Tempting Fate (23 page)

There was so much that might have been, but it was just that and nothing more. She felt Westly’s hands on her lap and then his head was resting on her. He was crying again now, and it did nothing but cause her more pain to see him that way.

When he spoke again his voice was weak, “I would never ask what you are thinking. Just to know you are ok, that you have not been dead all these years... Abs, what have I done? More pain, why does there have to be more pain?”

Abby touched his hair and stroked his face over and over. She had two options: break his heart, or the four hearts at home. If she made the wrong choice she could lose everything. Hurting her children was something she could never do. Abby hated that she would have to do this to Westly. A voice in the back of her mind, one that was not much more than a whisper, was telling her that everything was different now. When she went back home, it would never be the same. Westly would never leave her mind again.

She lifted his face up so that she could look into his eyes and felt her heart melt inside. Abby knew she had to go back, and that she would never be the same. A part of her, her heart, had to stay in New York, with him. The thought of leaving him was overwhelming and she threw herself back into his arms. For right now, she was in his arms and even if she had to leave, she was going to relish in this moment as long as she could.

Chapter 22

He stood slowly and Abby looked up at his face as he pulled her up and held her tightly. He was smiling at her, happiness in his eyes. He leaned down to her face purposefully; he was going to kiss her and her stomach rose while her heart dropped. She closed her eyes and could feel his breath on her face and neck. He just lingered there for a moment, and then she felt his lips start to brush against hers.

The knock on the door snapped Abby back into reality. What was she doing? She looked away and dropped her arms from him. He let her go willingly and she crossed the room with one hand on her head. Her mind was a whirlpool of emotions. She was married and she almost let him kiss her, she almost kissed him back; that was not right. The spontaneous side of her brain was screaming,
what are you doing? Go kiss that man. Take him; he is yours. He has always been yours; you have always been his.

Abby pulled out another chair and sat down. Westly was answering the door now, and she listened to what was going on.

“I’m sorry Mr. Michaels, I was really trying not to bother you, but your daughter’s elementary school has called five times now and she is very upset. She wants you to come get her.”

Abby’s mind started filling with confusion. He had a little girl in elementary school? The math was not adding up right with the ages from thirteen years ago and now. Had she called the little girl Abby? She couldn’t remember if he was wearing a wedding ring, and now his left hand was in his pocket and she couldn’t see. If he was married also, that was better. Wasn’t it? He was looking at her as he crossed the room to plug the phone back in. He smiled at her before he spoke; Abby knew she was wearing the confusion on her face.

“Five years ago I was doing charity work for a foster home placement group. There was a three year old there whose parents had died in a car accident. Her name was Abigail and her hair was long and blonde, she pulled at my heart strings the moment I met her.” Westly smiled at her and raised one eyebrow just like he had done in the past. Abby knew his mind was running with an idea, the question was, did she want to know what it was?

“My Abs, I have so much to tell you. Could you wait just a moment please, I really need to take this?”

Abby nodded her head at him and smiled. Everything was slowly sinking in. The whole day had been more than she had ever prepared herself for. The sound of his voice was less than ten feet away from her but it sounded like there were miles between them. She had to pull herself together now; it was time to snap back into how things really were.

“Yes, Abby honey, I’m on my way. I’ll be there in about thirty minutes. I love you baby girl.”

He put the receiver down and pressed another button. “Miss Jansen?” He waited for an answer but none came. He pressed the button again and then walked to the door. “Jessica, get in here please.”

Miss Jansen came like a bolt of lightening trying to hold a smile as she looked at the two of them. “Yes Mr. Michaels? What can I do for you?”

“I need two limos downstairs in five minutes, one for me and another for Mrs. Dalton. Please get my briefcase out of my office and put it by the elevator.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Michaels, anything else?”

“No that will be all, thank you.”

She was gone as fast as she came. He shut the door as Miss Jansen walked out and turned toward Abby. She stood up feeling confident in her tallest heels as he took five long strides and was standing right in front of her.

“Abs, I would like to take you to dinner tonight? Please. I know it’s a lot to ask of you but please.” He pulled her into his arms as he asked her. “I’m not ready to let you go yet. Just a little longer please? I know you have to go back, but I need to have you a little longer.”

The way he was looking into her eyes gave her no power at all. Her heart was going to pound right out of her chest. He leaned in closer placing his hand in her hair and pulled out the long stick that was holding her hair in a bun. As her hair fell down her back and the smell of her shampoo scented the air around them, Westly touched it and then gently tucked a section behind her ear. His fingers tenderly intertwined with her hair and glided through it till his hand rested at the back of her neck.

Gradually his face moved in closer to her ear and her eyes drifted shut. Abby could feel his soft warm breathe on her skin and his lips were lightly brushing her ear a moment later. “Please Abs, I need more time with you. I can’t loose you yet. I just got you back.”

Abby’s heart was throbbing in her chest and her body felt like it was melting into his strong chest and arms. She never had strength to say no to him in the past when he asked something of her. Did she have it now? His breath was still running across her ear and neck. His lips were brushing softly on her ear, a soft kiss or two that could barely be felt but set a fire deep within her body.

She nodded yes and his face lit up with happiness as he pulled away. He kissed the top of her head again and Abby convinced herself that it was going to be okay, it was just dinner with an old friend. Right?

