Page 35 of Hard To Leave

Chapter 11

Chloe

“I can’t believeyou brought my favorite—lemon-meringue pie,” I told Carly, licking the last bit of the crumbs off my spoon.

I was stuffed and exhausted. Between the pie, the wine, and the day I had, I was ready for bed. The diner was busier than usual today, and then I had to come home, do laundry, clean the house, cook dinner, and get a very hyped up seven-year-old to bed. It seemed like I just blinked and my day was already over.

The best part about the day, however, was when my best friend showed up with a bottle of wine and my favorite dessert.

“Why don’t you go sit down on the couch while I pour us another glass,” she said, tipping the wine bottle back and pouring the vino to the rim. She smiled at me while holding out my glass for me to take. I stared at her long and hard—suspicious thoughts filled my head.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?”

“I just want you to relax,” she said, standing up and bringing our plates over to the sink. I watched her load up the dishwasher and move around my kitchen with the familiarity as if it were her own.

I walked over and settled into the couch. I folded my knees underneath me and rubbed my finger around the rim of the glass. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on. Is everything okay with Luke?”

Carly and Luke were getting married next year. They’ve only been dating for a couple of years, but last I knew, things were going great. In fact, she was as happy as I’d ever seen her. The only thing she ever complained about was his job. He was a surgical device rep and had to travel a lot for work. She ran a big, five-star resort which kept her just as busy. They both had demanding careers but always seemed to find a way to make it work.

She folded the dish towel, set it on the counter, and joined me on the couch. “Everything is fine with us.” She smiled. “But I do need to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.” I swallowed nervously.

“Remember how I went to Vegas for that resort convention last week?”

My fingers paused on my wineglass, and I tilted my head to the side. “Yes, but what does this have to do with me?”

She opened her mouth and closed it. Whatever it was she was trying to tell me, it was something big. I could feel it in my bones. She chugged the last of her wine and set the glass down on the coffee table. “I ran into Brogan.”

Her words hit me like a punch to the chest. “What do you mean you ran into Brogan?” Just hearing his name made my throat tight. I looked away, hoping to block out her words, wishing that she would take them back because I didn’t want them to be true.

“Chloe, look at me,” she demanded, but I ignored her. Because if I did look at her, I would have to talk about him, which was the last thing I wanted to do.

“He doesn’t know about Tanner, does he?” Panic raced through me as my hands clenched the armrest to the couch.

She frowned at me. “You did not just ask me that, did you?” She looked hurt and offended, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. My fight or flight instincts were kicking in. “That’s not my secret to tell, and I would never betray you. You know that.”

I reached over and grabbed the bottle of wine, quickly pouring the rest of the bottle into her glass. My hands were shaking so bad I was surprised it didn’t spill all over the table. “I know. I’m just caught off guard.”

What were the odds that after all these years they would just randomly bump into each other?

“Trust me, no one was more surprised than me,” she admitted, rolling up the sleeves of her black dress shirt. She clocked out of work early, so she could make the hour-and-a-half drive to my place and bring my favorite pie. That should have been my first clue, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Nothing could have prepared me for this conversation.

“Please.” I closed my eyes and pleaded. My curiosity was getting the better of me. “Tell me everything.” I couldn’t take this anymore. I wanted to know, but I didn’t. She had seven days. A whole week to sit on this. Where I only had minutes to digest this information.

“He was walking out of one of the ballrooms. We were both stunned when we recognized each other. He invited me into a private room he was renting so we could speak out of the public eye.”

“How is he?” I asked, feeling hesitant but more than curious.

Brogan wasn’t just my ex-boyfriend; he was my first love and the father of my son. There was a time where Brogan Hayes was my entire world, but when he started to make a name for himself in the industry, he changed. He started partying hard and doing things that I wasn’t comfortable with. I was young and in love and had my future all planned out. If you were to ask my younger self what my future would look like today, he would have been the biggest and best part. Unfortunately, the cliché of performers rising in their careers and changing was mostly true. He eventually reached a point where I no longer recognized him. So, when it was time for him to move to Nashville and advance his career, I knew in my heart that wasn’t the life for me. So I let him go.

“He seemed like the old Brogan.” She shifted on the couch with a sad smile. “We actually talked for quite a while. We talked about his music, his family, and of course, you,” she said so softly I could barely hear her. “We talked about what his life was like now and how much has changed.” She reached out and placed her hand on top of mine. “He’s been sober for almost two years now.”

I withdrew my hand and crossed my arms protectively in front of me. “I’m happy for him and glad that he’s sticking to his recovery, but what good does that do me now?” I swallowed thickly and licked my lips. “I needed him to change eight years ago. I’m really not sure what you want me to say.”

“I guess you need to decide if this changes how you feel?” she said gently. “I know you’ve struggled with keeping Tanner’s paternity a secret, but I think you need to take a minute to think about what all this means.”

My eyes cut to hers. “What’s going to happen if he finds out that he has a son that I never told him about?” I was trying hard not to cry but couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. “I can sit here and justify all day long why I did what I did, but that won’t stop him from resenting me. He has a son, for Christ’s sake, and I never said a word. There is no way this ends without him hating me.”

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