Page 35 of Getting Lucky in London

In the short few days Danielle had been in my life,shehad been the one to make it feel like a home.

And now, I wanted to take a sledgehammer to my fucking favorite wall.

Chapter Eight

Michael

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”

I sat at my mother’s kitchen table after pouring out my story to her. Not everything. Just the basics. My run had burned off the anger, leaving a huge ache in my chest, and I desperately needed her advice.

“Though I have to admit,” my mother said, darting a glance between me and Robert, who stood against the counter eating a breakfast sandwich, “I didn’t know either until after you two left here. She’d said something odd, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

I spun the jar of cream on the table. “What did she say?”

“She was looking at your picture gallery on the stairs. She said she was ‘just going down memory lane.’ After you left, I went to look at the photos and saw the one of you and Dom. That’s when it hit me. I could see the resemblance between Danielle and Dom. He kept me company a lot when I came to visit you. He showed me pictures of her. Of course, she was only a girl back then, but…” She shrugged. “Anyway, I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I thought you knew.”

I grunted and gave the jar another spin. “Guess that’s what I was to her. Just a trip down memory lane.”

“No, darling.” She took the jar from my hands and placed it to one side. “I don’t think it was that at all. Her feelings were written all over her face when she looked at you. That girl adores you.”

I sat back against the chair. “Then why wouldn’t she tell me?”

“You lived with Dom for four years,” she said. “You already know the answer to that question.”

I did. Or I’d thought I did. “It’s just… She seemed so brave, so bold, so…confident.”

“I think she is all those things. But she’s also a woman who’s had her fair share of disappointment and heartache growing up.” She referred to the things I’d shared with her about Dom. “I’m not excusing her for leaving without saying goodbye, but to me, it sounds like she was afraid of rejection or you being angry with her.”

“I am angry.”And hurt.

My mother crossed her arms. “Actually, I’m not sure what difference it makes whether she told you or not. You knew who she was after you found the keys, and you didn’t say anything to her about it. You lied by omission.”

“But I didn’t know until after I found the keys. She knew who I was all along,” I grumbled, knowing my logic was skewed and not quite fair.

Robert looked up and pinned me with a fatherly gaze that said he was about to impart something profound or philosophical, and I wasn’t going to like it.

“Only two things I want to know, son.” He swiped crumbs off his hands over the sink. “First one is, do you love her?”

“Yes.” But was it really that simple?

“Okay, that answer makes the second question relevant.” Robert crossed the kitchen to stand behind my mother. He placed his hands on her shoulders. “If you’ve been waiting for her all this time and if you love her, what the hell are you doing here? Why aren’t you going after her, fighting for her?”

I shot out of my chair. “If she’d wanted me to come after her, she would have told me how to find her.”

“Robbie’s right.” She patted Robert’s hand. “You and I both know it was difficult for me to trust after your father. I didn’t ever want to let myself love a man that way again. That meant getting hurt. But Robbie didn’t give up on me, and I’ve never been happier. Perhaps Danielle needs a little pursuing.”

My stomach twisted as my mother’s words hit home. I remembered how hard it was to watch Robert pine for her when she shut him down and to see the fear and hesitance in her, especially when they obviously loved each other.

Was that all it would take to win Danielle? Was it up to me to be strong, to be the one to risk everything for what we could have? If she truly didn’t love me, yes, I’d be lost, but at least I would know I’d done everything in my power to win her heart.

I looked at my watch. “She might already be on her way back to the States.”

“You’ve said many times you’d move heaven and earth for the woman you loved.” Robert waved a hand. “Catch the next flight out. Go after her.”

“Yes.” My mother beamed with excitement. “You can get her address from Dom. It won’t be as if you’re looking for a needle in a haystack.”

I looked at Robert. “Will you take care of my schedule?”

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