Coming Back To You (24 page)

“Hi, girl. How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

“Good.” Lisa’s voice sounded tight, like
she’d called for a reason but wasn’t sure how to bring it up. “Glad
to hear it.”

“Is that why you called? To check on me?”
Prodding Lisa when she got like this was the best way to make her
spill.

“Partly. But…um…”

“Out with it, Leese.”

“I just read your blog.”

Karma’s mind froze, and it took her a minute
to process Lisa’s announcement. “Wait, how do you know about my…”
Then she remembered when Lisa and Daniel had helped her clear out
her spare room last spring. “Ooohh. That’s right. I told you about
it when you and Daniel helped me move in my treadmill. Have you
been reading it all this time?” She suddenly tried to remember all
the posts she’d written and all the secrets she’d divulged.

“Off and on. I haven’t read it in a while,
but I looked at it today while watching the game, and…”

Oh no. Lisa had read her Brad and Mark
musings. She dropped her face into her free hand.

“Karma, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” She lowered her hand to her
lap and glanced out the window. “I think I’m in trouble here,
Lisa.”

“Are you falling back in love with Mark?”

How did you fall back in love with someone
you had never stopped loving? “Lisa, I don’t think I’ve ever fallen
out
of love with him.”

“You can’t do that. You can’t be in love with
him if you’re going to marry Brad.”

“Tell that to my heart.” She laid her head
against the back of the couch.

“What about Brad?”

Just his name sent shudders down her back.
“Brad and I just aren’t working, Lisa. If you read my blog post,
you know that.”

“Yes, I got that impression. So, are you
going to call off the engagement?”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Brad
wasn’t a bad guy. He was a decent man. They just didn’t see eye to
eye about a lot of things, and there just wasn’t any passion there.
She didn’t feel a connection to him like she did with Mark. “Do you
think I’ll ever find a man that’s the best of both worlds?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, a man who makes me feel like Mark
does but wants to get married like Brad?”

Lisa laughed. “Gee, Karma, you’re not asking
for much, are you?”

She sighed. “I’m looking for the impossible,
aren’t I?”

“Naw, you’re not.” Lisa paused. “Like I said
before, you
can
have both. I believe it’s possible. And you
know, you could do worse. A lot of married women would kill to have
just a smidgeon of what you’ve got with Mark, and a lot of single
women would give their left arm for what you have with Brad.”

“What are you saying?”

“Just that no one’s perfect, sweetie. But you
have to decide who’s closer to
your
definition of
perfection. You’re never going to get everything you want. That’s
why you have to weigh the pros and cons and compromise. What can
you live with, and what’s a deal breaker? If Mark wants to be with
you—
really
wants to be with you—but just can’t call it a
commitment, then is that really so bad? It’s just semantics,
right?”

“True, but who says he wants to be with
me?”

“Did you even read your own blog post? Of
course he wants to be with you. Why would he be taking care of you
like he is if he didn’t?”

As always, what Lisa said made sense. “You’ve
got a good point.”

“Of course I make a good point. I’m
awesome.”

Karma started to laugh but ended up coughing instead.
After catching her breath, she said, “Don’t make me laugh or you’ll
kill me.”

“I’m sorry. Couldn’t help myself.” Lisa
snickered. “But hey, seriously, it doesn’t take a genius to see
Mark is still into you. And I mean
into
you. I’m not saying
Brad’s a bad guy or that you should ditch him, but, Karma, you
deserve to be happy, and I just don’t see you being happy with
Brad. Sure, having Mark back threw you off in the beginning, and of
course you were angry, but now things are settling down, and in the
last few weeks you’ve been the happiest I’ve seen you in a long
time. That can’t just be coincidence.”

“Okay, so the next obvious question is, what
about my job? Let’s say I decide to give Mark another chance. What
then? I’m his assistant. You’re in human resources. If he and I get
involved, I can’t be his assistant, anymore, can I?”

“We can figure it out. There’s always a
solution. First, you just need to decide what you want.”

“Meaning Brad or Mark.”

“Yes. You have to choose. If you want Mark
and he wants you, then we’ll deal with what to do about your job
later.”

