she’s having trouble finding herself. Since she’s never been much of a housekeeper, I suggested she look under the bed. How’s work going, Addie? You mentioned it, but only briefly.”
“The lookout is kind of isolated. I’d rather talk inside. Or right here.”
“There’s more to do than talk.” He took her elbow and tried to urge her into the passenger seat.
“Talking is really all there is for me. In fact, I don’t know what more there is to say.”
He reluctantly closed the passenger door. “I’ve been thinking about us,” he said. “I think our relationship was good, then we got derailed. Ran amok. I admit, I made a lot of mistakes.”
“Mistake number one—you shouldn’t have gotten involved with a student. You were married. It was a disaster just waiting to happen.”
“You got pregnant,” he said. “I just assumed...” He shrugged.
“I don’t know what I was thinking, taking a chance like that. I was in love. You said you were getting divorced. You said your marriage had been bad for a long time, but it wasn’t all that bad if you managed to make a baby with your wife.”
“So many misunderstandings,” he said. “Marriage is complicated. There are good days and bad days. You can be talking about divorce but then your wife is pleasant and you don’t just refuse to—I can’t explain it easily. We had talked about divorce, but we hadn’t taken any action. And you’re right, I shouldn’t have gotten involved with you, but then you shouldn’t have gotten involved with me, either. You were old enough to make good decisions.”
“I should make one now,” she said, her voice low.
“Don’t be hasty, darling. We both made mistakes, but what we had was powerful. Brief, but amazing.”
“Do you plan to pressure me?”
“Not intentionally. But having you back in my life has taken over all my thoughts. And here we are, different people. Older, smarter. And you’re more beautiful than ever. I don’t know how that’s possible, but—”
“I lost a little weight,” she said.
“I don’t remember you as overweight,” he said.
“Most of that happened after,” she said, meaning the pregnancy.
He turned toward her, pulling her in for another kiss. “See what I mean?” he whispered. “When we are together, it’s like fireworks. I know we had our misunderstandings, but don’t they seem small now?”
They did not seem small, she thought.
I don’t know why I kept letting him come back.
That thought came out of nowhere and she recognized the voice—one of their clients who had been in a dead-end relationship said it had been her own fault. Every time her deadbeat boyfriend came back, full of apologies and promises, she let him. He rarely worked, didn’t help out with the kids, she hadn’t done anything with her life and she was thinking of taking him back yet again just to make the rent.
Why did I always feel like I needed a man, that man, in my life when he never did anything to make my life better?
How many similar stories had Addie listened to in the months she’d worked at the office? She was thirty-two, for God’s sake! Hadn’t she learned by now not to listen to empty-headed sweet talk that had no real substance to show for it?
Adele pushed Hadley away. “No, this is not going to work. Not like this.”
“Like what?” he asked, reaching for her.
She pushed him away again. “It’s not going to be like this. We stumbled into each other, had a talk about our failed relationship, cleared the air and now you seem to think we’re just going to get back together. We’re not.”
“I just think we should try it out. Act on our feelings, see where we stand...”
“I’m going home now, Hadley,” she said.
“Addie, don’t be angry just because I’m in love with you!”
“And don’t say that,” she admonished. “You couldn’t possibly be in love with me. You know what? In eight years you never called me, but it turned out you only needed a few days to find my phone number.