The Valentine: The Wedding Pact #4 (4 page)

“Why did he bring it up?” Blair asked.

Megan shook her head. “Maybe because he was honored and flattered that his old boss wanted him back so much and he wanted to share it with his wife.”

Blair groaned. “I’m such an idiot. I told him to take it and go without me. But I don’t blame him if he wants to. I’ve been impossible to live with since Christmas.”

“Oh, Blair.” Megan was silent when the waitress brought their drinks, then sighed when she walked away. “Did you ever stop to think you’re more like Libby than you’ll admit?”

Blair’s back stiffened. “Libby and I couldn’t be more different than night and day.”

“That’s a crock of bullshit if I ever heard it.”

“How can you seriously call us alike?”

Seriousness washed over Megan’s face. “You both think you’re unlovable.”

Blair rolled her eyes. “What psychobabble are you talking about?”

“Blair, come on. Why did you tell Garrett to go to San Diego?”

“I don’t know!” she said defensively and then shrugged. “I don’t want to be his anchor.”

“His anchor? Why would you be his anchor?”

“Look, Megan,” Blair said. “You and I both know I’m impossible to live with.”

“And yet Garrett’s in the thick of it with you. He knew exactly who you were when he tried to win you back and when he married you. He knew exactly who you were when he decided to leave San Diego and start a practice with just the two of you. Some would even argue that’s more of a commitment than marriage.”

“It’s not called the honeymoon period for nothing, Megan. The magic is over and reality has set in. Maybe the shine of living with me has rubbed off. Can you honestly tell me you and Josh are all sunshine and roses? At least Garrett and I had been together for a year. You knew Josh four days before you married him.”

Blair expected Megan to get upset—wanted her to be so she’d back off—but she gave Blair an expressionless stare. “Go on. What else?”

“What else what?”

Megan rested her forearms on the table and clasped her hands. “Keep lashing out, Blair. That’s what you do when someone starts getting close enough to make you feel vulnerable. But guess what? Josh has made me more confident about who I am. So take your best shot, because the tougher your barbs, the closer we get to the heart of the matter. I’m your best friend, Blair. I’ll go to hell and back for you, so bring it.”

Blair’s mouth dropped open. “What the hell happened to
you
?”

“I’ve done a lot of soul searching. I’ve figured out why I dated guys who cheated on me. Now
you
need to figure out why you keep pushing away the people who love you.”

“You’re full of shit, Megan.”

Megan winked. “That too. Pregnancy hormones are notorious for constipation.”

“TMI, Megs,” Blair said, shuddering.

“Nice try. I’m still going to make you face your demons.”

“Wrong holiday,” Blair said dryly.

“Just don’t push Garrett away. He loves you, Blair. Why can’t you just accept that he loves you?”

She shrugged at Megan, offering a weak smile, as if to say
I don’t know
. Although the question wasn’t really if she could accept that Garrett loved her. She knew he did. But would this be enough for them?

“
N
ow boarding
flight 265 to Denver,” the overhead speaker blared.

Garrett looked at his watch for the umpteenth time, then leaned back his head and breathed a sigh of relief, his anxiety dropping a level. Finally. He was going home. Just a short stop in Denver and then he would get home and could make everything right with Blair. He’d hoped she would call him back, but it had been radio silence. He told himself it didn’t mean anything. They weren’t a clingy couple, but he couldn’t shake the feeling something big was on the horizon and it made him nervous as hell. He needed to convince her he wasn’t going anywhere as long as she wanted him, because after pouting for two hours, he’d realized she was pushing him away because she was scared.

She’d done it before and he’d let it destroy them.

He wouldn’t let it happen again.

He’d left her alone, but now he thought that had been a mistake. He tried to call her one last time, but the phone went to voice mail. “Blair, I’m finally boarding my flight to Denver. My connecting flight from Denver to K.C. has also been delayed, so I think I’ll be able to make it.” He handed his ticket to the gate attendant and started down the tunnel to the plane. “I can’t wait to see you, Blazer.”

The flight to Denver was smooth, but the plane got stuck on the tarmac and he missed his connecting flight. When he deplaned, an airline employee was waiting at the gate with new tickets, but his new flight was taking off in twenty minutes, which meant he had to sprint to his gate. He barely made it, plopping in his seat as they closed the cabin door.

He pulled out his phone to call Blair, but the flight attendant shot him a glare.

“Sir, turn your cell phone off.”

He gave her a grim smile and sent Blair a quick text before he stuffed his phone into his pocket.

