Dane(60)

It was funny how everything seemed to come full circle.

Except I was the one on the outside.

While sitting at the sports bar, I continued to try to get ahold of  Eden. Nothing worked, and eventually, I propped my elbows on the table  and dropped my head into my hands. I knew there had to have been a  solution, but I couldn't find one.

"Mind if I join you?" Someone sat down on the stool on the other side of the table.

I glanced up and just stared. She had long red hair, but it wasn't the  same. Her eyes were dark, but even under the dim lighting, I could tell  they were brown, nothing special about them. Her lips were colored pink,  not red. And they didn't have the same fullness as the set I couldn't  get out of my head. Nothing about this woman was right. She was all  wrong. Because she wasn't Eden.

"Actually, I do mind."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you expecting someone?" She seemed genuinely apologetic, but it didn't matter.

"No. I just want to be alone."

Her dull, brown eyes narrowed and she tilted her head slightly. "Having a  bad day? Wanna talk about it? I'm a nail tech, so I'm used to listening  to people's problems. I've been told I'm a good listener."

I couldn't help but feel like the universe was playing some kind of cruel joke on me.

"Hi, I'm Amanda," she said as she extended her hand across the table. In  the process of invading my privacy, she knocked over my pitcher of  beer, spilling the contents all over the table, into my lap, while  soaking my phone in the process. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry. Here, let me  help you clean that up."

"No need. I was about done anyway." I wanted to yell at her, curse her  for being so careless, but I just didn't have it in me. It was obviously  a mistake, and I could tell she felt horrible about it. Not to mention,  I was sure this was God's way of forcing me to leave Eden alone … at  least until my phone dried up. I took it as a sign, wished her a good  evening, and drove home.

I'd spent all week looking forward to the first day I got to pull into  the garage of my new home, but now that I had, I couldn't find any joy  in it. I dragged myself inside and immediately headed for the shower,  needing to get rid of the stench of beer. I wanted to stay under the hot  spray longer, waste time before I could crawl under the covers and give  up on the day, but I knew it'd do no good.         

     



 

No matter how much water I wasted, I'd still get out to an empty house.

With only a pair of gym shorts on, I grabbed a beer and headed down to  the dock. It was the only place I felt connected to Eden, which was  humorous considering she'd never even seen it, but I was hoping it'd  offer a little bit of clarity. The moon wasn't out, making it hard to  see in the dark, so I watched my steps as I made it down the wooden  pathway. As soon as I got to the dock, I glanced up, hoping there would  be enough light to at least see the water. But instead of a dark lake, I  found someone standing in front of me, facing me, hands twisted in  front of her.

I froze. Unable to do anything other than stare.

"Why did you buy this house?" she asked, taking a step closer when she realized I'd stopped moving.

I glanced over my shoulder, as if for some reason I needed to clarify  which house she meant. "My realtor showed it to me and I liked it. So I  bought it."

"But why this house?"

Still stunned at her presence, I could only open my mouth and answer  her. "The dock. This right here. It reminded me of you. Of the pier. Of  us. And I'd hoped that one day we'd be able to make this ours like we  had the one at the beach."

"You didn't have any other reason to buy it?"

I waited until she stood only a foot away from me and then cocked my head to the side. "No. Why?"

"So you had no idea this was the house I wanted?"

I blinked at her a few times, my sight already adjusted to the darkness.  As if seeing her here wasn't enough of a shock, I was completely  stunned by hearing her say this was the house she'd told me she'd cry  over if she couldn't get it. The one I'd bought with her in mind. The  one I'd pictured raising a family in with her. "This house?"

"Yeah. I had no idea you'd even bought a house. I thought you were just  getting new furniture for your condo. But when I went there to talk to  you, I was told you'd moved. They wouldn't give me your new address so I  had to call Janette to get it from her." She took my hand and linked  her fingers with mine. "Imagine my surprise when I drove up and realized  it was the same house I'd looked at and tried to buy."

I withdrew my hand from hers and moved to the railing along the side of  the dock. I set the bottle of beer along the ledge and leaned forward.  When she moved to stand next to me, I turned my head to face her and  blurted out, "You resigned."

Her head dropped forward and she took a deep breath before locking her  gaze on mine again. "You weren't supposed to know that until we talked.  That's why I didn't give it to you."

"Then maybe you should've talked to me about it first. It would've been a  bitter pill to swallow either way, but at least it would've gone down  easier hearing it from you instead of receiving an email from HR." I  stood up straight and squared my shoulders. "Effective immediately?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. It's why I came here. Did you not get my text?"

"What text? I've tried all night to reach you but your phone kept going  to voicemail and my texts weren't being delivered. I haven't gotten  anything from you."

"My phone was dead. I was out of the house and didn't have a charger  with me. I got your messages, though. And then I sent you one. About  half an hour ago. On my way here."

I shook my head, not believing my luck. "No. Someone knocked over my  pitcher of beer and it spilled on my phone. It's not working. What did  your message say?"

"Pitcher of beer? Where did you go?"

"I went to the bar. The one where we first met. I was upset and didn't  want to come home, but it proved to be a waste of time. What did your  text say?" I asked again, with a little more impatience this time.

She took my face in her hands and forced me to look into her eyes. That  one act alone seemed to calm the storm raging inside me. My pulse began  to slow and my breathing became easier, making it possible to catch the  scent of gardenia. "Yes."

I was confused and waited for her to say more, but she never did. "Yes? Yes what?"

"Yes to all your questions."

Pulling away, I squinted at her. "What questions?"

"The ones you texted me with."

I shook my head, still confused. "I'm not following, Eden. The only  things I remember asking you tonight is where you were and why you  decided to quit. ‘Yes' doesn't answer any of those."

"No, Dane." Her chest began to heave and I could tell she was getting  nervous, unable to control her breathing. "Not your questions from  tonight. The ones you've been bombarding me with over the last couple of  weeks. The ones you asked me again last night."         

     



 

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Rather than give her a chance to  correct me, tell me I was wrong and had misunderstood her, I grabbed her  face and claimed her mouth with mine. She immediately held onto my  sides and yanked my body closer. That one action alone was enough to  give me solace that I hadn't been wrong. That I hadn't misunderstood the  meaning of her answer.

Leaning back to catch her breath, she began to giggle and tucked her  chin closer to her chest. "Are we crazy? This is insane, isn't it? I  mean, we've technically only been together for one night. Are we nuts  for doing this?"

I picked her up and set her on the railing before moving to stand  between her legs. My mouth hovered close to hers while I said, "Stop  talking. You can't take it back now. You can't change your mind. Stop  second guessing it."

"I'm being serious, Dane. I'm not changing my mind or taking it back."  She had her hands pressed to my bare chest, keeping me at enough  distance to look into my eyes as she spoke. "I only want to make sure  this is the right thing and we're not being impulsive. It didn't become  real until just now. I knew what I was saying when I told you yes, but  now it hit me."

"When did you decide to resign?"

"This afternoon. I was at the beach, at our pier, and then headed straight to the office to give my resignation to HR."

"Why? I mean … why did you do it? Why quit if you wanted to be with me?"

"Because you said I can't be your assistant and be with you at the same time."

I kissed her again, slow and thorough this time. "I love you, Eden." The  rush of saying those words to her was exhilarating. "I'm so damn in  love with you."

"I know," she said with a smile. "I told you that when you were, I'd know it."

"When did you know?"