Matched For Love(55)
“Fine.” Lori sighed. No one could comfort her like her sister. And no one knew her as well either. Maybe she’d set up a meeting. It wasn’t as if her heart could be any more broken than it already was. If it’d help her heart heal so she could love again, it’d be worth it.
15
SAYING YOU’RE SORRY ISN’T ALWAYS ENOUGH. BUT SOMETIMES IT’S ALL YA GOT.
Deek walked into the house with Asher in tow after his sleepover. He hadn’t told him about Annie. He wanted it to be a surprise. And to also be sure she’d still be there when Asher got home. She’d been pretty angry the night before. And it was like her to just pack her stuff and go when she got like that.
Asher spotted his mother sitting in the kitchen nook, and a huge smile lit up his face. “Mom! What are you doing here?”
Annie looked up from the book she was reading. “I’m here to marry your dad.” Then her eyes cut to Deek’s.
He had to look away. As he poured himself coffee, he said, “But she picked now for the wedding so she could be here for your birthday too, Ash. Isn’t that great?”
“Yeah.” He turned back to Annie. “Do you want to come see my room? I’ve made a bunch of new stuff. Like two dinosaur models and a volcano that really blows up. And maybe we could go to Papa G’s tonight? You love that place, right, Mom?”
Annie closed her book and huffed out a breath, but she stood to follow Asher. “Sure. That’d be great.”
Deek sipped his coffee as the sounds of Asher going on and on with excitement slowly faded as they climbed the stairs. His son was thrilled to have Annie home. And that was what he’d always wanted. So why did he feel so sick to his stomach?
He took his coffee into the study and sat behind his desk to call up his e-mail. About ten minutes later, Annie walked in and closed the door behind her. He’d been able to avoid her all morning, but it looked like it was show time. “Hey. That was quick.”
Annie sat down in the guest chair across from his desk. “I nodded and cooed, so he thinks I approved, but Deek, you buy him too many toys. It’s ridiculous. Do you know that the children in Peru that I’ve met are so poor, they don’t have real toys? Just makeshift pieces of junk they make up games with. You’re overcompensating for your own childhood.”
So now she was going to tell him how to be a parent? It took all he had to bite back the angry retort on his lips. “Maybe that’s true. But Asher’s bright. He needs to build and create things. He doesn’t have a TV or a video gaming system in his room like most kids his age.”
Annie rolled her eyes. “No. Just a whole arcade he can use whenever he wants.”
At the mention of the arcade, thoughts of Lori playing Pac-Man filled his mind. And then the confrontation afterward. He didn’t want any more fighting. “He’s not allowed in there unless he asks me first. And then it’s only for an hour at a time.”
“Well, as I was lying in bed alone last night, I thought of a plan. What if we start over after we’re married? Sell this house that I had no say in, earmark a million dollars in proceeds for the dig, and then use some of the equity to buy something more reasonable? Then maybe I could feel like it was my home too. And not be embarrassed to have my struggling scientist friends over.”
That sent a dagger straight through his heart. He’d spent hours designing the perfect home. For them. And he’d paid in cash, so it wasn’t like they couldn’t afford it. “Why should we have to look like we’re something we’re not?”
“Why do we have to flaunt our money in other people’s faces? I bet Lori loves this house, am I right?”
Annie’s question felt like a trap, but he didn’t know how to avoid it. “She said she’d never seen anything like it.”
“No surprise. She probably took one look and decided you were an easy mark.” Annie crossed her arms. “How could you have sold out and slept with someone like her, Deek?”
“How did I sell out?” He wasn’t going to deny he’d slept with Lori. He wasn’t ashamed of it.
“She’s one of those types who used to make fun of people like us in high school. The popular, pretty girls who all ran in a pack and peered down their noses at nerds and geeks. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how that feels.”
He hadn’t forgotten and never would. It was why he tried so hard to be sure Asher never had to endure any of that. “Lori’s life hasn’t been easy, Annie. You’re making ridiculous assumptions. But maybe now is a good time to talk about that dig money. Do you want to go over the terms?”