Unexpected Arrivals(56)
“This is all Hannah’s assumption, right? I mean, Cora hasn’t actually told her she doesn’t still love me?”
He shook his head. “No, she hasn’t. And I can tell you, if Hannah knew what your plans were, she’d be on board. She thinks like a chick—emotionally. She’d be on the crazy train with Chelsea. You need to be thinking rationally. And there is a fifty percent chance she will say no.”
The side of my mouth turned up in a cocky grin. “There’s a fifty percent chance she’ll say yes. And unless the odds tip out of my favor, I’m going forward with my plan. Why else would she have asked me to come to Paris? She could have asked Hannah if all she needed was a friend.”
“If you’re going to propose, I think you need to be upfront about what happened while she was gone. And she needs to offer you the same thing. The two of you have never had secrets, and it will eat at you until you give her the truth. Having it come to light after a wedding could be catastrophic.”
I couldn’t deny his point and hated that Neil had become a voice of reason. Yet I couldn’t imagine telling Cora I’d slept with anyone else, much less two other people. She wouldn’t care that it had been meaningless sex. Unless she’d had sex since moving to Paris, she would see it as betrayal—regardless of the fact she’d been the one who had left.
“And exactly how honest would you be?” As long as I had Neil looking out for my best interest, I might as well get the whole picture.
“Don’t give details. Cora won’t be able to forget them, even if she doesn’t hold it over your head. I would tell her you made some poor decisions after she left, and open the door to let her ask what she needs to know. Then protect her from shit that won’t benefit her in the long run. Transferring guilt from your shoulders to hers just to make yourself feel better won’t help her down the road.”
Luckily—or unluckily, I wasn’t sure which yet—there were lots of details I couldn’t give, even if she asked, because I’d been too intoxicated to remember them. The thought of divulging any of it to Cora made me sick to my stomach, but Neil was right. I’d never be able to live with the weight of remorse in the long run. I couldn’t risk that happening after marriage, which meant I’d have to risk it happening before.
He stood while I was still in thought, drawing me back to the present and out of my head.
“Just my advice—that shit needs to be done face-to-face, not over the phone. You’ll have more control over the situation if she can’t hang up. And don’t be surprised when it stings the hell out of her.”
I bobbed my head to acknowledge him while considering what he’d said. I’d have to tell her before New Year’s Eve. Neil opened the door yet stopped with his hand on the edge.
“Whatever happens, Carp, at least you’ll know when you come home whether it’s time to move on and let her go completely.”
“I just hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Me too, bro. Me too.” He grimaced and then hesitantly turned around. After finally walking out, he pulled the handle with him and closed me off to the rest of the office.
12
Chelsea
“When are you going to tell him, Chelsea?” Dottie’s voice was elevated, although it wasn’t in anger. She simply didn’t want me to face raising a child on my own.
“I already told you.” I struggled to remain calm. I’d repeated this same thing so many times I was tired of hearing myself talk, all because Dottie refused to listen to reason. “I’m not going to put that on him before he goes to Paris.”
“Why is his relationship with another woman more important than his responsibility to his child?” She wouldn’t let this go. I couldn’t tell if it had more to do with my own mother having walked away from my father, or her desire to resurrect her relationship with her child, or a million other things. All I knew was that her constant pushing me to do what she thought was right suffocated me.
“It’s not, but they’ll never get together if she’s aware he has a baby on the way. He’s leaving in a couple weeks to go see her. It’s not like I’m waiting until after the baby’s born.” My voice cracked under the strain of remaining respectful.
“So you’re going to wait until they’re engaged? I don’t follow your logic.”
“If they get engaged, I’m not telling him. End of story.” I’d intentionally left Carp’s name out of all discussions with Dottie, thankfully. I wouldn’t be surprised in the least to find out she was friends with his family, and that would only spell disaster if she felt like going around me to them. At this point, she believed it was a guy I worked with. Clearly, she hadn’t noticed there wasn’t anyone under the age of forty in that crowd.
“Chelsea, you have a lot going on. You need his help, even if it’s only financial.”
“I’m about to lose the only thing I have going on, Dottie. So unless you’re going to kick me out if I don’t tell him, I don’t need his help. I’ll be okay.”
She stood from her seat at my side and turned to face me. With her hands on her hips, she huffed. “You and I both know that’s not true. At some point, you’re going to have to face your future…I just don’t want it to be too late.” Her words were like a hard slap across the face, one that knocked the taste right out of my mouth.