Bedroom Diplomacy(57)

“But it was you who dumped him. He probably thinks you don’t want him to call.”

“You can’t dump someone you were never actually with.”

She would never go crawling back to him. Begging him to love her. She just couldn’t. Even though she loved him. Loved him with all her heart.

“I think I’ll take Dylan to the park,” Rowena said, getting up and dumping her breakfast in the garbage. “Want to come with?”

“Can’t. I have a ton of homework.”

Tricia had taken Rowena’s place as manager of the senator’s day care, and had also signed up for weekend and evening college classes. It would take a long time, but she was determined to get her teaching degree.

Rowena herself was loving her new job, and Dylan was making lots of new friends. It was nice getting out every day, meeting new people. And one of the dads was clearly interested in Rowena. He was divorced, well-off and very handsome, but when he asked her out, she just couldn’t work up the will to say yes.

There was also Rick, Tricia’s neighbor. He was cute, but at twenty-one, too young and a little too bohemian for Rowena’s taste. There was always some art fair, poetry reading or foreign film he wanted to take her to, although most of the films she’d seen lately had had animated characters in the starring roles. Eventually she would start dating, but right now she wasn’t ready.

While she was in the bedroom getting dressed, Rowena heard a knock on the front door. If it was Rick, she hoped Tricia would blow him off for her. She really hated hurting people’s feelings. He wasn’t a bad guy. Just not the guy for her.

A minute later Tricia knocked on the bedroom door. “Someone here to see you.”

Or maybe she would make Rowena do it, after all. With a sigh, she opened the bedroom door, expecting to see Rick standing in the apartment doorway. Instead it was Colin. Dylan was wrapped around his legs, hugging him.

“Look, Mummy! Cowin here!”

“I see that,” she said, forcing a smile, and suddenly her heart was hammering so hard, it could have beaten out of her chest. She realized that she had been so convinced she would never see him again that she hadn’t bothered preparing what she would say to him if she ever did. But this didn’t mean anything. For all she knew, he could just be in town and stopping in to say a quick hello. Although she wasn’t quite sure how he knew where to find her.

“Come on, Dylan,” Tricia said, grabbing her backpack. “Let’s go to the park.”

“But I wanna see Cowin,” he said with a pout.

“You can see him later. Mommy needs to talk to him alone right now.”

“’Kay,” he said reluctantly. “See you wayter, Cowin.”

Colin smiled down at him. “You bet.”

When they were gone, Colin turned to her. He looked so yummy in faded jeans and a white button-up shirt, and very rough around the edges. His hair was longer than she’d ever seen it, and it looked as if he hadn’t shaved for days.

“How did you know where I was?”

“I was going to hire Hayden Black.”

“The private investigator?” Wow, he must have really wanted to find her.

“But he was out of state on the hacking case. So I asked your father. I told him the truth about everything.”

“Why? Why would you risk all the work you’ve done?”

“Because no treaty, no favor to my family, is worth losing the only woman that I’ve ever been in love with.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “Come again?”

“I love you, Rowena.”

“You do?”

“With my entire being. And believe me, I tried not to. I tried to tell myself that I would get over it, then I realized I didn’t want to get over it. When I was with you I was the happiest I’ve ever been. And I never knew it was possible to miss someone the way I missed you and Dylan.”

“You missed Dylan, too?”

“I don’t know the first thing about being a good father, or even a good husband, but I want to try. And I promise to keep trying, keep working at it until I get it right.”

It felt as if her mind was racing a million miles a minute. Was this really happening? Was the man she loved telling her that he loved her, too, or was it just a dream?

“Am I too late?” he said.

“No! Not at all. I love you, Colin. I’ve been miserable since you left.”

“You couldn’t have been half as miserable as I was.” He took her hand and pulled her to him, and her entire being sighed with relief.

He cradled her face in his hands and kissed her gently. “I’ve been so worried about you, wondering if you and Dylan were okay. If you needed anything.”