He let her go and headed for the door. She gathered her composure and followed him. He went to Miss Jansen and spoke with her for a moment. When he turned around, he gave her a half smile and spoke softly, saying he would see her later. As she watched him go into the elevator and the doors shut, her heart fell to her feet and she had to sit down. His walking away from her and leaving scared her.

Miss Jansen came over with another bottle of water for her. She stood by her side for a moment and Abby could see that she wanted to say something to her, but she waited to see if she would. She almost looked like she was studying her. Maybe it was because her face looked like hell from crying so much. She tried to smile as she spoke, “I know I look like hell right?”

Abby was completely confused by her words. See what? So much had happened already, her brain didn’t have the energy it needed to decode what Miss Jansen meant. “I’m sorry I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I think it would be better if I showed you rather than told you. Come with me.”

Abby hesitated before standing up as she watched Miss Jansen walk to Westly’s office door. She waited for Abby to join her before opening the door completely and turning on the light. Abby walked in and looked in the direction Miss Jansen was pointing and crossed the room slowly as she stared in disbelief.

The wall was covered with pictures of children; she guessed they were his nieces, his nephew and the beautiful little Abby. In the middle of them all was the frame she had given him so long ago. Miss Jansen started to talk behind her, but she could not take her eyes off of the picture in the frame.

“I asked him once who that was because I knew he wasn’t married or anything. He wouldn’t say much, but he did say that it was the love of his life. I have found him many times standing right where you are standing now, just staring at the picture. Wow this really has been a big day for you.”

Abby stayed there looking at the younger version of the two of them together. She read the words at the bottom of the frame over and over again:
Remember when we are apart you are in my heart as I am in yours. I love you till the end of time.
She was shocked as well as pleased that her gift had meant that much to him, even after all this time.

“Well, Mrs. Dalton the limo is waiting for you downstairs. Let the driver know where you are going, and he will be back at seven-thirty this evening to get you for dinner with Mr. Michaels. I’m sorry but this is all too exciting; you must be going crazy inside.”

“Something like that, and please, call me Abby.” A smile spread across her face when she called herself Abby. She was Abby now even if it was only until she went back to Texas. She walked out the door and toward the elevator.

“The limo will be right outside the front door Mrs., I mean Abby. Have fun tonight; Mr. Michaels is a great man.”

Abby turned around and smiled while she stepped into the elevator. This young girl didn’t need to tell her he was a great man; she knew just how great he was.

The limo was waiting right outside the door; the driver smiled as he open the passenger-side door for her. He didn’t speak until he was in the driver’s seat. The ride to the hotel felt like forever; however, Abby didn’t care her mind was too busy going over the events of the day. It had gone from one extreme to another and back again. This felt like a dream too; if it was, she didn’t want to wake up just yet.

When the limo pulled to a stop outside the hotel, Abby didn’t notice. When the driver opened the door it startled her. Abby hoped that he did not see her little jump or hear her gasp, but the smile on his face as she got out of the limo gave away the fact that he had. “I’ll be back at seven-thirty sharp to pick you up Mrs. Dalton.”

“Okay, thank you very much.” There was not much more that she could say to him, she was too embarrassed.

She glanced at the clock in the lobby; it was just after two p.m. now. The crowded elevator took forever to get up to her floor. Someone was getting off practically every time it started going again. She knew she had to make a couple of phone calls when she got to her room. The big questions were whom should she call first and how much should she tell them?

She raced from the elevator to her room when the doors opened up. She had to call her boss and tell him that she had sold the job on the first go at it. She dropped her stuff inside the door and went to the phone right away. The red message light was blinking on the phone, but she skipped listening to it and dialed her boss. When he answered she could not help but start laughing.

“Well the president of the company was in love with it, and I met him today in person.” She decided that mentioning he was an “old friend” might not be a good idea.

“Well Abigail, I am impressed. I thought your idea was wonderful, but, well great job. I never thought you would do this so fast though. I was expecting you to have to make several trips, if we even got it at all.”

“Really? Well I guess we were just a perfect match,” Abby smiled as she said it to him. Westly and her were a perfect match, in more ways than he knew, ways that only the two of them knew.

“Well I’m going into a meeting with the senior partners right now. I am looking forward to telling them about your accomplishment today Abigail. I do think they will be very impressed that you did this on your own so quickly.”

Abby hung up then dialed again as quickly as her fingers could. She had to call Rachel and thank her for all she had done so many years ago.

“I know what you did Rach, and I can’t thank you enough. I remembered everything last night. Then today, I did my presentation and after I was done...” Abby stopped talking as Rachel’s voice raised three octaves on the other end of the phone.

“Abigail I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Slow down!”

Abby took a deep breath and started to talk slower, “Last night was the last of the dreams, the end of what happened between Westly and I so many years ago. I remembered everything: how he left me, being at your place for weeks afterward, even writing you that note before going home and blocking it all out of my mind. I know what you have done for me all these years - holding in a secret for me and from me at the same time.” Abby started to laugh out loud. “Thank you so much Rach.”

“Abigail, I just did what you asked me to. I acted like that semester never existed. We all did, for you. But why in the world are you laughing about this? You sound way too happy though. To be honest, I thought if you ever remembered it would, well, be really bad. That you were going to be mad. Did you really forget that much of it? Part of me just thought it was something we never talked about.”