Page 52 of Trash the Dress

“I’m physically good. But I came by hoping you’d be here. I think I could use your advice since you literally have the goods both personally and professionally. And I want your help as a friend, not a patient,” I tell her, hoping I’m not being too forward in assuming we’re good enough friends to ask.

“Of course, I’d be happy to lend an ear and give my best advice. Is this about a certain tall-dark-and-handsome man?” she asks, her intuition on point.

“It is. We’ve run into a bit of a hiccup in our new relationship. And where I’d normally be able to sort it out on my own, with the baby in the equation now, it’s not just my own feelings and life to consider.”

“Oh, sounds intense. Let me tell my sister to cover the front desk for a bit and we can go talk. There’s this cute little diner about five minutes from here if you’re hungry,” she says.

She wasright about a place called Frank’s Diner being only five minutes away. We were seated quickly and got burgers, fries, and chocolate shakes. I got water as well because ice cream makes me super thirsty.

“Tell me all about what’s happening with Zander Bailey,” she says as she sips her milkshake.

I swirl my straw around before answering. “Well, we both decided to give us a chance to have something real, and we started out by not putting much pressure on ourselves, but things got serious fast. We both have some less than stellar trust issues because of our ex-significant others. And since you already know Zander, I’m sure you’re aware of what happened to him…at least the highlights.”

She smiles sadly, her lips pressed together. “I do. It’s one thing to be cheated on, but for it to be your best friend too, and to find out right before your wedding…” She trails off with a shake of her head. “That can mess someone up for a while. Create a sea of emotions and make it hard to open up to love and trust again.”

“Yes, it can and, uh, well, my ex-fiancé did something similar. He cheated on me for six months before our ruined wedding day. His mistress, or whatever term you’d call her, showed up to object and tell the entire church they’d been sleeping together while we’d been celibate. I wanted to wait for a while to make our wedding night special. He couldn’t, so he moved on to ‘looser’ territory if catch my drift.”

“Oh hell, Scarlett. I’m sorry,” she says with understanding in her tone.

“Yeah. But that’s what led me to Zander and having a baby. Eric, that’s my ex, his dad was super close to Zander’s dad when they were young, and he begged Danny to convince Zander to be our wedding photographer.”

Her mouth makes an O shape in understanding about how he came out of his so-called retirement from photography.

“He was there for all of it. I guess he saw a kindred spirit and hoped he could save me from spiraling like he did. We did this crazy but fun photo shoot that he called ‘trashing the dress’ where you take photos destroying it. I’m not going to lie…he saved me that day. But then one thing led to another, and now we’re having a baby,” I say quickly. So much has happened from our impromptu photo shoot to now.

She starts giggling making me raise my brow quizzically. “Sorry, I know you haven’t gotten to the hiccup part, but so far this has the makings of an epic romance novel.”

I smile at that, because she’s not wrong. “Do you read romance books?”

She blushes and raises her right hand. “Guilty. I’ve gotta get my kicks somehow.”

“I’m gonna need you to fill me in on your ‘long story’ soon. I’m not a psychologist like you, but I can listen and offer what little advice I can…you know. Cheer you on and all,” I tell her.

“Noted. But back to this hiccup,” she says, effectively changing the focus back to me.

“Zander walked in on me trying to relieve some sexual frustration…in his bed,” I say and feel my face heat with embarrassment. “And it’s like the dam broke loose and we’ve been carrying on an actual relationship since then. He asked me to move in with him and I did, albeit hesitantly.”

“That’s so hot, Scarlett, and romantic too. Congratulations,” she says while clapping quietly.

“Anyway, things were going fine until I came home and found a half-naked woman waiting on our bed. It was his ex-fiancée. She said some nasty things. Long story short, she said he didn’t love me, he was just doing the honorable thing by staying with me and that he had never wanted kids. She said he would get tired of me and turn back to her. She said she knew she made a mistake by leaving him and was ready to fix it,” I rush out.

Leah stares at me. “Scarlett…wow.”

“Yeah, so I left and put some space between us this week because it scared me. I felt so out of control. It was worse than my ex doing what he did. I’m not sure if it’s only because we’re having a baby or if I would’ve fallen for Zander either way. I can tell you that the thought of falling so hard for Zander just to lose him…I ran. But is that fair to any of us? Me, him, or the baby? I mean, Zander didn’t do anything wrong except not tell me she’d tried to talk to him at the bar a little prior to the house incident.”

“I think at this point, you need to do what feels right. Giving yourself some time to reflect on those big emotions isn’t a bad thing, but I wouldn’t drag it out if you want to have a real, serious, lasting relationship. It’s about the give-and-take…mutual trust and respect. He’s given you space, now it’s time for you to give him your love unconditionally,” she says with the wisdom that comes from her profession, but with the support of a friend.

I reach across the table and squeeze her hand. “I think you’re right. Thank you for listening.”

My heart pounds franticallyin my chest as I reach his…our front door. I’m not sure if I should knock or just go in. After debating for about a minute, I decide to go in and surprise him.

When I walk in, the house is quiet, but I know he’s home. I set my overnight bag and purse on the kitchen table and walk down the hall. I hear running water coming from the bathroom as I get closer.

And as I reach the closed office door, I can’t help but wonder what’s inside. Especially after Vivian made a point to bring up the lack of evidence that he cares about me anywhere in this house. I shake it off and take a deep breath. Leah’s words about trust and unconditional love echo in my mind.

I walk on to the bedroom and find myself glancing at the made-up bed while I try to block the last memory in here. A few moments later, he comes out of the master bathroom wearing only a towel. The sight makes my mouth water.

“Scarlett. You came home,” he says, seeming a tad breathless.

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