Karma frowned and nibbled on her bottom lip.
“What if I told you I’m already dealing with it?” She squeezed her
eyes closed, unable to believe she was actually going to tell Lisa
that she’d sent out résumés.

“What do you mean?”

“Lisa, don’t kill me, but I started putting
out feelers with other companies after Mark returned.”

“You what?” Lisa’s voice shrilled.

“I was upset.” Karma slapped her hand on the
couch. “I didn’t think I’d be able to work with him, so I sent out
a couple dozen résumés.” And she’d actually received an e-mail from
one of her former professors at Purdue with word about a possible
position opening soon. But she hadn’t heard back, yet.

“Have you been contacted by any of them?”

“No. Not yet.” No sense telling her about the
e-mail from her professor until she had more definitive news.

Lisa blew out a relieved sigh. “Good. Don’t
leave. You can’t leave.”

“But—”

“No. We’ll figure it out, okay? Just…don’t
accept any offers if you get any.”

“What if I receive an offer I can’t refuse?
You know, like more money and a chance to work in my preferred
field?” She really wanted to use her writing degree someday sooner
rather than later.

“You’d sell out like that?”

“I wouldn’t be selling out.”

“Oh, you know what I mean.”

“Whatever.” Karma glanced up at the score as
it flashed on the screen before a commercial break.

“So, you’re going to think about what I
said?”

Karma dug another cracker from the box. “Yes,
Mother.”

Lisa laughed. “My vote is for Mark, but then
I’ve never really warmed up to Brad. He’s just too…I don’t
know…serious. Mark’s like yummy, melted marshmallows on a bed of
warm chocolate. Brad’s cold graham crackers.”

“Ah, but marshmallows and melted chocolate
are just a gooey mess without graham crackers to hold them
together.”

“Oh, jeez. Listen to that philosophy.”

“Just keepin’ it real.” Karma bit into her
cracker. Pieces fell onto the blanket and she brushed them off.

“Well, I’ll take the gooey mess and lick it
off my plate. How’s that?”

“Hey, that’s
my
gooey mess you’re
talking about. If anyone’s going to be doing any licking, it’s
me.”

“You’ve got graham crackers, remember? You
can’t have the sweet, gooey mess until you throw out the
crackers.”

“Nice visual.” Karma tossed the half-eaten
Chicken in a Biscuit cracker back in the box.

“I’m here all night for your
entertainment.”

Karma forced herself not to laugh so she
didn’t erupt into another coughing frenzy. “How do our
conversations always revolve around food?”

“I don’t know, but now I’m hungry. I’m gonna
go find some chocolate and marshmallows.”

“Hey!”

“Hey yourself. You stop eating the crackers
and you can have the chocolate.”

“Fine. I’ll think about it.”

They said their good-byes and Karma glanced
at the blue box with the chicken on the front sitting beside her.
Then she smiled and shook her head. They weren’t grahams, but
wasn’t it funny how she’d stopped eating those crackers just about
the time Lisa told her to?

God, was she really considering doing this
all over again?

And if she did, would Mark only break her
heart?

Chapter 26

Friday, November 16

Mark smiled at the caller ID on his phone.

“Rob, hey.” He stood and glanced out his
office window.

“What are you still doing in Indianapolis?”
Rob sounded uptight. Then again, this was his last weekend as a
bachelor. Come Monday, he would be a kept man.

“Relax. There was an emergency with one of
our clients, and I needed to oversee things. But don’t worry. I’ll
be there.”

“Just don’t miss your fitting in the morning
or Holly will kill me.”

“Well, just make sure to keep the Valium
coming and I won’t kill you first.” He’d promised Rob he’d be his
best man, but just thinking about standing at the front of the
church in his tuxedo gave him a queasy stomach.

“Yeah, yeah, you and your Valium. How’s
things with your little lady?”

“She’s not my little lady,” he said quietly,
glancing over his shoulder to his open office door.

Things had softened between him and Karma
since the day he bumped into her at Greek Tony’s, and even more
since the day he took her to the doctor. But she still wore that
godforsaken diamond on her finger, and until she broke things off
with Brad—if she ever did—he wouldn’t intrude. He refused to do to
Brad what Antonio had done to him when he stole Carol out from
under him seven years ago, going on eight. Becoming the very thing
he loathed was not the solution and would just make things worse
for all involved.

