Unexpected Arrivals(52)

I considered asking if she knew my father’s name, then I realized that at this point in my life, it wouldn’t do any good. Nothing positive could come of me finding him. If his wife still wasn’t aware I existed, all I’d do by locating him was create exactly what my mom had spent my entire life avoiding.

“Your circumstances are very different than your mother’s, Chelsea. Don’t carry this burden alone. There’s too much at stake.”

I couldn’t begin to consider destroying Carp with this information right now. I was swimming in the similarities between me and my own mother’s history, and it was frightening how alike they were. But right now, I couldn’t think about James or Cora. I had to figure out what I wanted to do before I ruined anyone else’s life.





11





James





I’d have a migraine soon if I didn’t stop beating my head against the desk.

“You promised me, James.” Her tears broke me.

I’d been trying to get to France since I left my parents’ house in August. However, the stars hadn’t aligned, and I’d done everything in my power to send the moon into retrograde. We’d been bombarded with new clients. The two investors we’d hired turned into four, and somehow, we still couldn’t keep up. I hadn’t been to Sideways Shots since I’d gotten home because I’d worked every waking moment in order to clear a few days in my schedule. Oddly, I hadn’t heard from any of the people at the bar either, but I guessed that was how the whole “casual” thing worked.

“You keep getting my hopes up only to tell me you can’t come. It’s not fair. Why can’t Neil make do without you for a few days?” Wails had turned to whimpers, and I couldn’t take it.

Every fiber of my being yearned to comfort her, hold her, kiss her forehead, and protect her. I couldn’t do shit from thirty-five hundred miles away, and she’d chosen that. That wasn’t a decision we’d made together or one I’d even been consulted on—even still, a little piece of me died every time she shed a tear of unhappiness.

“Baby…” I didn’t even care that it had slipped out. I was exhausted, there was most definitely a bruise forming on my forehead, and I still had another five hours of work at minimum before I could walk out the door. Glancing at the clock, I realized it was already four thirty and dropped my head again.

“I miss you, James. I want to see you. You promised you’d come.”

“Cora, sweetheart, I’m trying my best. I swear, I am. Did something happen today that has you so upset?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me what it was?”

“You delayed another trip.”

I couldn’t help the chuckle that formed in my chest and rose through my throat and out of my mouth. She was so fucking cute, and I was miserable without her. It had been over seventeen months since I’d seen her other than the picture that flashed on my screen when she called. She refused to FaceTime, declaring it heightened the anticipation of seeing each other in person. I bet she regretted that shit now.

“Why are you laughing?”

If I hadn’t known better, I would have sworn a five-year-old held the phone on the other end of the line. “I’m—hell, I don’t know.”

She sniffled, and I stifled the urge to laugh again when Neil popped his head in my office. I covered the phone when he didn’t leave. “Give me five.”

He nodded and walked off.

“Cora, you know I miss you, too. I promise, before I go home tonight, I will book a flight.”

“Non-refundable?”

I chuckled, “Yeah. Non-refundable.”

“Okay.”

“I have to go deal with Neil. I promise when we talk in the morning, I’ll have dates for you.”

With that pledge, I hung up and dealt with Neil and a hundred other fires that needed to be put out. By the time I pulled up flights, it was after ten, and I hadn’t eaten since noon. The last thing I wanted to do was think about traveling, but at the end of that grueling flight stood Cora—so I’d endure.

I’d told Neil what my plans were, and he agreed; I just had to go. There wasn’t going to be a break in the schedule, and there was no such thing as a good time. He knew how desperately I missed her, and I loved him for encouraging me.

Chelsea called in the midst of my travel planning, but I sent her to voicemail. My brain was too fried to do more than one thing at a time, and I had promised Cora I’d have an answer for her tomorrow. Chelsea would understand. Hell, she’d probably book it and set the itinerary for me if I told her what I was up against. She’d been bugging me for weeks about when I was going, but I’d put her off the same way I had Cora. She wanted me to be happy, and she chastised me regularly for not realigning my priorities. It was one of the things I appreciated most about her—she was selfless and wanted the best for those she knew.

I’d wondered if a friendship with another woman would ever work. I wasn’t sure anything platonic could really exist between two people, especially two people who’d had sex—albeit, very bad sex that we laughed about afterward—but sex nonetheless. However, she’d proven there was nothing else there, no ulterior motive, no desire to try to keep something going between us other than friendship. Even Cora’s skepticism over Chelsea waned the more she learned, until she’d started asking about Chelsea’s mom, Janie, and even Dottie. Then again, that was who Cora was, too—loving and nurturing.