Page 85 of Perfect (mis)Match

“Oh noway.” His face fell. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“She didn’t want to add another stressor to everything else you guys were dealing with, so she figured the best course of action was to keep it bottled up.” I paused. “You’re not the only one to blame for it, Paul. She needs to be open when she’s facingsomething tough, but you do need to give her the space to talk about these kinds of challenges.”

He cradled his head in his hands. “Fuck. Yeah, leading up to the wedding, things got pretty crazy. There was just so much that needed to get done. I spent all my time checking things off lists. It didn’t give us a lot of openings to really talk. I guess I let the important stuff fall off the radar. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t push to find out what it was. I guess I was a little afraid. We seemed so…fragile as a couple. I didn’t want to shatter what was holding us together.”

I reached out to slide my arm around his shoulder. “Oh, come on. You two are strong as hell. You just need to learn to navigate life’s challenges. They’re going to keep coming, you know.”

He made a frustrated noise. “Right? Add a baby in the mix, and we’re screwed if we don’t figure it out.”

“Hold on a second!” I leaned away from him. “Baby? Do you have something you want to tell me?”

“Oh god, no, not yet,” he laughed. “I’ve barely touched her in a week.”

“Okay, that’s TMI,” I said and plugged my ears.

“I need to make it right,” Paul continued. “Should I send flowers?”

“Nope, that’s hollow. And easy. Think, Paul. What triggered everything?”

“The missing earring.”

“Exactly,” I agreed. “It’s a symbol of so many things for her. So what can you to try to make it right?”

I knew what he needed to do, but I wanted him to come to the realization himself.

“Okay, so maybe the hotel would let me go back to the suite and look?” he asked.

I shook my head. “They’ve probably had a dozen people through that room since you stayed there. What else you got?”

“Maybe I could go on eBay and try to find a match?” he asked, staring into space.

“Good option, or if it’s a one-of-a-kind, you could…”

“Have a copy made! That’sit,” he slapped the table, and a few other diners turned to look at us.

“Yes, perfect,” I cheered. “You know that jewelry store, Veritique? They have a whole side business creating duplicate jewelry. I bet they could do it.”

“Oh, hell yeah. Chloe loves that place—I think she’s seen the movieVery Veritiqueabout twenty times. We could make a day of it.”

I sat back and grinned at him. “That’s the spirit. It could signify the beginning of a new approach for the two of you. You two could actually talk about what went wrong, and ways that you can be better about communicating in the future, so it won’t happen again. You can show her you’ll always be there for her, for better and for worse. Yes? You literally said those words to her in front of everyone who matters to you.”

“You’re right,” he admitted. “But it’s a two-way street. She needs to tell me when she’s struggling instead of keeping it inside.”

“Exactly, you get it now,” I agreed. “So, you’re welcome for solving all your problems. I’ll mail you my bill for all the therapy.”

He laughed, but then his face turned serious. “I wish I could do the same for you. I hate that he hurt you.”

I stared out at the other diners stuffing their faces. Thanks to the food all around us, my appetite was slowly coming back. Maybe my grieving process was moving on to the “eat the sadness away” period?

“I don’t think Vincent is capable of giving what I need in a relationship. His first love is Summit. And the man barely even believes inactuallove, you know? It’s like he’s run the numbers and decided it’s not worth the risk.”

“His dad didn’t exactly model great relationships,” Paul said. “How many marriages has he had? Five?”

“Four,” I corrected. “One great love and three runners-up. Anyway, there’s no need to talk about it. It’s done, I’m moving on. Let’s talk about what’s happening with Strapped.”

And with that, we took a page from the Vincent Forde playbook and moved on to the only thing that mattered: business.

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