I made my flight to KC. See you soon
.

B
lair had hoped
the lunch break would help Allison put things in perspective, but she seemed even more confrontational.

After an hour of getting nowhere, Dane closed his laptop and gave Blair a pointed look. “It’s obvious we’re not going to come to an agreement. We’re just wasting our time. We’ll just let the court decide this.”

Blair shot Allison an exasperated look, then turned back to Dane. “If you could give me a moment with my client…”

“We’ve given you several. What’s the point of giving you one more? Besides, it’s four o’clock. Let’s just call it a day.”

As the afternoon had worn on, Megan’s lecture had sunk in, and Blair realized how right her friend had been. But as Blair watched Allison become more and more resistant, she wondered how much of Megan’s lecture actually applied to her client.

“Please,” Blair pleaded. “We might settle more than you think.”

Dane cocked his head to the side and released a groan. “I’ll give you five minutes, but if your client doesn’t start budging drastically when we reconvene, we’re done.”

Blair nodded. “Agreed.”

Dane and Marco stood and left the room, closing the door behind them.

Blair swiveled in her seat to face her client. “Allison, you told me you were certain Marco was having an affair. Why were you so certain?”

Allison stiffened. “I just was.”

“You were married two years. When did things start to go wrong?”

“Right away.”

Her response came so quickly and effortlessly, but there was something about Allison’s expression that made Blair doubt her. “Are you sure about that, Allison?”

Allison shrugged. “Okay, maybe a year ago.”

Blair realized she needed to adopt a different tactic. “What made you fall for Marco?”

Some of the tension eased from Allison’s shoulders. “His smile. He just looked at me like I was the only woman in the world. And he made me believe that I was a…”

“That you were what?”

She looked up at Blair with tear-filled eyes. “That I was a good person.” She laughed, but it was bitter. “That’s stupid, right? I did a lot of bad things in high school and college. Things I can’t take back.”

“Oh, Allison.” How did this happen? How could two people start out so happy and then end so unhappy? “We all do stupid things. But we learn from them. We grow up.” Blair gave Allison a smile. “Marco wasn’t from your group of friends, right? He didn’t know you when you were that person.”

Allison looked down at her lap and nodded. “Yeah.”

“He brought out a different side of you, and you liked who you were with him.”

She looked up, tears sliding down her cheeks. “Yeah.”

Blair’s throat tightened. If Allison could have her happily ever after and lose it, what guarantee was there that the same wouldn’t happen to her? But she had to know the rest of the story, no matter how scared she was to hear it. “What happened? What made things fall apart?”

“I kept waiting for him to leave me.” She wiped her cheek. “I got tired of waiting.”

Blair closed her eyes and rubbed her left temple. This was so damn familiar it burned. “So you pushed him away.”

She nodded, her tears flowing. “I guess so. First I tried to change myself, eating like a bird, sexy lingerie…I even got new boobs.” She thrust out her chest. “But then, I stopped eating celery and carrots and I gained a few pounds and I felt ugly. I stopped wearing the lacy bras and panties and started acting cold and bitchy so he wouldn’t want to see me naked. I started picking fights, and pushing him away…” She released a tiny sob. “Until we ended up here.”

“Do you still love him?”

Allison broke into a sob. “I’ve been so awful to him. He’ll never take me back.”

The truth was, Blair couldn’t be sure. Maybe Allison had pushed Marco too far. Maybe it was possible to push a person so hard, so far away, that they never come back. But how could she tell Allison that?

“You’ll never know until you try.” She leaned forward and caught Allison’s eyes. “I’m going to send him in here, just the two of you, so you can talk things over.”

“My mother will kill me. She never wanted me to marry Marco.”

“Allison, you have to live your own life.”

“She’ll cut me off. If I stay with him, I’ll be poor.”

“Then I guess you have to decide whether you want love or money. But if you decide you want the money, then give him a break and stop fighting him.”

Allison nodded, her tears still falling.

“How about we call it a day and give you time to decide?”

She shook her head. “No. I know what I want to do. Can I talk to him?”

“I’ll see if he’s willing.”

Blair got up and left a still-crying Allison at the table. Dane and Marco were in the client lounge, grabbing their coats.

Dane grimaced. “Sorry, Blair. We’re calling it.”

Blair ignored him and turned to his client. “Marco?”

He turned to her in surprise. “Yeah?”

“Allison would like to speak with you privately.”

