Page 43 of Keep My Heart (The Haydon Falls #1)

Nick

My blood’s boiling seeing Chris here, knowing what an ass he was to Lyndsay and knowing he’s hurting her, showing up like this. She came here to get away from him, and then he shows up, without even telling her.

He looks like shit, like an older, fatter version of himself.

Girls used to think he was hot, but they wouldn’t now.

How’d he let himself go like that? He used to be an athlete.

He worked out all the time and had the muscles to prove it.

Now he looks like a tired old man with a swollen face and a huge gut.

And I think he’s losing his hair. It looks a lot thinner on top.

‘I thought you said he wasn’t coming,’ Diane says to Lyndsay.

‘He told me he wasn’t.’

‘Let’s get out of here.’ I take Lyndsay’s hand and pull on her to move.

‘No. I’m not leaving because of him.’

‘You really want to stay? You know he’s going to come over here.’

‘Yeah? So let him come over. I’m not afraid of him.’ She sticks her chest out and holds her head up higher. She’s drunk, which isn’t a good frame of mind to be in when confronting her ex-husband.

‘Shit, he saw us,’ Diane says.

We all watch as Chris makes his way over to us. Nobody else seems to notice him. I don’t think they recognize him. I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t seen Diane staring at him. I could tell by the look on her face it was him.

He smiles as he approaches our table. ‘How’s everyone doing?’

‘Great, until you showed up,’ Diane mutters.

‘Hey, Chris.’ I turn to him. ‘It’s been awhile.’

He looks at me, squinting a little. ‘Do I know you?’

‘Nick. Nick Kanfield.’

‘No shit?’ He stands back, looking me up and down. ‘Damn, I never would’ve guessed. You were so scrawny back in high school.’

‘He wasn’t scrawny,’ Lyndsay says, putting her arm around mine. ‘He just didn’t have all these muscles back then.’ She smiles at me.

Is she trying to piss off Chris? I don’t care if he knows I’m dating Lyndsay, but I’m not going to rub it in his face.

I’m not looking to get into a fight tonight, but if I did fight him, I’d definitely win.

I’m taller than him and I’ve got a lot more strength.

He’s so fat and flabby, it wouldn’t even be a fair fight.

Why didn’t Lyndsay tell me he looked like this? Was she too embarrassed?

‘What’s going on here?’ Chris says to Lyndsay. ‘You trying to get with Nick? You really that desperate?’

Okay, that’s it. I was trying to be nice, trying to remain calm, trying to be a gentleman, but I’m not letting him insult me.

I take my arm from Lyndsay’s and step up to Chris. ‘You want to say that again or should we step outside? ’

‘Nick, don’t,’ Lyndsay says, coming up behind me. ‘Let’s just go.’

‘You two are leaving together?’ Chris looks past me to Diane. ‘Help me out here, Diane. Tell me why the fuck my wife is with Nick.’

Diane gets up. ‘She’s not your wife anymore, and what she does or who she does it with is none of your business.’

‘Like hell it isn’t!’ Chris looks at Lyndsay. ‘We got divorced last week, and you’re telling me you’re already with someone else?’ He points to me. ‘Have you been fucking him behind my back? Is that why you asked for a divorce?’

‘No! You really think I’d cheat on you?’

‘Okay, this is getting out of hand,’ Tom says, coming around the table to Chris. ‘Why don’t we go get a drink? What do you like?’

Chris rears back. ‘Who the fuck are you?’

‘He’s my husband,’ Diane says. ‘And he was trying to be nice, but obviously, that doesn’t work with you. Just get out of here, Chris.’

‘I’m not leaving until I know what’s going on here. Why is Kanfield with my wife?’

‘She’s not your wife,’ I say. ‘And if you don’t—’

‘Nick and I are dating,’ Lyndsay blurts out. She steps up to Chris. ‘You and I are divorced. It’s final. I can be with whoever I want.’

‘And you’re choosing him ? Kanfield? The nerd who tutored you in math? Seriously?’

‘I am, and I don’t care what you think of him. It doesn’t matter. You don’t get to have a say in my life anymore. We’re over, and I’m asking you to please, just leave me alone.’

Chris looks at me, then back at Lyndsay. ‘I don’t even know who the fuck you are anymore.’ He storms off to the bar to get a drink.

‘Are you okay?’ Diane asks, holding Lyndsay’s arm.

‘I’m fine. I just can’t believe he showed up.’

‘We should go.’ I take Lyndsay’s hand. ‘He’s just going to cause more problems.’

‘I agree,’ Diane says to Lyndsay. ‘Why don’t we call it a night? It’s getting late and we’ve already talked to everyone we wanted to talk to.’

‘I don’t like giving Chris that much power,’ Lyndsay says. ‘He shows up and we all leave? Why are we letting him tell us what to do?’

