The Fixed Trilogy: Found in You(88)

“He told you this?”

“I can tell!”

I popped a piece of cheddar in my mouth to keep from laughing. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a hopeless romantic?”

“It doesn’t mean I’m wrong about Hudson.”

“Maybe not.” Though I couldn’t imagine the calm, collected Hudson ever being anything close to a basket case.

Mira sighed. Then her eyes brightened. “You know, he told Celia he doesn’t want her in his life anymore.” She said it nonchalantly, but she was an easy read—she knew this was big news.

“What?” It was hard to hear myself talk over the pounding of my heart. “Are you serious?”

She nodded.

“Why didn’t you lead with that?”

“I guess I probably should have.”

Holy shit! This changed everything. Everything. “What else? Tell me all the details.”

“I don’t know what else. I wasn’t there. It was here, that day that everything else happened. Dad told me about it. Said she was crestfallen.”

“So this was before he believed that I was innocent?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why did he tell her he didn’t want her around?”

Mira leaned in—as far as she could anyway, with the round ball at her belly—her expression animated. “This is so third-hand gossip, but Dad said that Hudson told Celia that she was obviously not good for you and so he expected her to stay out of your life from now on. No phone calls, no stopping by the club, no stopping by the penthouse, no family functions. Completely out of your life.” She tapped her finger on the table enunciating completely, out and life. “And he said that since your life was his life, that meant he couldn’t be around her either.”

“No. Way.” She totally had me captivated. The girl certainly did have a flare for dishing out the dirt.

“Yes, way. Of course way. Why would you even doubt way? I keep telling you he loves you. You hang the moon for him. He’ll do anything to keep you. Can’t you see that?” Her hands flew as she talked, but I stayed glued to her face.

I blinked. Several times. “He chose me over Celia. Even when he thought that I’d gone all crazy again. That’s…that’s big.”

“Yes! It’s big! It’s huge!” She hit the table so hard the knife went flying to the floor. Ignoring it. she pinned me with her eyes. “Now what are you going to do to match that?”

I stood, needing to pace the room. “Okay.” I ran my hands through the hair that had fallen from my ponytail. “I’ll go to Japan.”

A sound somewhere between a shriek and a gasp filled the room. The startling part was that it came from me. Did I really just say I’d go to Japan to surprise Hudson? Oh my god I did and I didn’t even want to take it back.

Mira jumped up with a squeal. “Yes!”

“It’s Sunday, right?” In my mind I was already packing, making a mental list of preparations. “I can’t leave until tonight. Someone’s renting out the club and I’m scheduled to get them set up. I could leave right after that though. Like eight or so.”

“That’s perfect.”

I stopped pacing. “This is going to sound ridiculous, but I don’t even know how to travel out of the country. I’ve been to Canada once. That’s the extent of my foreign travel.”

“I’ll take care of everything,” Mira said, laughing. “Do you have a passport?”

I nodded. “Hudson got me one. He left it on the nightstand. Do you need it?”

“No, you need it. Make sure you bring it with you.” Her eyes were moving like she was making her own mental list. “Do you have a credit card for The Sky Launch?”

“Yep.” I ran—actually ran—to the foyer where I’d dropped my purse.

“Here you go,” I said when I returned, handing her the American Express I carried for business expenses related to the club.

“Yay!” Mira pulled me in for a hug that I actually didn’t mind. “This is so exciting! I always wanted a sister! You guys will make the most beautiful babies.”

“Hey, slow down.” That made the hug come to a quick end. “No one said anything about…” I put my palms to my face. “I can’t even finish that sentence.”

“Sorry. I’m an optimist.”

I dropped my hands and pointed a finger at her. “Keep your optimism to yourself from now on, okay?”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay.” But she was twitching like she had more to say. “I mean, not okay. I have to know because I’m ultra nosy—do you want that stuff? You know, kids, marriage. The whole package.” She bit her lip. “With Hudson.”

I didn’t know what to say. The answer was tricky and the conversation already had me breaking out in a sweat. “Here’s the thing, Mira.” I still didn’t know what I was going to say. Then the truth spilled out. “I used to want it so bad that I thought every guy was the whole package, that every guy was The One. And I’d do everything to make them believe the same about me. I mean everything. Not so good things.”

A breath shuddered through my lungs. “So now I can’t even let myself think about it, not even to daydream for a few seconds or to test it out and see how it feels. So the answer is don’t ask me that. I can’t.” My voice cracked so I said it again. “I just can’t.”