Dangerous Curves Ahead: A Perfect Fit Novel (38 page)

“No.” She shook her head. “She’s mad but she’ll forgive me. She always does.”

“Not this time. You betrayed her.” He turned away. Walking out was his only safe option.

“I didn’t,” she called after him. “I—I was testing you. I wanted to make sure you really loved her.”

“Bullshit! You weren’t testing me. You were trying to hurt her. I used to blame Jack for her being so screwed up but it’s you. You’re her sister. If you can’t love her how can she expect anybody else to? Do us all a favor, Dina. Drop off the face of the earth.”

*   *   *

Ellis hadn’t been able to get out of bed in two days. She physically couldn’t manage, and she hated herself for it. She hated that she was so weak. When she had dumped Jack she swore no other man would ever have the power to hurt her like this. But Mike had managed to sneak in and steal her heart. It would be a long time before she got it back. If she ever did.

Phillipa crawled in bed with her as she had numerous times since Ellis had begun squatting at her parents’ house. “Do you want to eat, honey? Please say yes. Your father has been outside the door pacing like a madman. He’ll get you whatever you want. He said he’d even drive into the city to get you those bialys you like.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“I know, sweetie.” She smoothed the hair off Ellis’s face and kissed her forehead. “I know you feel like dying. Is it wrong that I’m secretly enjoying your misery because it gives me the chance to baby you?”

“Yes. It is. It’s very, very wrong.” She reached for her mother’s hand. “And I do feel like dying. Why is that?” A fresh wave of tears formed. “I thought I was stronger than this.”

“You’re not weak. You’re devastated and if you thought you could go on like everything was normal after you walked in on your sister kissing the love of your life, you’re delusional.”

“But I broke up with him. I’m supposed to feel empowered, not like shit.”

Phillipa sighed. “I wanted to ask you about that. Why did you break up with him?”

“I should have never dated him in the first place. I knew Dina was never going to be okay with us. He’s the reason we didn’t speak—”

“No, Ellis. That’s not a reason. Mike has nothing to do with you and Dina. She had a hard time accepting you when we brought you home. She hated Walter, and she hated the fact that he loved you so much when her own father couldn’t be bothered with her, and she took it out on you. I blame myself because I tried to overcompensate to make her feel loved and in the process I was harder on you. But you had such potential and I need for you to know that I have always loved you just as much as I love her, even if it didn’t feel that way sometimes.”

Her voice grew raspy as her tears started to flow. “I should have stopped it when you two were little. I’m sorry that she did this to you and I’m sorry that you’re in so much pain now, but you know I can’t throw Dina away. I’m not expecting or asking you to forgive her but I can’t cut her out of my life, even if I’m disgusted with her behavior. She’s my daughter, too, and I still love her.”

“I know, Mom.” Ellis hugged her mother tightly, hating that she was so upset. “I’m not asking you to do that, but I’m done with her and I need for you to respect that.”

“It kills me that my girls can’t get along, but I will respect your wishes. Your father isn’t allowing me to give her any more money and he’s right. I should have made her be responsible for herself a long time ago.” She pulled away from Ellis and stroked her cheek. “I’m going to try harder to put your feelings first from now on.”

“I never felt unloved by you, Mom. I don’t want you to think I did.”

She shook her head. “Then why are you throwing Mike away?”

Ellis froze for a moment. The same thought had snuck into her head more than once.

You’re a big dumb dummy. You shouldn’t have let him go.

“I’m not. I just—”

“You are. If you can give me one good reason to leave him, I’ll never mention it again.”

“He deserves—” she started.

“Not a good enough reason. If you’re ever going to be happy you’re going to have to let your guard down and take the risk.”

Chapter Twenty-eight

“I can’t look at your ugly face anymore, Edwards,” Colin said in disgust.

“Then go home,” Mike retorted, not lifting his head off the couch. It was Saturday night and for the second weekend in a row Mike chose to spend it parked in front of the television with a couple of cold beers and an industrial-sized bag of potato chips. He hadn’t bothered to get dressed that morning, only brushed his teeth to wash the bad taste from his mouth. Colin had taken it upon himself to spend every free moment he had with Mike, hovering over him like an anxious mother hen. It was unnecessary. Mike wasn’t going to off himself. He wanted to be alone.

