“I don’t hate them, I just—” Henry pauses—probably trying to think of how to best describe his feelings. “Don’t like them.
“Oh, shut up you big dork,” I say.
“Sorry, but seriously, what’s with the ominous statement? We need to talk? Is everything all right?”
“Oh yeah, everything’s great. But something happened, and I just think you should know.”
The line is silent except for his breathing.
“Henry?” I ask, ensuring he can still hear me.
“I’m here. Just dying to know what this thing is I should know.”
“It’s really not a big deal,” I reassure him, wishing I had approached the subject shift differently.
“So … what’s up?” he asks.
“I found out Christian lives here now,” I say plainly. I close my eyes and hold my breath as I wait for his response.
“With Colin and Emmie?” he inquires, the revelation confusing him.
“Oh no, he lives in his own place next door,” I explain, quickly continuing, deciding I need to alleviate any concern he might have. “I didn’t know he was here when I decided to come. And honestly, it’s not even that big a deal. I saw him last night, and we talked, and most of his questions were about us. He said he wants to be friends and even told me he was happy for us.”
I wait. Hoping. Not sure what for. I just want to hear something. Something that tells me I’m not wrong about it not being a big deal. As the silence grows I begin to doubt my choice. Maybe I should have turned around and gotten on a plane as soon as I saw Christian was here. Have I betrayed Henry?
“Okay,” he says, at last.
“Okay?”
“Yeah, if you say it’s nothing, I trust you.”
“You’re not upset? I can come home if you want me to.”
“Paige, stop,” Henry says in a gentle voice. “I love you. We’re getting married. Christian is part of who you were, not who you are. I’m not worried.”
“I love you, Henry Wallace.”
“And I you, Ms. Parker. Mmm …” he moans.
“What?”
“I’m so excited to make you Mrs. Paige Wallace,” he answers.
My heart aches. He’s the perfect other half for me. Contentment comes with him in a way I haven’t known in my life before.
“Same here.”
“You’re excited to make me Mrs. Paige Wallace?”
“Shut, up, you know what I mean.”
I listen to Henry’s laugh and smile to myself.
“All right beautiful, you have an entire collection to re-work.”
“Oh God, don’t remind me.”
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”
“You better.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
And then I hear the line click. Henry is right; I need to get to work, but first, I need to tell one of the greatest friends a girl could have that I’m sorry.
IT’S AMAZING HOW quickly one can fall into a routine. It’s been nearly a month, and it seems like this day-to-day existence has been my norm for years. I wake up and have breakfast with the Bennetts. Apparently Christian has breakfast with them every morning, but initially kept his distance in order to make sure I was comfortable.
Once I told Henry about Christian being there, any discomfort I had been feeling, disappeared. There was no longer a secret, no longer a reason I should feel like I was betraying my fiancé. I shared my talk with Henry with Emmie, but she didn’t have much to say, and the subject hasn’t seemed to come up again.
Christian still knows how to make everyone laugh. One morning he came in dressed in one-piece, red long underwear, and a pair of cowboy boots. His broad shoulders and lean muscular physique were accentuated in the get up, but even his sexiness couldn’t keep me from busting out in a full belly laugh.
He acted like he couldn't figure out what was so funny. Even Olivia had joined in on the giggle-fest. He played up the antics perfectly, causing squeals to pour from the little girl.
I can only imagine the excitement Emmie must have in her life with the Bennett boys back together. Only yesterday Christian snuck over, adding a healthy dose of pepper to Colin’s eggs. He waited for his brother to dig in. Frustrated when Colin ate everything but the tampered-with eggs, he scooped up a heap of his own eggs and shoved them into his mouth, and then proceeded to spit them out across the room when he discovered Colin had already coated his eggs with a massive amount of salt.
Emmie always pretends to be annoyed, but it is clear she has fallen right into place in her role as Mrs. Bennett. I’m happy for her. The walls she had up when I first met her seem to be completely demolished. This is her family, and it is clear they can’t live without her. I think part of me envies her. I’m not sure exactly why, but there is a familiarity in being back with boys. I know my life is with Henry, and soon we will be starting our own story, but I can’t help feeling like sometimes she stole my identity. I feel terrible for even thinking it.