Dane scowled. “Is this some kind of manipulation tactic to get him to give her what she wants?” He glanced back at his client. “I should be in there with you.”

“Marco,” Blair said. “Do you still love her?”

“I object!” Dane shouted.

Blair groaned. “We’re not in court, Dane.”

“
Your
client filed for divorce.
Your
client has wasted our time all day. My client owes her nothing.”

“I’ll do it,” Marco said. “I’ll talk to her.”

Dane glared in Blair’s direction and then as Marco started to walk past him, he grabbed his client’s arm. “I strongly advise against this, Marco.”

“I know.” Marco looked into Blair’s face. “But I want to hear her out.”

He walked out of the room, his body tense with his anxiety.

Dane started to follow him, but Blair grabbed his arm as he moved past her. “He agreed to a private meeting, Dane,” she said.

Dane narrowed his eyes, shaking off her hand. “What are you up to, Hansen?”

“She still loves him.”

Dane snorted. “What happened to you?”

“I got married.”

Before Garrett, she would have forged on, convincing Allison to come to some kind of agreement. She’d been right—Garrett had softened her. He’d made her a better person.

Dane rolled his eyes in disgust and stormed out into the hall, Blair on his heels. He stopped in his tracks, seeing Allison in Marco’s arms.

“Dammit, Hansen,” Dane growled. “This case is finished, isn’t it?”

“I hope so. They still love each other.”

Dane laughed. “Don’t be so naïve, Blair. Love doesn’t solve everything.”

Blair sure as hell hoped he was wrong.

I
t was
another half hour before Allison and Marco left together, the hands laced together as they walked out. Dane left soon after his client told him the divorce was off. Blair saw them all out, then returned to find Melissa smiling ear to ear.

“What?” Blair asked.

“You. You fixed them, Cupid.”

“Cupid?” Blair’s back stiffened. “I hate Valentine’s Day. I would never play Cupid.”

“But you fixed them.”

“No. They fixed themselves. They just needed a little push.”

She had left her phone on her desk, so she grabbed it and checked for any calls from Garrett, hoping he’d caught a flight in Denver. She’d missed his call telling her his flight had finally taken off, but now she saw his text. He’d caught his flight. Which meant he’d be landing anytime now.

If she wanted to follow through with her Anti-Valentine’s Day plans, she need to get busy. “Melissa, why don’t you head home?”

She sat up, looking startled. “But it’s not even five yet.”

“Don’t you have any Valentine’s plans?”

Melissa released a bitter laugh. “Hardly.”

Blair studied her. “You never date. Don’t you want to find someone?”

“When the time’s right, I’ll know it, and now is not that time. Nor is there a right guy,” she said, shutting off her computer monitor. “But you don’t have to coerce me into leaving. Did you hear from Garrett?”

“He’s on a flight home now, and should be landing anytime.”

“Well, then you better get going too.” Melissa grabbed her purse out of her desk drawer and stood. “You want to be home when he gets there.” She grinned over her shoulder as she headed down the hall. “Even if you don’t celebrate V-Day.”

“Melissa?” Blair called after her.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for bearing with me and my surliness.”

She grinned. “Hey, you royally ticked off Dane Albright. That makes up for a lot of cranky attitude.”

Blair laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind for future reference.”

She watched Melissa leave, then decided to take her advice. She’d planned on surprising Garrett with an Anti-Valentine’s Day, so she called in a Chinese takeout order. They could snuggle up on the sofa and eat Chinese food while they watched a horror movie on Netflix.

She let herself in the condo and called out Garrett’s name. It only took a few moments to realize he wasn’t home yet. She set her keys and the bag of food on the kitchen counter, feeling unsettled by the silence. She’d missed him more than she’d expected, and she planned to tell him as soon as he came home.

She checked her phone for messages. Nothing.

Then again, she’d trained him to not check in regularly. She didn’t need to know what he was doing every minute of the day, and she didn’t want to answer to him either, even if they shared an office and knew what each other was doing most of the time anyway.

Still, something felt off…not quite right. Their earlier argument had left her unsettled, and she attributed her uncertainty to that.

To help herself relax, she opened a bottle of wine and poured a glass, then sat down on the sofa and turned on the television. After her day, what she really needed was to watch something mindless. She spent the next hour flipping channels, growing more and more anxious that he hadn’t come home yet. His flight should have landed nearly two hours ago.

Maybe he’d decided not to come home. Maybe she’d pushed him too far.

