his arms out. “You know what they say about me. I’m the king of romance. It only makes sense that Captive Films gets a happily ever after ending too.”
I smile at him.
“You look beautiful tonight, by the way. You really are glowing.”
“This dress is a good color on me.”
“It’s more than that and you know it. You’re happy. You’re pregnant and marrying your true love in a week. It shows in your face. Except in the morning when Tyler brings you coffee.”
“The other morning when I was getting my ass handed to me by the board, he brought me coffee. I lost it and yelled that I never wanted coffee again.”
“What did he do?”
“Brought me back lemon tea and told me it helped his sister with her morning sickness. I hadn’t told him. He just knew. I know you pay him well, but if we do this, I want to give him a really big bonus.”
“Hopefully not so big that he won’t want to keep working for the new and improved Captive,” Riley says. “We need him.”
“I know. And I want employment contracts for all of the employees. Something that states if they don’t keep their jobs for at least two years, they get some sort of buyout.”
“I think Dallas can negotiate that.”
“Are you sure it will make you happy, Riley? You love your job. Love doing deals. We won’t have that anymore.”
“Deals are fun, but they aren’t my passion. You know that.”
“I didn’t know if your passion has changed. You’re a really good executive.”
“If we do this smaller company, I want Dawson to take over as CEO. I’ll help, but I want to produce again—”
He stops mid-sentence and stares into space.
“Earth to Riley.”
“I think I know when it happened.”
“What happened?”
“It was about three weeks before graduation. We were sitting here, just like this, at our year-end athletics banquet. Ariela went home that weekend and missed both it and our soccer game the next day.”
“I remember the game. You kicked the winning goal, sending us to the playoffs.”
“When I was at the banquet, she texted me. Just a sad face. When she got back, she cried about missing the banquet.”
“You won a lot of awards.”
“And she cried when she heard I kicked the winning goal and she missed it,” I say.
“It wasn’t the first or the last time you kicked a winning goal.”
“I know, that’s why it was weird. I think it was more. I think that’s when her parents must have told her whatever they did to convince her, or force her, to go to Princeton. It was her dad’s dream. She studied like crazy to get good grades because of it. But what I don’t get is why she would marry freaking Collin.”
“Because he was there, probably. He liked her. Her parents liked him. It was the probably the path of least resistance.”
“Sounds caveman of me, but all I can think about is that she slept with him.”
“I think you two just dealt with it differently, Riley. You never let anyone in. She pretended to let someone in but didn’t. It’s hard to replace a once-in-a-lifetime love.”
“Honest to God—no bullshit—do you think we could work now? After all this time? I’m such a different person than I was back then.”
“I wish I could answer that. I think only you and Ariela can decide. When you slept with her, you said it was different. Did you sleep with anyone in Vegas?”
“More like many someone’s,” Dallas says, laughing and setting another drink in front of Riley.
“Actually, I didn’t,” he says.
“What do you mean?” Dallas asks. “Knox said you had two hookers in the bedroom, maybe three.”
“We hooked up but I didn’t have sex. I tried. I couldn’t.” He buries his face in his hand.
“What aren’t you telling us?” I ask, touching his arm.
He points down at his pants. “It wasn’t cooperating. I got pissed. Told the hooker it was her fault and I wasn’t going to pay her. I think that’s when she stole my wallet and ran out.”
“Which then started the naked party parade.”
“Yeah.”
“You were probably just too drunk to maintain an erection, dude. It happens,” Dallas says, slapping Riley on the back and then walking off to talk to someone else.
“But you know differently, don’t you, Riley?” I ask.
“Yeah, I know it was because of her.”
Vanessa’s Estate - Holmby Hills
DAWSON
I’m nervous as I pull up to Vanessa’s home in the Range Rover that showed up in my garage a few days ago, complete with a booster seat for Harlow. I’ve been so busy at work that I hadn’t even realized that I couldn’t fit the girls and their bags into the Ferrari. Thank goodness I mentioned they were coming to Tyler. He literally thinks of everything.
“This house looks like a castle,” Harlow says, echoing my thoughts. “Is Vanessa a princess?”
“You’ll have to ask her that,” I say absent-mindedly. I knew Vanessa’s ex-husband was wealthy, but I didn’t expect this. My heart drops into my stomach, knowing I could never give her anything that compares to this. Even with what I’m earning now, I probably couldn’t even qualify for a mortgage, not with a foreclosure on my credit history.
I remember the day so vividly. The girls crying and saying they didn’t want to leave their house. What if Mommy comes back and we aren’t here? Living with my parents was what we all needed though.
