“What are you doing?” she asked, as Van wrenched it open.
“I want to talk to you.”
Nora lifted her head a little more. “I have nothing to say to you.”
“That’s good. Maybe you’ll listen to what I have to say then.” She felt the cool of Johnny’s shadow fall over her as he stood behind her, saying nothing. “First of all, you can stuff your money. I don’t want a dime from you or your deadbeat husband. I don’t want anything to do with you at all.” She shook her head.
Nora pressed her lips together, saying nothing.
“But more importantly, there’s something else you need to know.” Van’s voice was short. Harsh. “You’re the worst kind of woman. One who looks down on others because it makes you feel better about yourself. One who punishes a little girl with hard words and harsher thoughts because you can’t punish your husband for being an asshole.” Van crossed her arms over her chest. “Well that’s over with. Done. You say one more bad word about me or my family, and I’ll be shouting out about you and Johnny all over town. I’ll tell everyone about how he left my mom high and dry. How he had almost thirty years to recognize me and never did. And I’ll tell them about you, Nora. About the way you thought you were better than me because you had money.” Van leaned forward, until her nose was only an inch away from Nora’s. “You keep away from my family. Otherwise, I’ll make sure you regret it.”
Nora swallowed hard, her eyes glassy. She gave an almost imperciptable nod.
Van straightened her spine and let out a mouthful of air, then turned on her heel, almost knocking Johnny over in the process. He quickly stepped back, as though he was afraid she was going to strike him.
Good. She didn’t want him anywhere near her.
“Goodbye, Dad,” she said, her voice full of sarcasm. “I hope you have a happy life. Because mine has been a hundred times better without you in it.”
Van slammed the door closed behind her and sucked in a deep breath. She was shaking. Enough for her to lean on the wood and let her head rest there for a moment.
She didn’t regret it. Not a word. Nora and Johnny had what was coming to them. So why was her body quivering like a bowl of Jello?
Because of him. Right now she should be calling him, sharing her triumph over the Fairfaxes with him. But instead she was alone in her mom’s house, aching for the one person she kept pushing away. She couldn’t do this anymore.
If she’d just talked to him instead of deciding what was best for them both, she wouldn’t be here alone now.
She had a choice. Either, she kept doing things the way she always had and suffered because of it, or she stood tall and admitted that she was afraid. So scared of losing him that she’d pushed him away first.
Last night he’d made the sweetest of gestures. Maybe she should do the same. But what could it be? She frowned, thinking about the way Jerry Maguire walked into a room full of women and declared himself to Dorothy. Or how Richard Gere climbed up a fire escape despite his fear of heights to woo Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Actually, he was pretty good at the grand gesture in all his movies. Look at the way he walked into the factory dressed in his uniform in An Officer and a Gentleman and scooped the love of his life into his hands.
But where were the grand gestures from the women? Didn’t they do that sort of thing? Van frowned, scanning through her memories for a scene, but all she could think of was Notting Hill. Where Julia Roberts just opened her mouth and talked.
Maybe that’s what she needed to do. Maybe her grand gesture was to be open, to talk, to make herself vulnerable. That sounded damn scarier than anything in a movie.
It was honest. It was real. And more importantly, it’s what she needed to do.
Before she got scared off, she picked up her phone and tapped out a message, her hands still shaking.
I miss you. - Van
Her breath rushed out of her mouth. Maybe climbing up a fire escape was a better idea after all. But then a reply flashed on her screen, and the tightness in her chest loosened.
I miss you, too. - Tanner
Thank god. She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment, then opened them again, as another message appeared on the screen.
Can I talk to you? Really talk? There’s so much I need to tell you. - Tanner
I was about to ask the same thing. - Van.
When? - Tanner
Tonight? I’m taking Zoe out for dinner, but we’ll be back by eight. Does that work? - Van
Yeah, that works. I’ll be there at ten. See you tonight. - Tanner Xx
She stared at the kisses for way longer than was healthy, trying to read the meaning of them. She’d see him tonight and the anticipation was already killing her.
Some old habits died hard. Tanner couldn’t bring himself to knock on her front door. Instead, he tapped on her bedroom window, his jaw set, his eyes soft, his body ready to be close to her again. The days without her had been like a special kind of torture. Yet it had been necessary. Logan was right about that.
As kids it had felt like Van and Tanner shared a brain sometimes. He assumed she thought the same way as he did. Heck, sometimes he really believed she could read his mind. And when he fell in love with her as an eighteen-year-old, he’d thought it would be easy. They didn’t need to talk, they just knew.
But that was bullshit. Had been then, still was now. She had her own thoughts, her own needs, her own feelings. And as much as he wanted to know every single one of them, they were hers, and she got to decide whether to share them or not.
Her face appeared at the window, and his breath caught in his throat. Would he always feel this kind of reaction when he saw her? His eyes were drawn to her lips, soft and pink. God, he was aching to kiss her.
You need to talk. The thought sounded a lot like Logan. It made him want to laugh. Van opened the window, holding the curtain aside as he climbed inside.
“Hi.” He looked down at her. She must have recently showered. Her hair was damp, tumbling in waves over her shoulder. Her skin was shining, freshly scrubbed clean. She was wearing a pair of soft jersey shorts and a t-shirt, and right now she looked more like eighteen than twenty-eight. “You look beautiful.”
“Shut up. I’m a mess.”
He grinned because it was so damn good to hear her voice. “Not to me. I want to take a photo of you and make it my phone wallpaper.”
“If you do that, I’ll castrate you.” She lifted an eyebrow. “Just sayin’.”
Christ, he was in love with her. He leaned forward, brushing his lips against her ear. “Sorry, babe, but I’m rather partial to my balls.”
Her eyes darkened, and she turned her face almost imperceptibly toward his. Only an inch more and their lips would touch. He could feel the blood pulsing through him, hot and needy.
You need to talk.
Shut up, Logan! He shook his head to get the voice out of his brain. But it was right. So damn right. They were adults, not kids. He had control of his body, even if all he wanted to do was give into it.
“How’s Zoe?” he asked, in an attempt to bring things back on track.