Page 54

Chapter Eleven

A urora

“Good morning,” Tally whispers from my office doorway.

I look up and return her hesitant smile. Her brows pull together as she takes me in, undoubtedly noticing my frazzled state. Is it bedtime yet? Running on five hours’ sleep over the past three days will do that to a person.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“Come in and close the door behind you.”

“What’s going on?” She takes a seat across from me. “With all due respect, you look … not your best.”

“Gee, thanks.”

She grimaces, and I smile.

“I’m joking.” I sigh. “It’s been a long weekend, and I’m exhausted.”

“How did the conference go?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I wasn’t there.”

She flashes me a look like I’ve lost my mind.

“We have a meeting in an hour, and you’re going to hear it then. So I might as well tell you now,” I say. “Charlie is gone.”

“Charlie is dead? Oh my God .”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “No, he’s not dead. But he has left the company.”

Her eyes widen. “Why?”

“He called me … well, he called me on Friday, but I didn’t get his messages until Saturday. Basically, his mother was put into hospice, and he needed to be home with his family.”

“Oh, man. I hate that for him. Is he okay?”

My heart tugs in my chest. “I think he’s as okay as anyone can be when you find out that your parent is passing away.”

A wave of despair breaks over me as I recall the moment that I found out both of my parents had been in a terrible accident, and that my father had passed, and my mother was on life support. A ball of fire settles into the base of my throat. For a few seconds, it’s hard to breathe.

“Wow,” she says on an exhale. She stares out my office window as if she’s trying to process it all.

I glance at the legal pad full of notes I took on Saturday evening with Charlie.

He insisted on sharing every file, note, and inspiration he had for the Raptors rebrand.

I’m awed by his marketing prowess and vision.

I also wish I’d had more time to learn from him.

For someone leaving a company, especially under such dire circumstances, he was certainly upstanding in how much time he spent preparing his assistant.

I’m convinced, however, that more than anything, he was keeping himself busy until his flight took off on Sunday morning. Preoccupying oneself is something I can relate to these days.

Tally sighs. “Not to be insensitive, but what do we do now? Are they replacing him? Are we just waiting around until he comes back?”

“I honestly don’t know. I assume that’s what we’ll discuss in the meeting this morning.”

“So I’m guessing you flew back from Columbus on Saturday?”

I nod. “I came here straight from the airport Saturday afternoon. We were here until nine o’clock that night, just going over things and …” I frown. “I don’t think he wanted to be home alone with his thoughts. And since I’ve lost both of my parents, I was a good sounding board.”

“Was that hard for you? I mean, I can imagine that it would be difficult to talk about losing your mom and dad, especially when someone else is in the heavy emotional stages of it.”

“I don’t think anyone ever enjoys talking about things like that. But I guess I feel like if I can use my grief and pain to make someone else feel more seen or heard, then at least it’s doing some good.”

Tally smiles at me, nodding. “I love you.”

Her declaration makes me laugh.

“I mean it,” she says, laughing too. “You are the best person. You’re kind to everyone. Thoughtful. You’re so full of wisdom.”

“Okay. Easy there. Now I know you’re just flattering me.”

“I am not.” Her laughter fades. “I feel fortunate that I’ve gotten to work with you.”

My cheeks flush as I grab my coffee. “Well, I feel fortunate to have my very own hype woman.”

“Hey, speaking of hype women, weren’t you a professional cheerleader?”

I nod. “I cheered for the Illinois Legends, the pro football team, in my twenties.”

“See? You’re the epitome of cool. I’ve learned so much about not only marketing from you but also how to be a strong woman.”

I don’t know what to say to that because I certainly don’t feel like a strong woman all the time or most of the time.

In fact, if Tally had met me when I was reeling from learning I’d married a selfish, egotistical bastard, she might have different thoughts about me.

The way he treated his daughter was disgusting.

But it does make me feel good to know that I might be having a positive impact on my intern.

She shifts in her seat. “On that note, I might not be able to help Charlie, but I can help you. What can I do to assist you, Aurora?”

I look around my desk and search for an answer.

I’ve fixated on this job for the past day and a half. I’ve been over every aspect of things front to back, side to side. I promised Charlie that I would maintain our vision, and I intend to do just that. But I’ve focused on it for so long that I need a break to refresh my brain.

“Thank you for asking,” I say. “I’m sure there will be a million things you can do to help. But for right now, I want to mentally check out for a few minutes while I can.”

“Understandable.”

I lean against my desktop. “Why don’t you tell me about your weekend? How was pickleball?”

“Well, let’s just say I’m not only a legend on the court but I’m one off the court, as well.”

“I expected no less.”

She laughs, settling into her seat. “It turns out that I’m one heck of a pickleball teacher.

I took my boyfriend from a four to a seven in just a couple of days.

Pickleball doesn’t come quite as naturally to him as it does to me.

But I’ve put together a good practice schedule for him while I’m out of town, and I’ll go home as much as I can over the next couple of months.

We’ll be ready to kick butt by the time the tournament rolls around. ”

“This fascinates me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I guess I didn’t know people took pickleball this seriously.”