“No, because if I leave you’ll piss away the rest of the night alone. So what, your girl dumped you like a moldy sack of potatoes. You’ve been walking around like a zombie for the past two weeks. It’s time for you to stop wallowing in your own filth and get back out there and on top of somebody else.”

“I love her,” he said. He didn’t want anybody else but he wasn’t as depressed as his friend thought, either. He was more pissed off than anything.

“I know you love her! Call her, for fuck’s sake. Tell her you want her back. Tell her you’ll do whatever she wants.”

“Not going to happen.” He scratched his new growth. “She walked out and I’ll be damned if I go after her. She should have trusted me.” He had been waiting for days for her to come back, to come to her senses and realize that she was throwing away a good thing.

He’d bought a fucking engagement ring for her. He wanted to marry her. He wanted forever with her. Hell, he still did. He stopped himself from pulling it out of his drawer a hundred times. His pride wouldn’t let him go crawling back to her. He didn’t want his proposal to seem like it was groveling.

He knew Ellis well enough. He knew that she wouldn’t believe a proposal at this point was genuine. So he kept his mouth shut. He was through chasing after a woman who couldn’t trust him enough to be faithful.

“You shouldn’t have kissed her sister.”

“I didn’t,” he yelled. “You know me better than anybody else. You know I would never cheat on her.”

“Yeah well, I also know how you were a couple of years ago. Haven’t you been with more women than you can count? And didn’t she walk in on you as you were about to shag her sister in her bed? Damn it, Mike you’ve got to admit that she had a valid reason to disbelieve you. Hell, she should have never given you the time of day in the first place.”

“She didn’t want to,” he mumbled, disgruntled. Damn Collin. A few words from him and he was ready to throw his principles out of the window. He glanced at his phone as thoughts of calling her entered his mind. He shook the feeling off. She broke up with him. He would not go after her. “I’m not calling her.”

Colin jumped out of his chair and winged the cordless phone at Mike, causing him to wince as it connected with his stomach. “Do it. I know how you feel. Breaking up with the woman you love feels like having your balls ripped off. I couldn’t have Serena back but you can make things right with Ellis. She loves your sorry ass.”

Mike looked at the phone and then back to Colin, struggling with his decision. He knew she loved him, which was why he was having such a hard time accepting the breakup.

“Call her, Mike.”

The phone rang and Mike answered it before he had time to make up his mind about Ellis.

It was Lara. Her words so rapid he could barely make sense of what she was saying. But the message sank in and fear took over.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He stood up and tossed the phone on the coffee table.

“What’s wrong?” Colin stood, too.

“It’s my mother. She’s hurt.”

*   *   *

Ellis stared bleary-eyed at her dress form. “If I keep this up I’m going to need glasses before I hit thirty.”

She had been hand-beading for the last three days. The dress looked spectacular; every time she looked at it she was amazed that she could create such a garment. Even though the dress was glorious as it stood, she still had two days of intricate work ahead of her. Audra wanted more beading. She told Ellis that she wanted to blind her guests when she walked down the aisle. Ellis sighed at the request but agreed even though she thought it was slightly tacky. Audra’s mother was good for business. The woman had gone as far as setting up a meeting with a buyer for a large bridal salon for tomorrow. There was talk of mass-producing Ellis’s dresses for the world. Ellis Garret could be a household name.

It was exciting and happening faster than she could process. It could be life changing, but Ellis wasn’t as over the moon as she expected herself to be. For the past two weeks she had been numb to everything. Her business was booming, she and her mother were closer than ever, and for the first time in nearly a year she wasn’t afraid of not being able to pay her bills. But instead of wanting to shout from the mountaintops she wanted to crawl into bed and fall asleep.

“Ellis.” Colin walked into her office, his face drawn.

Ellis’s stomach dropped to her shoes. She sat down, not wanting to hear what Colin had to say. She knew he had something important to say because her ex-boyfriend’s best friend wouldn’t be here unless he did.

“If he’s not okay I don’t want to know.” She buried her face in her hands as nausea rolled through her. She couldn’t bear the thought of him … not in her life.

“He’s in Buffalo. His mother had a stroke while she was driving and was in a bad accident. They aren’t sure if she’s going to make it.”

“Oh no.” Ellis removed her hands from her face. She was torn between relief that her love was okay and tremendous worry for the most important person in his life. “How is he?”

