Terms and Conditions(Dreamland Billionaires #2)(114)

By the time Cal comes home from his first day of work, I’m sure of one thing: I’m going back to school.





My phone buzzes with a new message. I swipe it off the counter and unlock the screen to find it’s from Declan.

Declan: Saudade1.

A photo loads of our kitchen island. My placemat is set up beside his as if I might show up at any second to join him while he eats his pasta. This is the third night in a row he’s sent me a similar photo, each with a different word all following the same kind of theme.

Longing. Sadness. Regret.

Maybe Declan isn’t the only one suffering from saudade. From the way my chest aches as I obsess over his text, I’m hit with the urge to go home.

Home.

Shit. Since when did his house start feeling like home?

Since you started falling in love with him.

My throat tightens, and I struggle to take deep breaths.

“What’s wrong?” Cal walks into the kitchen.

“Nothing.”

“Declan sent you another message?”

I sigh. “Yes.”

“Have you answered him yet?”

“No.” Although I want to. I really freaking want to, but the rational part of me holds back, asking questions that stop me.

What if he messes up again?

What if he is only chasing after me because he wants to earn his inheritance?

What if I choose to fall in love with him despite all the warning signs, knowing he could hurt me all over again?

My head is a mess with questions that have no real answers.

“Do you want to talk to him?”

I avoid eye contact as I answer, “No.”

“You miss him.” He states it like a fact.

“Of course I miss him. I miss him so damn much it makes me sick to my stomach because I feel guilty for wanting him in the first place.”

“Then why don’t you speak to him?”

“Because I trusted my heart before and look where it got me. Now I’m doubting everything. If this is what love feels like, then I don’t want it because it really fucking hurts.” My eyes fill with tears.

Cal pulls me into a hug. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“How can you be so sure?” His chest muffles my reply.

“Because if Declan loves you half as much as you love him, then he will stop at nothing to make this right.”





After my breakdown yesterday, I decide to visit the one person who understands me most. Maybe my mom can help me get a better understanding of the emotions plaguing me. Although she doesn’t know the whole story about my marriage, she knows enough about relationships to help me understand mine.

Her classroom hasn’t changed over the years. It still smells like old paint with a hint of glue, and it reminds me of afternoons spent coloring while she ran her after-school program.

“Well, isn’t this a surprise.” She returns my hug with a squeeze.

“I wanted to see you.”

“What happened?” She shoots me the same look she always does when something is up.

“Nothing…”

She laughs as she pats one of the classroom benches. “Sit.” She passes me a blank coloring page and a pack of colored pencils.

This is how things always worked between us. Color and confess she would always call it, seeing as she always got me to break down eventually.

“As much as I love you stopping by to see me, I can’t help but wonder why.”

“Do I need an excuse to come visit my mother?”

“Seeing as you haven’t visited my classroom for three years, yes you do.”

I sigh.

“That bad, huh?”

My head drops as I stare down at my hands. “Declan and I got into a fight last week.”

“Ahh. I assumed as much.”

“Things got a bit too real and honest, if you know what I mean.”

The few wrinkles by her eyes tighten. “He said some things that hurt you.”

I give her an abridged version of our fight, mainly focusing on our issues with work and how that bled into our personal life.

“I can’t help but wonder…” My voice trails off as I consider how to phrase my worry.

“Whether he might turn out to be like your father,” she finishes for me.

“Yes.”

She puts her hand over mine, stopping my coloring. “It’s a normal fear after everything you’ve witnessed between your father and me, but you need to understand that couples fight. It’s a part of any healthy relationship. That doesn’t mean the other person should ever talk down to you or intentionally hurt you, but people make mistakes. This isn’t going to be the first or last time Declan says something he doesn’t mean in the heat of the moment. But so long as he is sorry—and I mean truly sorry—then you need to learn how to forgive him.”

“Easy for you to say.”

She gives my hand a squeeze. “Learning how to forgive is just as important as asking for it in the first place.”



1?Noun, Portuguese: A feeling of longing, melancholy, desire, and nostalgia.





46




DECLAN





Like clockwork, I send Iris another message in the morning. I attach a photo of us at the Botanic Garden with a word that describes the exact yearning I feel for her.