through my veins. Knowing she might have even been out of the hospital already if everything had gone as planned. My heart clenched. It had to have gone as planned. They both had to be okay.
Late into the night, I had to concede that I couldn’t drive any farther, even in the four-wheel-drive vehicle we’d rented. We pulled off at the next exit and found an all-night diner to hold up in while the sky continued to throw down more snow than I’d seen in decades.
When morning came, we had to wait for the snowplows to dig out the roads. We had to wait while I dug out the rental car. It had been the longest, most miserable forty-eight hours of my life, but as the sun rose over the mountains, casting a pink shade over the pure white that surrounded us, I felt hope rise within me.
I’d see her today. I’d see her and our baby. At least I’d be able to start the new year on the right foot. With both of them at my side.
If she took me back. If she accepted my apology.
She’d told me not to come back if I left, and I’d gone anyway. I’d said things I knew weren’t true. I’d accused her of loving her family more than me. I’d accused her of getting pregnant on purpose.
I’d been angry, but if I was honest, I’d been angrier at myself than her. Frustrated by my inability to weld our two worlds together in the way I’d intended. Frustrated I’d been unable to reconcile her love and loyalty to her family with my love and loyalty to mine. I’d been certain I could. With all my supposed skill as a businessman and a leader in our industry, finding a solution to our location issues should have been a breeze.
It was as if I’d thought I could find a portal that allowed me to shuttle back and forth from Scotland to Tennessee at a moment’s notice. Why it had taken me so long to find my own real-world portal, albeit a slower one, I didn’t know.
What I did know was that I was going to fight to get her back. I would fight with every single part of me, and I wasn’t leaving without her and the baby with me. I would fight to be the person right at her side. She had family. She had friends. She didn’t need me, but I desperately needed her. I would never be whole without her.
Edie
EVERY CHRISTMAS
“Santa isn't listening, no
And I'm losing hope.”
Performed by Kelly Clarkson
Written by Eubanks / Clarkson
Looking at my bright, beautiful family made the ache in me for my own that I’d lost flood my senses even more. Tears pooled in my eyes. I had no desire for anyone to see me crying when tonight was supposed to be a celebration, so I stepped out onto the landing. I took my phone from my pocket and tried Garrett one more time.
The mailbox was now full. I couldn’t even leave a message. So, I called his secretary again—the one on vacation and not returning calls.
“Hi, Myra, it’s just Edie again. Can you please have Garrett call me as soon as you get this? Thanks.”
The door to the event room opened, and Mayson came out with his own phone to his ear.
“Sorry, say that again?” He stopped when he saw me. “No, that’s great. Really great. Grace and Cole will be thrilled… Thanks so much, Dylan… Happy New Year.”
He hung up and smiled a huge smile at me, excitement bursting from him. “Eric Friedman is going to read the script and then come in and do a reading for us.”
Even I, lost in my book and library world, knew that Eric Friedman was the hottest new black actor on TV. Getting him to try out for a part in Mayson’s movie was huge.
“Oh, Mayson, that’s amazing,” I said and hugged him.
He looked down at my little girl, and his face broke into a huge smile again.
“She’s amazing,” he said. I nodded because she was, but tears also hit my cheeks.
“Eds…” His voice was choked as he put an arm around my shoulder again. “I wish he was here so Ty and I could throw him in the lake like we did Cayden.”
I was shaking my head. “It’s my fault. I made him choose.”
The door opened as Mayson said, “He chose poorly.”
“I think it’s time to ask yourself, what do you believe in?” Grace said. She looked gorgeous