International Player(68)

“That’s a start.” Abigail sighed and hauled herself up so she was half sitting, half lying, and I took a seat on the sofa next to Rob.

“You’re not going to kill him?” Rob asked. “Or me?”

“Well that depends on how the rest of this conversation goes,” she said, flashing her husband a grin.

I was prepared for whatever Abigail was dishing out, as long as it led to the right result.

“I don’t know how to convince her to come back to me. How I give her the certainty she needs.”

“From what I can make out, she wants to be with you but she’s scared she’s going to get hurt, and you? Well, I’m not quite sure. What are your reservations?”

“I don’t have any. I want Truly. I don’t want anyone else. I’ve just come back from New York and—”

I paused.

“And what?” Abigail asked.

“I missed her.” I wasn’t sure I’d ever missed anyone in my life before. “It pissed me off that I couldn’t call her up and tell her about my day. That I didn’t know what she was doing or who she’d been talking with or what she was having for lunch.”

I looked up and Abigail was grinning at me. “So what are you going to do about it?”

“You’re not going to tell me to leave her alone and that I’m not good enough?” I’d expected a rollicking. I’d thought I’d have to convince Abigail of my feelings for Truly and how hurting her was the last thing I’d ever do.

“You’re a clever man. You know you’re not good enough for her. So, no, I’m not going to tell you that. I like you, Noah. And I like the way you look at my sister and what you’re saying. What you need to know is that I’m not opposed to physical violence when the need arises. Just make sure it doesn’t.”

I nodded. “Received and understood. But know this, Abigail. I’ve never been so serious about anything. Comparing her to other women is ludicrous. Of course she means more to me than anyone ever has, but more than that, other than walking, I’ve never wanted anything in my life more than I want Truly.”

Abigail nodded decisively as if I’d passed her test. “So, what’s your plan?”

“That’s why I’m here. I know I want her, but I just don’t know how to convince her of that. I won’t lie to her but at the same time, I want to give her what she needs if that’s possible. I just don’t know what that is.”

Abigail sighed. “You’re going to have to win over the left side of her brain. She doesn’t trust the right. Love isn’t logical.”

Didn’t I know it? “Yeah. She likes facts. Knowledge. Certainty. And what I’m offering her is let’s-see-how-it-goes. For me that’s more realistic, but not so much for her.”

“She wants more than that. She needs evidence you can be relied on,” Abigail said.

“Have you told her that shit about you not wanting anything more than her since you recovered from the accident?” Rob asked. “I mean, that sounds pretty convincing to me.”

Had I? The conversation at the ball had been completely unexpected and had caught me off guard. “I can’t remember what I said. But I don’t think so.”

“Then Rob’s right. You should definitely tell her that,” Abigail said.

“And then, you could marry her. That’s certain. Factual. Futureproofed,” Rob said.

Abigail cackled. “Don’t be ridiculous. Truly’s not going to say yes to a marriage proposal.” She paused. “Not yet, anyway. She won’t believe you’re sincere at this point.”

“And I wouldn’t be. I’m just getting my head around all this stuff. Feeling like this for someone. It’s all new to me. I need time to adjust. But I want to do that with her by my side.”

“I think you should start by being honest with her,” Abigail said. “Tell her what you’re like. How you’re goal oriented. You find a mountain you want to climb. You plot out how you’re going to do it and then you execute. It’s not like you have the rest of your life mapped out—just what’s right in front of you.”

“That’s exactly it. She told me how she can see us getting old and arguing over Scrabble but that’s not me. I work short term. I’ve never thought about long term because I know how your life can turn on a dime and change everything.”

“Come on, that’s not entirely true,” Rob said. “Concordance Tech took you two years of preparation and false starts here in London and then four years of working your arse off in New York before you achieved your goal and walked away. Six years is hardly short term.”

Rob was right, but the thing with Concordance Tech was I could see the finish line. “But I don’t get what I should be aiming for in a relationship. What’s the end goal?”

“Wow, you and Truly are like the same person, you just don’t know it. You both are so highly structured.” Abigail rolled her eyes. “The end goal is happiness. It’s connection. It’s building a life together, sharing experiences and memories. And along the way you’ll have joint goals and go after them together.”

It was as if pieces of a jigsaw were rearranging themselves in my brain, finally starting to create a bigger picture. What Abigail said made sense. Completely.