The Cowboy and the Cougar (The Cougar Chronicles #1)(26)

MrsRobinson: Two girls.

HollyGolightly: You must be very proud of them.

MrsRobinson: I am. They’re both in college now.

HollyGolightly: So you’re divorced?

MrsRobinson: From their father, yes. I’m remarried. To my cub.

HollyGolightly: How old is he?

MrsRobinson: He’s forty and he never wanted kids. He’s a wonderful stepfather, though. Joy and Laurie adore him.

So Megan had gotten lucky and found herself a cub who didn’t want kids. Holly cleared her throat and began to type.

HollyGolightly: When Jack—that’s his name—came back into my life out of the blue, I didn’t want to get involved. I knew I could never give him what he deserved—a family. He was very persistent and so attractive. I caved. Now I’m in too deep.

MrsRobinson: Have you told him the truth?

HollyGolightly: No. I can barely think about it myself. This is the first time I’ve talked to anyone about it.

MrsRobinson: You need to tell him.

HollyGolightly: It’s too late now. I hung on way too long without telling him. He has a son, you know. An adorable kid. Six years old. Was never married to the mom and she’s not in the picture. When I found out, I was ecstatic. I figured maybe he’d be okay with not having more kids. That’s not the case.

MrsRobinson: How did you find out?

HollyGolightly: Eating breakfast with his kid. He told me he really wanted a little brother and that his dad had told him maybe someday. That pretty much takes me out of the picture. Which I knew from the beginning. This is my own fault for getting in so deep. But now She couldn’t finish the sentence so she hit enter. Tears had blurred the computer screen.

MrsRobinson: Now what, Holly?

Holly sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Where was her damned box of tissues?

HollyGolightly: Now I’ve involved his son. He’ll be hurt. His son will be hurt. And I’ll be hurt. I should have ended it before now. Then I’d be the only one hurting. God knows I’ve dealt with that before, and I could have dealt with it again.

MrsRobinson: There’s still time to salvage this, Holly. If this man loves you, he won’t care that you can’t give him another child.

HollyGolightly: He never said he loved me.

MrsRobinson: But you love him.

With all her heart.

HollyGolightly: Yes.

MrsRobinson: Then how can you give up? You have to try. Tell him the truth.

HollyGolightly: Can it work, Megan? This whole cougar thing? I don’t know. I mean, twenty years from now he’ll be in his prime and I’ll be an old lady.

MrsRobinson: First of all, sixty is not an old lady. Not anymore. And yes, it can work. I’ll grant you that I got lucky, finding a cub who wasn’t interested in having children.

HollyGolightly: When I was in here the other night, Charlene’s relationship was ending because her cub wanted a family and she was done with that.

MrsRobinson: Yes, that does happen sometimes. I can’t lie to you. But you’re a little bit ahead of Charlene. Your Jack already has a child.

HollyGolightly: But he wants more.

MrsRobinson: Are you sure about that?"

HollyGolightly: That’s what his son said.

MrsRobinson: But you’ve never had this conversation with him?

HollyGolightly: No.

MrsRobinson: You need to. Talk to him. If he cares for you, he’ll listen. Maybe you can find a way to compromise.

HollyGolightly: How? I can’t give him a child.

MrsRobinson: It’s not all black and white, Holly. You can adopt. And you still have an ovary. If you really want a child of your own body, you can try in vitro fertilization with a surrogate. There are many ways to have children these days.

HollyGolightly: But I’m so old! I’d be sixty when the kid graduated high school.

MrsRobinson: Sounds like you already wrote the whole thing off.

HollyGolightly: I kind of had to, when I got my diagnosis. I had to accept that I’d never be a mother. Then Jack came along again, and I found myself wanting something that I thought I’d closed the door on.

MrsRobinson: Why didn’t you just tell him the truth from the beginning?

Good question. Why hadn’t she?

HollyGolightly: I honestly don’t know.

MrsRobinson: Were you afraid he’d leave you?

HollyGolightly: I never thought of it in those terms. I always knew I’d have to leave him eventually.

MrsRobinson: So you made the choice for him.

HollyGolightly: I guess I did.

MrsRobinson: Then you’ve sold him short. Let him decide. The worst he can do is break it off, and you’ll be no worse off than you are now.

True enough. Why hadn’t she thought of it in this way? Because she’d been too busy feeling sorry for herself, and too busy being selfish. She’d strung Jack along because she couldn’t bear to say good-bye. Then she’d escaped in a haze of cowardice when the going got rough. No more.

HollyGolightly: You’re absolutely right, Megan. Thank you so much! I’m going to call him right now.

MrsRobinson: Yes! Let me know how it works out. I’ll cheer for you if you have good news and I’ll hold your hand if it’s bad. That’s what we’re here for.

HollyGolightly: You’re a gem. I’ll log back on when I have news.

She hurriedly logged off, a spark of energy radiating throughout her. She grabbed her cell phone out of her purse, and then stopped abruptly.