Her stomach clenched, but she told herself to relax. Garrett was coming home. His flight from Denver probably got delayed too, and that was easy enough to find out.

She grabbed her phone and found the itinerary he’d emailed her before he left, then pulled up the airline’s website and plugged in the flight number—delayed.

Well, that explained it. He was probably stuck in Denver. So why hadn’t he called her? And why had he sent that text saying that he was boarding his plane and that he’d see her in K.C.?

Maybe he’d changed his mind.

She knew the idea was ridiculous even as it popped into her head, yet once it was there it continued to mushroom out of control. Garrett was the committed one in the relationship.
She
was the one with the issues.

But what if he’d gotten tired of her brick wall and decided he’d had enough? The quip for him to take the San Diego job was too much for anyone to take. Even Garrett.

She poured another glass of wine and started zipping through channels again. She flipped past a national news channel but turned back when she realized the images on the screen were of an aircraft in flames.

“…again we
have
confirmed that there are
casualties,” the newscaster said in a grave voice. “But we have no confirmed numbers. To recap, Western Airlines Flight 756, originating in Denver and headed to Kansas City, made an emergency landing at Topeka Regional Airport at approximately 5:38 Central Time. The flight crew had informed air traffic control of a reported engine failure and requested an emergency landing. Air traffic control diverted the plane to Topeka, where it touched down, then skidded off the runway and burst into flames. We know that at least fifty passengers have made it off the plane, many with injuries, but we have no idea how many are still on the plane. Once again, Western Airlines Flight 756 has crash-landed at the Topeka Regional Airport.” The newscaster paused, pressing his earpiece into his ear as he listened. “Authorities are now confirming that there are ten casualties and that twenty passengers are unaccounted for.”

Blair stared at the TV in shock, dropping her wine glass onto the hardwood floor. The glass shattered, splashing Blair’s feet with wine.

Western Airlines Flight 756 was Garrett’s flight.

She picked up her phone, her fingers fumbling to pull his number up on speed dial. After five attempts, she finally got the call to go through, only to have it immediately go to voice mail.

Some rational part of her brain told her to remain calm. Freaking out wouldn’t do any good, but she had to look at the facts. If Garrett were in a plane crash, his first plan of action would be to call her and reassure her that he was okay. If the plane crashed shortly before six, he’d had over an hour to call her.

Oh, God.

She tried calling him again, chanting to herself, “Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up,” and then released a cry of anguish when the call went to voice mail again.

What should she do?

Think, Blair. Now is not the time to panic. Call the airline
.

It took three times to pull up the airline’s website and find a number to call, only to be placed on hold by the automated system.

“You’re expected wait time is ten to fifteen minutes,” the recorded voice said in a soothing tone.

“I don’t have ten to fifteen minutes!” Blair shouted into the phone as her tears broke loose. She considered hanging up, but she had to know—one way or the other.

But sitting on hold wasn’t enough. She had to do something else.

Then it hit her—call the Kansas City airport from the home phone while she was on hold with her cell phone. Jumping off the sofa, she stepped on a piece of broken glass with her bare foot. She fell forward, pain shooting through her foot, and landed on her hands and knees. Then she looked back at the insole of her foot; a half-inch piece of glass was sticking out of the sole of her foot, blood oozing around it.

She lifted her gaze to the TV, taking in the raging fire on the screen. That was Garrett’s flight. What if he hadn’t made it out? What if he’d been injured a hundred times worse than her foot? What if he was on the burning plane and was never coming home? She thought of his body, mangled and bloody, and her sobs broke loose.

Their last conversation had been that stupid argument over his job offer. She’d been in such a damn hurry to get off the phone. But why? Because she wanted to prove she didn’t need him? That she could live without him? She’d lived without him for five years after they’d broken up and proved that she was capable of it. She knew without a doubt that she could live without him now. The difference was she didn’t want to. He’d given himself to her, mind, body, and soul, and still she’d held back. Scared to death she would lose him and she’d lost him anyway. And now he’d never know how much she loved him.

She laid her head on the floor, sobbing, still holding the phone in her hand, barely hearing the crap hold music.

The music stopped and she tried to pull herself together to ask questions, but the automated voice took over. “Your wait time is now estimated to be eight minutes.”

Eight minutes to find out her entire life was over.

“
Blair?
” she heard Garrett say, worry heavy in his voice.

And that was when she knew she’d lost it. She was hallucinating.

G
arrett pulled
into the parking lot, grabbed his two bags out of the backseat, and headed for their condo. While he was worried about how their talk would go, he was ready to take it head on.

