“Sure, but you should probably leave the apartment. You’re going to have to at some point.”
“I know, but not yet,” she admitted. She’d been hiding away, trying to make sense of her feelings. She didn’t know what love should feel like but the way she longed for Alec, the way she missed him, made her believe this had to be something pretty close to it.
Scarlet bent down to scoop up Lulu, who was dancing around her feet. The little dog buried her face in the curve of Scarlet’s neck as Scarlet petted her.
“How about if we go for a walk in Central Park when I getback?” Billie asked. “The weather isn’t too bad today. It’s supposed to snow, which you love, and you can put a coat on so the baby bump won’t show if any paps snap a photo of you.”
She looked at her friend and assistant and saw the concern on Billie’s face. She’d also heard from Bianca, who had her baby—a little girl she’d named Aurora. Kinley, Hadley and Helena had all emailed and texted as well, just saying they missed her.
She missed them, as well.
You don’t have to miss anyone, Tara’s voice whispered through her mind.Go back to Texas.
Go back to Texas.
Was it that simple?
She stood there staring at Billie for a long minute and then nodded. She wasn’t happy here. She knew she was due to start shooting, but for once in her life she wasn’t going to share this with the world. Not until she won Alec back... If he’d still have her. She was in love with him and being apart wasn’t really making her feel any better. She had absolutely no idea how to raise a child but with Alec by her side she’d feel a lot better about trying.
“Uh, that’s a no on the park, Billie. How about if we go to Cole’s Hill instead?” Scarlet said.
“About damned time,” Billie said. “You have been miserable since you came home, and I think it’s because you love Alec.”
“I think I do, too,” Scarlet said. “Go and deal with whoever is downstairs while I call the film company to reschedule shooting and call the pilot?—”
“How are you going to deal with any of that? I’m the one with the numbers,” Billie countered.
“Text them to me. Billie, I think I’m going to be a mom.”
“You are going to be a mom,” Billie said, coming over and hugging her. “And you’re going to be great. Be right back.”
Billie left the apartment and Scarlet picked up her phone and looked at the text messages. She hadn’t heard from Alec since she’d left him that night. What was she going to say?
Tell him how you feel, Tara’s voice whispered.That’s the one thing we never did in our family.
Her sister was right. It was time to do the opposite of everything that she’d learned to do in order to protect herself from being hurt. It was time to be honest about her emotions and admit she needed Alec in her life. That she wanted the family that fate had dropped in her lap.
Chapter Fifteen
Ethan’s law offices were in one of the new towers that had just been completed on the outskirts of town near Hadley’s loft. Normally he took care of all of his business with Ethan at the Five Families Clubhouse or the Bull Pen. But Ethan had insisted that to get everything he wanted in the new deal with Scarlet, he was going to have to come into the office.
So he’d postponed a trip to Michigan to see one of his new clients and was now on his way to the lawyer’s office. It had been three days since his conversation with his dad and Alec had been working nonstop to get everything in order so that when Scarlet came back to Cole’s Hill he’d be able to focus on her. That was why rescheduling the client trip wasn’t ideal. What if she was able to come back sooner than he thought? He definitely wanted to be here when she arrived.
But when he got to Ethan’s office, Hadley was waiting in the parking lot and she looked upset.
He couldn’t ignore his future sister-in-law, and Ethan would understand if Alec was late.
“You okay?”
“No, I’m not. Thank goodness you’re here. I think there’s a mouse in my loft,” Hadley said. “I’ve texted Mo, but he said you were on your way to Ethan’s. Could you go and check it out?”
“Sure,” he said. “I thought you weren’t living there anymore.”
“I’m not but I’ve been working to get it ready so I can rent it out, and I have someone coming to look at it in like thirty minutes,” Hadley said. “I swear, I can handle anything but a mouse. They are small and fast and I’m getting the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.”
“I got this. I’ll go check it out and then figure out how to catch it,” Alec said.
“Thank you,” she said. “Should I tell Mo to still come?”