“Damn. I was hoping you’d show up with her
and make it a double wedding.”

“Fuck you.” Mark tossed his gaze back out the
window. “You’re full of shit, you know that?”

“Yeah, but at least I’m happily full of
shit.”

Mark grinned. “I’m happy for you. And don’t
worry, I’ll be there. I swear.”

“You’d better be. I’m counting on you.”

“Hey, you’re the one who scheduled the
wedding on a Monday. If you’d scheduled it on a weekend like a
normal person I’d have been there days ago and we wouldn’t be
having this conversation. Who the hell gets married on a
Monday?”

Rob chuckled. “It was Holly’s idea. Relatives
were flying in from out of town for Thanksgiving, and since
everyone was taking the week off, anyway, she thought we’d save
some money taking a weekday instead of a prime-time weekend
slot.”

“Smart woman you’re marrying there, Rob.”

“I know. But the weekend had been booked,
anyway, so we didn’t really have much choice.”

“And now the truth comes out.”

“And don’t you breathe a word of it to
anyone. Holly likes people thinking I’m marrying a sensible, frugal
woman.”

“Aren’t you?”

“Yes, but I guess making everyone think she
purposely chose Monday to save money ices it.”

Mark chuckled. “Okay, let me get off here. I
just need to take care of a few more things and then I’m on the
road. Car’s already packed.”

“Okay, see you later.”

He hung up and reached for his coffee cup. He
had a long drive ahead of him in a couple of hours, so one more mug
of coffee wouldn’t hurt, even though it was late in the
afternoon.

As he approached his door, he heard Karma
gasp from her desk.

“What? Oh no.” She sounded upset.

He stepped out to find her on her phone. When
he saw the look of dread on her face, he knew whatever news she’d
just received wasn’t good.

“Is she okay? What’s wrong?” Tears sprang
into her eyes and she covered her mouth.

Mark hurried to her desk and mouthed, “What’s
wrong?”

She shook her head and began to cry. “I’ll be right
there. Don’t do anything, yet. Just let me get there.” She hung up
and immediately burst into tears.

“Karma? What’s wrong?”

“It’s my cat, Spookie,” she said, grabbing
her purse. “She collapsed and is struggling to breathe.” She bolted
out of her chair, dashing her fingers across her tear-streaked
cheeks. “I have to go. I need to go.”

Mark stepped aside. He knew what it was like
to lose a beloved pet. Growing up, they’d had dogs. He still
remembered when they’d had to put down his favorite, a golden
retriever named Rex. He’d cried for days.

“Do you need a ride?” He wasn’t sure she
should be driving if she was this upset.

She shook her head and darted past. “No. I’m
fine. Thanks. I just want to get there.”

“Be careful.” He watched her rush down the
hall and disappear around the corner.

If only there was something more he could do
to comfort her, because his gut told him this wasn’t going to end
well. But comforting her was Brad’s job, not his. Mark wasn’t a
philanderer, and he didn’t take women from other men. Others could
do what they pleased, but for him, a taken woman was off-limits.
So, as much as he wanted to be the man to dry all Karma’s tears and
ease her heartache, he wouldn’t break that one rule. He never had,
and he never would.

But damn it, he wanted to fill that position
if it ever became available again.

* * *

Karma raced to the vet’s office, a million thoughts
training through her head. What was wrong with Spookie? Would she
live? Was she going to lose the best kitty in the world today? How
old was Spookie, anyway? She was old. At least fifteen years.
That’s old for a cat. Why hadn’t she seen this coming? She should
have tried harder to find an apartment that allowed cats, because
it looked like she’d run out of time.

Running up the sidewalk, she shoved open the
veterinarian’s door. Her dad was waiting for her.

“Where is she?”

To some people, cats were just animals, but
to Karma, Spookie was like her own child, or maybe a baby sister.
Spookie was as much a member of the family as she and her brother
were.

Her dad ushered her down the hall to one of
the exam rooms. “They’ve got her in here.” He pushed open the
door.