Cait grabbed her hand and whispered, “Do you think they like it? I think they do. They have to. What do you think?”
“I’m trying not to think,” she said quietly. “We did the best we could.”
Finally, what felt like two hours later but in reality was probably one, the judges set their napkins beside their plates. They shared a practiced glance and a confirmatory nod, rising to their feet in unison.
The taller of the two gentlemen said, “Thank you, ladies. We appreciate the fine meal.”
“We hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for taking the time to judge the contest and for eating here.” For eating here? Abby shook his hand, wishing she’d been more eloquent.
“It was our pleasure,” the short blonde said. “Have a nice afternoon.”
As soon as the door closed behind them, Abby and Cait both exhaled loudly.
“Did you hear that?” Abby asked excitedly.
“The pleasure thing? Yeah! That’s got to be good!”
Abby let out a squeal and hugged Cait. They jumped around and wiggled their hips.
“Look at you! You’re dancing!” Abby exclaimed.
“I’m celebrating!”
Abby reached for her phone to share the news with Aiden—and froze, remembering their fight.
“Are you texting Deirdra?” Cait asked.
Abby tried to hide her discomfort. “Uh-huh.” She thumbed out a text to Deirdra. Went well!
“Aren’t you going to text the chandelier fairy?”
Butterflies swarmed in her belly. “I was thinking about it. He worked so hard for this.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I want you to text him.”
“Oh, good. I thought you were climbing into Deirdra’s boat.”
“Nope. I’ll start clearing the table. You get texting.”
Abby did just that and typed, Thank you for the picture of us. It’s one of my favorites, too. I was so happy to find your letter, and I love the roses. They’re beautiful. The judges just left. I have no idea how it went, but I hope it went well. Fingers crossed. I’m so nervous about the competition, and about us. I miss you. I wish you could have been here today. I wish I hadn’t gotten so mad at you. I wish we had talked more before you left. I’m so confused and scared. You really hurt me. I don’t believe you did it on purpose, but I don’t know what to do with all the hurt or how to make sure it doesn’t happen again. She stared at what she’d written, wanting to push send and barrel through that door, to believe Aiden was everything he claimed to be, but there was a tiny voice in her head warning her not to be her mother, not to rely on a man for her happiness. She needed to work this out in her own head and heart before she could even begin to work it out with him. With a ball of lead in her gut, she deleted most of the text and sent it off before she could overthink it.
Cait picked up a stack of dishes and said, “The hardest part is done. In less than forty-eight hours we’ll know if you’re the reigning queen or not.” They were announcing the winner at eight o’clock Thursday morning.
“You mean if we’re the reigning queens.”
As they cleaned up, Abby was acutely aware of her phone not vibrating with a response from Aiden. She told herself not to overthink that, either, and decided to drown her confusion and heartache with her drug of choice. “When we’re done, what do you say we treat ourselves to queen-size sundaes?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Aiden hung up the phone with Ben and walked into his hotel room from the balcony. He was sick of hotels, sick of meetings, and sick of phone calls. He was sick of everything that had once ruled his life. He sat on the couch and checked his messages, uttering a curse. He’d missed three texts from Remi and one from Abby. He opened and read the text.
Thank you for the roses. They’re beautiful. The judges just left. Fingers crossed.
He sat back, staring at the message, missing Abby’s excited ramblings. He was debating how to respond, when Remi called.
Shit. He’d been avoiding her since he’d called her Sunday night, when he told her about his fight with Abby. He didn’t want to discuss it again, but he couldn’t continue avoiding her, or she’d make his life hell.
“Hi, Rem.”
“Hey. How are you?”
“Fine.”
“Aiden. You don’t have to pretend with me.”
He didn’t respond.
“Listen, I’m going to call Carrie and book a flight. I don’t want you to be alone.”
“Don’t, Remi,” he warned. “You know I have one meeting after another.”
“Then talk to me. I’m worried about you. You’re the guy who fixes things, not the guy who gets broken. Please talk to me? It’s hard for me to be a good mom to Olive and Patty when I’m worried about you.”
He scrubbed a hand down his face and said, “That was low.”
“It was honest.”
“Fine. You want to know how I am?” Too agitated to sit still, he pushed to his feet and paced. “I feel like I have a black hole in my chest. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. All I can think about is how much I hurt Abby. Okay? Feel better now?”
“No.” Her voice cracked, and he knew she was crying.
More guilt landed on his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Remi. That wasn’t fair.”
“Yes it was. It’s my fault. I sent you to Silver Island. I pushed you to get a life.”
“Jesus, Remi. Don’t do that. Those were the best three weeks of my life. I should be singing your praises, not dumping my shit on you. I’m the one who fucked up. Not you.”
“Then fix it. Go see her!”
He gritted his teeth. “That’s not the answer. I can’t change who I am. You of all people know that. I’ve done enough damage. Bullying my way in to try to convince her I’m someone I’m not isn’t going to do anything but make her angrier. This time I’m doing things the right way.”
“Then you have a plan?” Remi asked hopefully.
“Yeah. Nose to the grindstone and get my shit under control. Listen, I have to go. I love you. Kiss the girls for me.” He ended the call and called Ben again.
“I’m in the middle of changing a diaper. What’s up?” Ben asked.
“Pull the trigger on the schedule we outlined.”
“I thought you wanted to think about the international travel and—”
“I’m done thinking. Do it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY–SIX
“WHAT DO YOU think?” Cait asked as she walked into Abby’s bedroom Thursday morning wearing the green floral sundress Abby had lent her for the announcement ceremony. Her feet were bare, and she curled her toes under. She crossed one arm over her stomach, the elbow of her other arm resting on that arm’s wrist, her fingers moving nervously over her mouth.
Abby pushed to her feet in her pajama shorts and Aiden’s T-shirt, which she’d found when she’d done laundry, and said, “Wow. You look fantastic. Move your arms. Let me see.”
Cait lowered her arms and said, “Are you sure?” She looked down and immediately crossed her arms over her belly. “Ugh. I’ll just wear my jeans.”