But before he put the key into the lock, he heard Blair’s sobs through the heavy metal door.

Blair never cried.

Panic shot through Garrett as he dropped his bags and unlocked the door, and he was terrified anew when he found her sprawled on the floor, sobbing.

“
Blair?
” The combination of finding her hysterical, broken glass around her and a small puddle of blood at her feet scared the shit out of him, and his imagination went to ugly places when he let himself consider what might have put her into this state.

“Garrett?” she asked in a desperate whisper, looking up at him through the hair that had fallen into her face.

“Blair.” His heart squeezed. “Why are you crying?”

She clutched his arm and sobbed harder. “How are you here?”

“I live here, remember?” he tried to tease, but it came out flat. He scooped her up into his arms, intending to set her on the kitchen counter so he could look her over, but she wrapped her arms so tight around his neck he knew she needed to be held. Glass crunched under his shoes as he walked to the opposite end of the sofa and then settled her sideways on his lap. “Blair, what happened?”

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I’m so sorry I’m such a bitch.”

“Shh…” He’d never seen her like this, and it scared him. “Stop. I love you, Blair.”

Her hold tightened. “I thought you were dead,” she cried into the nape of his neck. “Your plane crashed.”

“What? No, Blazer. We landed just fine. Why did you think that?” He glanced toward the television, his chest tightening when he realized what he was seeing. Images of a burning plane filled the screen along with
Western Airlines Flight 756 Crash
on a banner at the bottom.

“Why didn’t you call me?” she sobbed. “Why didn’t you tell me you were okay?”

She sounded so pathetic, his heart cracked into pieces.

He was supposed to have been on that flight. He swallowed his shock. But Blair needed him to be calm. He stroked the hair from her face. “Blazer, I missed my original flight, so I took another one. When I landed, I came straight home.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

“I barely made the new flight, and I tried to call you, but the flight attendant told me to turn off my phone. So I snuck a text to tell you I was coming home. I didn’t think to tell you it was a different flight.”

Her sobs quieted, but her chest heaved as she fought to catch her breath. “Because you thought I didn’t care?”

Her question caught him off guard. “No, I didn’t think it mattered because it wasn’t getting in much later than my original flight from Denver. It had been delayed too. And I didn’t answer because my phone died. But I was almost home anyway, so I didn’t stop to get a charger cord.”

She started crying again. “I thought I lost you, Garrett.”

He cupped the back of her head, searching her eyes. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

She kissed him with a desperation that surprised him, tangling a hand in his hair while she reached for the button on his shirt.

His body ignited, and his hold on her tightened until he remembered how he’d found her. “Blair. Let me look at your foot.”

She shook her head no and captured his mouth again, her tongue searching out his.

He gently grabbed her wrists and pulled back. “Blair. I need to see your foot. You’re bleeding all over the sofa.”

She looked down at the bloodstained fabric. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t care about the damned sofa. I care about
you
.” He stood and carried her into the kitchen, setting her on the counter as he’d originally intended. “Let me take a look.” He lifted her foot, cringing when he saw the jagged glass sticking out of her skin. “I think you should go to the E.R. You probably need stitches.”

“No. Just take out the glass, and we’ll put some gauze around it.”

She sounded more like herself, and he worried she’d close herself off even more now that she’d laid herself so bare. That was what she did. Offer herself however briefly, then retreat and run. Maybe she’d continue to expect him to give up on her, but every step forward was a victory, no matter how small, and he wasn’t giving up. He was there for the long haul.

“Blazer, this needs stitches. You need to go to the E.R.”

She grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and pulled him close. “I need you.”

She lifted her mouth to his, and he responded, dropping her foot and wrapping his arm around her back. He pulled her body flush with his, leaving no question about how much he wanted her, but he still needed to take care of her injury.

“Your foot first,” he said against her lips.

“No E.R.,” she murmured.

“Okay.” He forced himself to step back. Vulnerable Blair was still there, and he had to make sure she didn’t misunderstand his intentions. “But I get to play doctor before I ravage you.”

She sucked in a breath, her chest rising and falling. “Yes.”

He took another step back, trying to clear his head. The sight of her breasts stretching her blouse nearly made him forget she needed medical attention. “I need to get the first aid kit.”

Before she could stop him, he ran for the bathroom, grabbed the white plastic first aid box and hurried back to the kitchen. He stopped at the entrance as he saw the television screen. Blair was watching it too, tears filling her eyes again.