Although, I didn’t know it at the time.
I was still in shock. I couldn’t believe what my life had become. My wife had killed herself. I was broke, with two little girls to raise on my own. I didn’t care about my job anymore and a had mess of financial disbelief. I couldn’t face the reality of what Whitney had done.
Still can’t, really.
But at least we’re moving in the right direction.
“Dad, it says yo
u have to press the button if you want the gate to open,” Ava says, bringing me back to the present.
“Or you could say Open Sesame!” Harlow giggles from the backseat.
“Thanks, honey.” I roll down the window and hit the call button. When Vanessa’s butler answers and says, “May I ask who’s calling?” the girls giggle again.
Harlow says, “We aren’t calling, we’re visiting.”
“Dawson, Harlow, and Ava Johnson,” I reply politely as the gate opens and we drive through it. “Remember, girls, you are to be on your best behavior.”
“We will be,” they sing.
“Grandma told us . . .” Harlow says.
“Harlow!” Ava warns.
“What were you going to say, Harlow?” I ask her.
“Grandma told us not to scare Miss Vanessa away. We won’t, Daddy. We promise to be good.”
I run my hand through my hair and take a deep breath. Clearly, it’s time to have a chat with my family. I’m also praying the girls like the school we’re visiting on Monday. I need them here with me.
Part of me wants to turn around and drive off. I don’t know what I’m doing. Vanessa and I haven’t been together since I told her about wanting to spend time alone with the girls. The tabloid article was right. I was chasing after her all night trying to figure how to make it up to her.
I was shocked when she called this morning, told me she had fallen asleep early and didn’t get our call last night.
I’m hoping it means that she’s not still upset.
But I really don’t know what to expect.
As I shut off the car, the girls are already hopping out and running to Vanessa, who is waiting for us in the doorway. She’s decked out in full equestrian wear. Sleek fitted black pants that mold her body, tucked into black riding boots. I look down at the jeans and flannel shirt I’m wearing.
“Are you a princess?” is the first thing out of Harlow’s mouth. “Your house looks like Prince Eric’s castle. Is there an ocean in the back?”
Vanessa laughs and gives her a hug. “I’m afraid I don’t have an ocean, but I do have a pool.”
“And horses, right? Daddy said we get to ride.”
“Yes, I thought we’d start with that.”
I greet Vanessa with a kiss on the cheek and can’t help but wonder how this could ever possibly work. I feel a little like the pauper going into the princess’ house.
I get over myself and enjoy the beautiful day. We ride horses together and then the girls go for a swim. Afterwards, her chef helps them make their own pizzas.
“This is the best day ever,” Harlow says, her mouth full of gooey cheese.
“I’m glad you’re having fun,” Vanessa says. She’s gone out of her way to be nice to the girls, but she hasn’t given me any clue as to how she’s feeling about me. Part of me wonders if she’s decided we should just be friends.
“What are we gonna do next?” Ava asks.
“We probably need to head home pretty soon,” I tell them.
Vanessa grins at the girls. “What if we had a slumber party instead?”
“A slumber party! A slumber party!” they chant.
“Please, Daddy?” Harlow begs. “I swear it wasn’t just the money. We really did want to see Miss Vanessa.”
Vanessa glares at me with a raised eyebrow.
“I can explain,” I say to her.
Shit.
“No, I can explain!” Harlow yells, wanting to be the center of attention. “So, silly Uncle Cam told us that if Daddy didn’t use it, it was going to fall off.”
“He was talking about his heart,” Ava interrupts.
“Basically, my nosy brother paid the girls twenty dollar each to make sure that I hung out with you while they were here.”
Vanessa laughs, thank god. And for the first time all day, I feel myself relax.
“I think I need to meet your Uncle Cam,” she says to the girls.
“He’s very silly,” Harlow says. “Every time he sees me, he lifts me up in the air, turns me upside down, and shakes me to try and get the dimes to fall out of my pockets.”
“Why do you have dimes in your pockets?”
“We plan spoons for dimes when we’re all together. Harlow wins a lot,” Ava says.
“Your dad did invite me to meet your family for Thanksgiving. Should I bring dimes?” Vanessa asks.
“You probably better bring a lot, unless you are lucky like me,” Harlow says, pointing to her chest.
“Okay, girls, why don’t you take your plates into the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher, then we’ll get ready for bed.”
“We don’t have pajamas,” Ava points out. “We only brought our swimsuits.”
