Page 103 of Heartbroken Husband
“You’ve been through enough,” he said after a few long seconds. “This lets you live without having to worry about the girls.”
I shut my eyes. That tenderness I remembered from years ago was back in his voice, reminding me once more of exactly what I’d lost and what I might be losing again.
“I also made sure the Westwood and Morris deal goes through regardless of whether we marry,” he said. “Your grandfather still gets the security of the Westwood umbrella for you and for his company. It’s just not tied to you and I walking down the aisle anymore.”
“You did that?”
“Yeah. I didn’t want you feeling trapped by any potential fallout raining down on you as a result of the corporate end of the deal.”
Wow. Zachary Westwood seems to have decided his purpose in life is making me feel increasingly stupider about every dumb decision I’ve ever made.My throat tightened, but he was speaking again before I was even able to thank him.
“There was some more drama with Louis too, but I handled it,” he said. “You should be rid of him for good now.”
My heart sank. “What kind of drama?”
“You don’t need to even think about it,” he said firmly. “It’s over. I swear. If I thought there was any chance he would be back, I would tell you, but it was just another attempted powerplay. A weak one, at that. Stupid, even. It’s really nothing for you to worry about.”
My heart softened and my insides turned to goo when I realized that he meant it. He wasn’t trying to control me or brush me off. He’d genuinely wanted to shoulder it himself so I didn’t have to panic, and after doing absolutely everything alone for so long, the feeling of someone stepping in on my behalf nearly shattered me.
I sat there in silence, staring at the ridiculous estate statement spread across my comforter. He’d set us up for life. Meandthe girls. Jennifer and Lu would never know the kind of fear I’d spent the past year drowning in, and it was because of him.
He didn’t have to do any of this. I had hurt him so badly almost a decade ago, then again the other night, and somehow, he continued to keep proving over and over again that he was still the best man I’d ever met.
What was I thinking?
“I can’t accept this money,” I whispered finally.
Zach chuckled. “I figured you’d say that.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I,” he replied. “You also agreed to catalog the art at the Manor, remember? We desperately need it to happen. You can consider this an advance on the work you said you’d do there.”
“That is the most manipulative thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“I sincerely doubt that, but hey, I learned from the best businessmen in the country.”
So surprised that he’d be joking at a time like this, I laughed, but the sound seemed to ease something in him too, because his own voice was gentler when he spoke again. “When do you want to come by?”
For a second, it felt exactly like it used to, like I was twenty-two again, lying on my apartment floor talking to my best friend for hours every night. My whole body still instinctively relaxed at the sound of his voice. It even felt like I was still secretly in love with him and hoping he might somehow feel the same.
Only, our feelings weren’t secret anymore. At least not on my end, and that was terrifying.
“I could come over tomorrow,” I said. “Just to take a first peek of what we’re working with. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”
“Okay.”
There was a tiny pause after that, neither of us hanging up even though there was nothing really left to say. Honestly,I wasn’t quite sure how to end the conversation, but then my bedroom door creaked open and Jennifer slipped inside, clutching one of her stuffed animals against her chest.
Reality sank back in then, returning me to the present. The here and now. Things had been so much simpler back then, but I wasn’t twenty-two anymore, and although I liked to think I was so much wiser now, I’d likely ruined everything between us for good by losing my damn mind.
“I should go,” I said softly.
“Yeah,” Zach replied, but it didn’t sound like he wanted to end the call either. I sure knew I didn’t. “Goodnight, Adeline.”
The tenderness in his voice nearly made me burst into tears all over again. “Goodnight.”
Jennifer climbed onto the bed beside me as I hung up. “Was that Zach?”