“How do you think he is, love? She’s in critical condition at Buffalo General.”

He walked out then. His message was unmistakable. She had a decision to make.

*   *   *

The slow steady beeps of his mother’s heart monitor were driving Mike insane. Smells of the quiet ICU attacked him. Antiseptic mixed with fear and death plagued his nose. Coughing, the soft murmurs of visiting families, the hushed tones of the hospital staff as they shared grave conversations flooded his ears, and for the past ten hours he had absorbed it all. Somehow it robbed him of the energy to lift his head. So he stared at the space on the floor between his feet. He couldn’t look at her anymore. The woman in the hospital bed wasn’t his mother. The face he could clearly picture in his mind was distorted. Her smooth white cheek was now a deep purple and swollen to twice its normal size. Her head was wrapped in a bandage, sewn up with more stitches than he could count. She hadn’t woken up since he’d walked in the door countless hours ago. Coma. The doctor had told him it was the best thing for her at the moment. The injury to her head was critical, and deep unconsciousness was best for her healing.

She had to pull through this. Mike demanded it, not only to extend her life but for his own selfish reasons. She needed to see her grandchildren grow, to see him marry the girl he loved.

He was alone with her now. His sisters were gone for the night, each with a family and a life that had to keep going despite this. They had husbands and families to surround them, to keep them propped up, while Mike felt as if he were sinking into the ground.

He heard soft footsteps enter the room and didn’t bother to look up. All day nurses had been in and out to check on his mother. After the fifth hour he stopped waiting for an update on her condition. There was no change. The doctor had no answers for him. She couldn’t even tell him if his mother was going to live or die.

Soft fingers ran through his hair, and he inhaled. The scent of vanilla, soap, and sweet spice infiltrated his senses and blocked out the nauseating hospital scent. He was dreaming, missing Ellis so much that he could almost feel her touch on his skin.

“Mike?” Lips brushed his forehead. “It’s late, baby. Come with me.”

*   *   *

Mike couldn’t stop staring at her. He was afraid she was a mirage, but she wasn’t fading away. She stood before him in the hotel room she had rented, her hair damp, her body wrapped in a fluffy white towel. He didn’t expect her to be here, not after what had happened with Dina.

He grasped her hand, bringing it to his mouth to kiss the backs of her fingers. “You’re here.” He spoke for the first time. He had been so overwhelmed before that he couldn’t force the words out.

“Where else would I be?”

At her store. Phillipa still spoke to him. He knew about her meeting. He knew about the chance she had to make her dreams come true. She couldn’t miss it for him.

“What about your meeting?”

She ran her fingers through his hair. “What about you?”

The back of his throat burned as he pulled her down next to him on the bed and hugged her tightly. “I don’t know what I’ll do if she doesn’t make it.”

“Mikey…” She kissed his cheeks. “I wish there was something I could say to make you feel better.”

She didn’t have to say anything. She was with him and that was enough. He pushed her down on the bed. Unshed tears stung his eyes. Her smell, the way her full soft body felt pressed into his, her sweet words made him realize how much he needed her in his life. How could he have let her walk away?

“Baby.” She wrapped her arms around him as his chest heaved, kissing the tears from his face. He slipped his hand beneath her towel to touch the soft flesh of her belly. He just needed to touch her, to feel her to remind himself that he wasn’t alone anymore. The tears streamed down his face a little harder. He squeezed his eyes shut, nearly choking as he tried to stop them from flowing.

“It’s okay, love,” she soothed as she ran her fingers through his hair. “Don’t try to stop them.”

It was then he broke, all the emotions that he’d felt for the past two days flowing out of him.

Chapter Twenty-nine

Letting It Go

I was cleaning out my closet and I came across the sexy little one-piece I bought last season. Immediately thoughts of the last time I wore it came crashing back to me. “Your thighs are too big to be walking around in that one-piece. You should be wearing the fat-old-lady kind with the skirt attached.” I immediately told myself to shut it. I was tired of wearing bathing suits that looked like they were made for a seventy-year-old. But then that same little horrible voice said, “Is that cottage cheese you’ve got growing back there?” At that point, tired of feeling nutso, I shoved it back in my closet behind my old prom dress. It’s winter; I’ve got six months before I have to think about that again.