“Oh, I didn’t think of that. Maybe you could borrow one of Vanessa’s t-shirts.” I turn toward Vanessa. Hell, she probably doesn’t even own a t-shirt.
“I’m sure I can find something. Let me go look.”
Once she is safely out of earshot, I say, “Girls, I know we’re having a slumber party, but that doesn’t mean you can stay up all night. It means you get to sleep here.”
“So it’s a sleepover, not a slumber party,” Ava states. “There’s a big difference.”
“Yes, exactly. It’s getting late and we’ve had a busy day. When I say it’s time for bed, Harlow, that means you have to go to sleep, or we’ll go home.”
“Okay, Daddy,” Harlow says. She gets up, washes her plate off and puts it in the dishwasher, showing me she means it.
“I found some T-shirts,” Vanessa says, handing the girls shirts with movie posters for one of the Trinity movies on the front of them.
While they run into the bathroom to change, I take Vanessa into my arms.
“Thanks for today.”
“I’m sorry I’ve been acting so crazy, Dawson. I don’t have any excuse other than this is new to me. The way I feel about you. The way I already feel about them. The other day, when I left your office so suddenly, it was because . . .”
Harlow runs out of the bathroom. Make that, zooms out, pretending to be the airplane on the front of her shirt. She zooms down the hall and then zooms through the living room, her arms spread out wide.
“Harlow, don’t run through the house, please,” I say, interrupting Vanessa. Then I turn my attention back toward her. “You were saying you left my office the other day . . .”
CRASH!
I look up to see Harlow crashing into a small table and sending a very expensive looking vase flying through the air.
I let go of Vanessa and run, trying to catch it.
But I’m too late. It falls to the ground and shatters.
“I told you not to run in the house!” I yell.
“Harlow, you klutz!” Ava screams. “You’re going to ruin everything! Vanessa will make us leave and Dad’s heart will dry up and he’ll die too! And then we’ll be orphans!”
I stop in my tracks.
My children are afraid I'm going to die?
I take a deep breath and speak softly, wrapping both girls in a hug. “Ava, lower your voice. I'm not going to die. I'm not a dolphin.” I turn toward Vanessa. “I'm sorry, we should probably go. We'll figure out a way to pay you for the vase.”
Vanessa hasn’t moved and I’m worried she’s going to blow. Her body is still but her eyes are moving wildly across the room.
Harlow walks over to her with tears in her eyes. Her bottom lip is puffed out. “I’m very sorry.”
Vanessa looks at Harlow like she just realized we’re still here.
Then she bends down to Harlow’s level and touches her hand. “It's okay, honey. There's a lot of breakable stuff here.”
“I shouldn’t have run in the house. I know better than that.”
Vanessa smiles at her. “You know what. I think sometimes you need to run in the house. In fact, I feel like running in the house.” She takes off running. “Come on!”
The girls react first, quickly following her around the kitchen islands. As they run
by me, Vanessa grabs my shirt and says, “You too.”
I have no idea what Vanessa is doing, but I follow.
We run through her house and I realize we haven't even seen half of it.
It's huge.
We run down hallways filled with rooms for entertainment then around two bars, down a hall, around a pool table.
Through a smoking lounge, den, and poker room.
A movie theater.
A dance floor.
Another lounge.
Then we run up a flight of stairs to a long hallway covered in deep plush carpet.
Down another long hall. Through bedrooms of different colors.
Then Vanessa stops in front of a door at the end of a hall.
She's breathing hard.
And just staring at the door.
She reaches out and touches the door’s handle, almost like she's afraid of it.
She finally turns the handle and throws open the door to a giant playroom—filled with a multitude of toys and huge stuffed animals.
“Whoa!” the girl say at the same time, their eyes big as they run, skip, and jump from one thing to the next.
Vanessa still hasn’t entered the room. She’s just staring into it.
And I get the feeling that opening this door was like opening her heart.
I can’t help but wonder if this room has something to do with the baby she lost.
“This is an amazing room.”
She turns to me.
And I know by the look on her face and the tears in her eyes, that I'm right.
It's amazing the pain another person can cause you.
Vanessa is tough. She's a strong business woman. Smart, beautiful, but she's as broken as I am.
And she just needs someone to love her.
To have the same hopes and dreams as her.
I think.
No, I’m going with my gut on this.
And I know I’m right.
I pull her into my arms and kiss her right in front of the girls.
“You want me to let go of the guilt, but you haven't, have you?”
She brushes away a tear, like she's mad it even dared to fall.
I move her hand away from her face, by pulling it to my lips and kissing it.