“Girl, people talk about this tournament all damn year. In the middle of our town square is a statue of a pickle holding a ball. Corny, but also cute. Anyway, there are little plaques around the bottom of the statue with the names of the tourney champs from every year going back to the 1970s.” She winks. “My name is there multiple times.”

“I’m glad you had a good weekend.”

She smiles. “I did. It was also just nice to see my boyfriend. We’re doing this long-distance thing that I didn’t think would work, but we’ve been making it happen. It’s hard, for sure …” Her smile turns ornery. “But that only makes it harder, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”

I can’t think about that right now. I pluck my brain out of the trenches before it can fully create a picture by joining Tate and hard .

I’m at work. I’m not being paid to fantasize.

“Speaking of that, do you have anything to share with me, boss lady?”

The twinkle in her eye makes me grin.

“You’re probably thinking that now isn’t the right time,” she says.

“Or ever.”

“You opened the door to this when we spoke on Friday. So naturally, I’ll be thinking about what might’ve happened with you, and you’ll wonder if you’ll wind up telling me.

You might as well get it out of the way so we can attend this meeting in a few minutes and focus.

As my boss, you should clear the air so we can be productive. ”

I laugh at the perfectly satisfied look on her face.

“You’re only laughing because you know I’m right,” she says, grinning.

I settle back in my seat and try to decide how to handle this with Tally. In a perfect world, I wouldn’t have brought this up with her. But I did, and now it only makes sense that she wants a resolution to the issue.

What a resolution it was . I stifle a moan.

Although I’ve been focused on work for the past couple of days, Tate has definitely been on my mind. Every time I think of him, a warmth floods my body, and a smile splits my cheeks. Being with him was exactly what I wanted and exactly what I needed. No one ever gets both of those things at once.

I’ve wondered what he got out of our night together. Despite his words of praise, I’m sure he’s on to his next hookup. As he should.

But I’m a different woman than the one I was when I boarded the plane on Friday.

That version of me was hopeful but scared to hope too much.

I was quietly fearful that the best years of my life had passed me by, and I’d made peace with the possibility that I might wind up alone for the rest of my life.

But that was the me then . This me? I have a whole new perspective.

One night with Tate was all it took to realize that I haven’t really lived. I’ve settled for far less than I deserve. I’ve been accepting of things that didn’t suit me, benefit me, or were for me.

I’ve been content with living my life in mediocrity so that other people can be comfortable.

It’s a stunning revelation.

It took a stranger to show me what I’ve been missing. A man I don’t even know showed me more passion than my two husbands who took an oath before God to love, honor, and cherish me. It’s wild.

“So …” Tally prompts, watching me expectantly. “Don’t sit there and pretend you don’t have a story for me because I can see it in your eyes.”

I take a deep breath. “Fine. I’m not giving you a ton of details because you are my intern, and we do need to keep this professional.”

“I get it. But also, you do realize that if I weren’t your intern, we’d totally be hanging out, right?”

“Tally, I could be your mother.”

“The coolest mother ever.” She points at me. “Don’t get sidetracked. Spill it.”

“Fine.” A bubble of excitement stirs in my stomach. “Yes, I did see Tate on Friday.”

She fist-pumps the air.

“I went down to the restaurant for dinner, and he happened to be there waiting for me.”

“Seriously?”

“With a rose,” I say, grinning.

She dances in her seat.

“And he’d made reservations for us.”

“A man with a plan. We love it.”

Yes, we do . “And we might’ve gone back to his room after.”

“Aurora, you little minx!”

My face turns red. “And that’s all you’re getting.”

“That wasn’t all he was getting, it seems.”

“Stop it.” I laugh. “Seriously. I’ve overshared as it is.”

She scoots to the edge of the chair. “I have one question, and then I’ll let it go.”

I stare at her.

“Did you at least give him your real name?” she asks.

I shake my head. “A part of me feels guilty for lying to him about it. But when it comes down to it, I’m glad I didn’t.”

“You can’t get an encore if he doesn’t know who you are!”

“Exactly.”

She holds her head in her hands like her mind is blown.

I could explain it to her. I could tell her that I can’t get in too deep with the first man I meet after my divorce. And I certainly can’t let myself fall for a man who’s probably cool with never seeing me again.

He got what he wanted. I did, too. And what happened in Ohio needs to stay there.

“Okay,” I say, organizing papers in front of me. “We have a meeting in about half an hour. I have no idea who’s going to be there or what they’re going to say. I just need us to be as prepared as we can be for whatever comes our way. Charlie is counting on us, and I gave him my word.”

The playfulness of a few moments ago is gone, and Tally’s in work mode.

“In that case, I need to run to my desk and make sure I’m organized,” she says, getting to her feet.

“Great.”

“Don’t worry, Aurora. We’re going to dazzle them with our abilities,” she says, a nod punctuating her statement. “By the sound of it, it’ll be the second time you’ve dazzled someone this week.”

“Tally …”

She heads for the door. “I’m kidding. I won’t bring it up again, but I couldn’t let that opportunity pass.”

“Meet me in the conference room at nine fifty.”

“I’ll be there.”

She closes the door behind her.

I sit back in my chair and grab my coffee, letting the heat of the mug warm my hands. For the first time since the start of the weekend, I’m able to catch my breath. I can think clearly, too.

Tate’s smile pops up in my brain.

Well, kind of clearly …