‘We’re not,’ I say. ‘We’re making the decision ourselves. We weren’t planning on staying that much longer anyway.’ I get in front of her. ‘We had a good night. We had some drinks, danced, caught up with old friends. Why don’t we just end on a high note and get out of here?’

She nods. ‘Okay.’

‘You’ll call me tomorrow before you leave?’ Diane says to Lyndsay.

‘Yeah, or maybe I’ll stop by. I’ll let you know in the morning.’

My phone rings. I check it, then silence it.

‘Work again?’ Lyndsay asks.

‘Yeah, I’m just gonna ignore it. I should be able to have the damn weekend off.’

Doug, a lawyer at my firm, has been calling me all night.

We’re working on a divorce case together, but I told him not to bother me this weekend.

He can handle whatever it is or wait until I’m back on Monday.

I’m really sick of people at work thinking I’m on call all hours of the day.

I need to have a talk with my boss when I get back.

‘Oh! I forgot to talk to Marie!’ Diane waves at her, then says to Tom, ‘I’ll just be a minute. Could you get the car? I’ll meet you out front.’

‘Okay.’ He smiles at us as he leaves. ‘Have a good night.’

‘See ya, Tom,’ I tell him. He seems like a nice guy. I could see us being friends if I lived here.

Diane turns back to Lyndsay. ‘Get some rest and forget about you-know-who.’

‘I will. Bye!’

Diane races off to talk to her friend while Lyndsay and I head out of the ballroom.

My phone rings. It’s Doug again.

‘You need to answer it?’ Lyndsay asks as we wait for the elevator.

‘I don’t want to, but I probably should so he’ll stop calling. Go ahead and go up to the room. I’ll deal with this and be up there in a minute.’ I give her a kiss as the elevator doors open.

‘I’ll be waiting,’ she says, smiling as she gets on the elevator.

I can’t believe I get a whole night with her, just the two of us.

The hotel room was a great idea. I’m glad Matt suggested it.

Lyndsay and I need some alone time together, and not just in bed, but to talk about the future and where we go from here.

I’m thrilled she’s moving to New York, but I do have concerns.

I want to make sure she’s ready for this and not rushing into it.

And I want her to live with me, not get her own place.

Rent prices in New York are outrageous and if she’s spending all her time at my apartment, she might as well live there.

I’m just not sure we’re ready for that. We just started dating. Moving in together is a big step.

‘Nick,’ Doug says when he picks up. ‘I’ve been calling you all night.’

‘I told you I wouldn’t be around this weekend. Can’t this wait until Monday? ’

‘No. Iris is going fucking crazy and refuses to talk to anyone but you.’

Iris is a woman in her seventies who’s divorcing her cheating husband, a wealthy businessman. I’ve been working on the divorce for over a year and it still isn’t settled because Iris and her husband refuse to agree on anything.

I let out a frustrated sigh. ‘What’s wrong now?’

‘Donald took his mistress to the house in the Hamptons, which Iris is claiming is hers.’

‘Nothing’s hers until the divorce is final. I told her that.’

‘She’s not accepting what you told her. She wants you to get a judge to order her husband and his mistress out of there.’

‘That’s not happening. You know that. Why didn’t you tell her that?’

‘I did, but she won’t listen to me. She said I’m too young to know what I’m talking about. She wants you to handle it.’

Doug is fresh out of law school. My boss assigned him to work with me since he’s new and doesn’t have much experience yet.

‘I’ll deal with her on Monday.’

‘It can’t wait. Nick, she’s hysterical. You should’ve heard her. You have to talk to her.’

‘Fine. I’ll call her right now.’

‘Thanks. I’ll see you Monday.’

I end the call and scroll through my client list until I find Iris. I go outside to the front of the hotel and call her.

‘Nick! Finally! You wouldn’t believe what Don has done now! He’s with that whore at the beach house in the Hamptons!’

‘Yes, I heard. I got your message.’

‘What are you going to do? He can’t be there! It’s mine!’

‘Not yet. Not until we’ve made everything final. Iris, we’ve been over this. ’

‘He can’t stay there! God only knows what they’re doing in there! I’ll have to destroy all the furniture!’

‘There’s nothing you can do. It technically still belongs to both of you.’

‘Nick, please. I can’t allow this. You have to do something!’

‘I can’t. I’m out of town right now. I’ll see what I can do when I get back on Monday.’

‘Monday? I’m paying you a fortune! I demand that you get back here right now and do something!’

This is one of those times I hate my job. Clients like Iris calling me on a Saturday night, demanding I deal with their drama.

I try to remain calm as I think of how to respond to her.

‘Iris, I wish I could be there, but I can’t. You’ll just have to wait.’