Page 64 of Meant For Love

“I didn’t think I had to call you.” I place the salmon down, taking off the baking mitt. “I finished work and got a cab.” I try not to let my voice show how pissed I am. I have to wonder if I’m this pissed off because so many things haven’t been said out loud. Like, for example, how he’s feeling toward me. How do I feel toward him? I’m in love with him, but does he know this? Does he feel it? The elephant in the room is getting bigger and bigger, and it looks like neither of us is going to take the leap and bring it up.

“I waited and waited for you to call me.” He doesn’t move from where he is, which is weird, since every single time he comes into the house to find me, he comes right to me to kiss me. Today is not like that, and I have to wonder if today is the day everything changes. I notice he isn’t even wearing his suit jacket. Instead, his white dress shirt is rolled up to the elbows.

“Well, as you can see, I made it home.” I extend my hands beside me on the counter. “And I made dinner. Have you eaten already?”

His eyebrows push together at the question. “Of course not. Why would you think that?”

“I have no idea.” I shrug. “All I know is you went to run an errand at three, and it’s almost seven.”

“Yeah, and I’ve been on the road the whole time,” he retorts. “They called me, and I rushed out of there.”

“Who?” I ask, the curiosity getting the better of me as he holds up his finger, turning and walking back out of the house.

It doesn’t take him long to walk back out of the house, the door slamming, and then maybe a couple of seconds later it slams again. I walk around the counter toward the hallway and see him walking in, holding a little crate in his hand. “What is that?” I ask him. My heart speeds up a million miles a minute, and it feels like it’s going to come out of my chest.

“This is…” he says softly, opening the front of the cage and taking out the most beautiful kitten I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s all white, and he holds it gently against his chest. “Whatever you want to name her.” I look at the little ball in his hand, her blue eyes looking around as she shivers in his arms. “I ordered her the minute we got home, but she wasn’t ready until today. They called me at the last minute. I rushed over there to pick her up, but I had to go and get all the things she needed. It’s all in the car.”

“You got me a cat?” I whisper, my hands itching to hold her but standing here in shock. “A real cat?”

“Well, she’s not fake. I can tell you that.” He takes a couple of steps and holds the cat out for me. I gently take her in my arms and hold her like a baby as she looks up at me. “I’m going to go get the things out of the car.” He points at the door, turns, and walks out as the cat looks around at the house.

“You are the most beautiful little cat I’ve ever seen in my life,” I tell her as she squirms a little in my arms until I rub her head. “Like the most beautiful.”

I hear a thud and look to see he was not kidding. “I bought whatever they suggested,” he says. “I even got two cat trees that need to be put together.”

“Nash, you got me a cat.”

“Yeah,” he confirms as if it’s nothing. I’m trying not to freak out, but I’m looking at a cat I’m probably going to fall in love with. “You are always watching those cat videos, so I thought this would be perfect.”

“We should have perhaps spoken about this,” I start to say, and everything with today just snowballs. “Like what the fuck happens if this doesn’t work out, and now we have to figure out custody of the cat?” I ramble a bit.

He stands there confused. “Excuse me?” His head tilts to the side.

“After ninety days, we could be divorced,” I remind him, thinking I’m being honest with him about the situation. What happens if he gets bored with this life we are creating and suddenly wants his old life back? “What if you, or we, decide this isn’t what either of us wants?”

The minute I say the words, I see something flash on his face. His eyes change a different color, and his jaw gets tighter than I’ve ever seen it get before. I even see his shoulders slump just a bit as I take a step toward him. “Nash.” I say his name, not sure what else to say when his phone rings from his pocket.

He grabs his phone, and I blink away the tears in my eyes. “Hey,” he says, clearing his voice like something is in his throat. “Yeah, I have it right here. Give me a second,” he adds. “I have to take care of something that I was supposed to handle this afternoon before I had to leave.”

“Of course,” I say as I watch him walk away from me and head toward the office.

I look down at the cat, who now is really squirming to get out of my arms. “We should get your litter done, I think,” I murmur as I place her on her feet in the middle of the kitchen, and she looks around. “But I don’t know where to put it.” I suddenly feel uncomfortable being here. “Should we wait for Nash to see where he wants to set you up?” I put my hand on my stomach as I breathe in and out, and I sit down on the floor next to the cat. “What should we call you?” I ask her as I pet her, looking toward the office where I hear him talking. “I think I know what I want to call you,” I say softly. “Lovey-dovey.” My voice cracks as I look back down the hallway, hoping I didn’t ruin it.

Twenty-Eight

Nash

I lean back in the chair and listen to Caine and my father talk about the merger they want to do. A meeting that was supposed to be this afternoon, but I got a call a week early to go and pick up the cat. My head is half in this phone call, half on Zoey and her words.

“After ninety days, we could be divorced. What if you, or we, decide this isn’t what either of us wants?”

I close my eyes, trying not to focus on the words and the fact my heart has never felt such pain as when she said we could be divorced. It was as if she kicked me in the balls, and I went down on the floor to my back, and then they came and stomped right on my chest. It left me so winded I had no idea what to say. The words were all stuck in my brain, but the only thing I could think is she already has one foot out the door. Is she doing this just to say she did it for ninety days and then just leave me, leave us?

“What do you think, Nash?” My father’s voice brings me back to the conversation.

“Um…” I clear my throat. “I agree with everything Caine said.” It’s my go-to, always has been because out of the two of us, he has his shit together, always has. Minus the part where he met his horrible, wretched ex-wife before meeting Grace.

Caine’s laughter fills the phone. “That means he hasn’t heard a thing we’ve said for the past hour because his head is elsewhere.”