I smiled. "Thank you, but that's not necessary. Having your business is all I need."
She glanced at me briefly with a grin. "I know you’re going to help us become a premier winery in Northern California, maybe all of California. Maybe the whole United States."
I laughed. "It's good to have goals."
At the airport, I said goodbye to Lara and made the return trip to Las Vegas. It was late afternoon when I finally walked into my townhome. I dropped my bag and my purse by the door and flopped on the couch feeling exhausted. I checked my phone for the umpteenth time. No missed call or voicemail and no text from Max. This was good, I told myself. I’d just signed a big client, and I needed to focus on that. Max’s lack of communication would make that easy.
As I rested, a kernel of guilt grew. Maybe I should call or text Max. He’d left quickly because of an emergency. I should call to make sure he was okay. We weren’t on the track to happily ever after, but we had a connection. A friendship. A friend would check on him.
Then again, maybe I should leave it alone. Perhaps silence was his way of cutting ties. We still had that situation of a drunken marriage to deal with but could file the papers. I'd always heard that being drunk wasn't an excuse to get an annulment in Las Vegas, but considering that neither Max nor I could remember anything about getting the license or getting hitched, maybe it would work.
But I wasn't going to do it right now. Right now, I was exhausted. I needed to rest. I would look into it tomorrow.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Max
The day after arriving back in New York, I was out in the Hamptons dealing with the police and the fact that someone was selling drugs out of the club. I'd hoped that a single talk with the police would resolve the situation and the issue would be put to rest, but that wasn't the case. I needed to stay on site to deal with the club as well as the police. Thankfully, my family had a house in the Hamptons so I had a place to stay.
I'd involved our attorney in the problem, but I hadn't yet called Sam to let him know what was going on. I also hadn't called Amelia after my abrupt departure. I told myself the absence and lack of communication were necessary. It proved that while I enjoyed being around her, we weren’t anything more than two people who had great sex. How could it be anything more? Everything about us was an accident, from her nearly taking my car at the airport to our somehow ending up married. Lives weren’t built on accidents.
The problem I had was that deep down, my soul kept calling my brain a liar. Working on a problem like drugs in the club didn’t distract me or lessen the desire to want to call or see Amelia. Even in the middle of talking with detectives, she would come to mind. There was no rhyme or reason as to why I’d think of her. It wasn't like something the detective said triggered a memory. It was as if she was always there on the edge of my mind. It was starting to drive me mad.
Monday evening, I was having a drink sitting in the sunroom of the Hampton home looking out over the dark Atlantic Ocean. Normally, I liked to sit outside, but it was early December in New York, making it too cold.
I should have been thinking about calling Sam to let him know what was going on at the club. But I didn't want to add any more to his grief. I hadn't heard from him since I left him angry and hurt from Kate’s actions. But if I put it off too long, he'd be angry at me for not keeping him in the loop.
At this moment, though, my not calling had nothing to do with him and instead everything to do with Amelia, whom I couldn’t stop thinking about. I'd left without saying goodbye except for the note, which felt woefully inadequate. But she hadn't called or texted me either. What did that mean? Was she just going on with her life, thinking our affair was over? Was she angry at me for leaving the way I did? The fact that these and other questions constantly flooded through my mind proved that forgetting her wasn't going to be easy. I really needed to get in touch with her about the annulment, but talking to her would only prolong the yearning I had for her. Yearning I shouldn't have for her.
My phone rang, and I grabbed for it like it was a fucking lifeline. My heartbeat sped up and hope filled my chest. I looked at the caller ID.
Sam.
The disappointment was swift and acute. I began to wonder if I would ever stop feeling like this about Amelia.
I poked the answer button. "Sam."
"I'm getting married."
My brain must've been addled, either from the constant thinking of Amelia... or maybe it was that I was on my second glass of scotch. "What?"
"I'm getting married. I'm getting married and having a kid." Sam's voice was the happiest I'd ever heard him. My brother was giddy with joy.
I was happy and envious at the same time. I told myself it was practicality, and not jealousy, that had me saying, "Don't you think it's a little soon? You said you were going to get married at Thanksgiving, and that didn't go over very well."
"I know you're looking out for me because you love me, Max, but I'm not going to let you put a damper on my happiness."
I took a sip of my drink, giving me a moment to think about how I wanted to respond. My brother was a grown ass man who knew Kate and knew her issues with trust and how badly she could hurt him. But he wanted to go forward and create the life with her that he had planned five years ago.
I had no business taking that away from him. "Well, then I'm happy for you. What happened? When I left, it seemed like you were the one who wasn't going to reconcile with her."
"I won't deny that I was angry, but she showed up a couple of days ago and we talked. I was finally able to tell her all about Sandra and Chelsea, and she shared her fears with me. I asked her to believe in me, and if she ever had a moment when she felt scared, to tell me about it instead of getting angry and running away."
"And she agreed?"
"Yes."
"And you're getting married?" I could totally see Sam running full steam ahead into life with Kate, but I wondered, as much as she loved Sam, whether she needed more time to commit to something like marriage.