“I can’t wait to see you either, Ana.”
The warmth in his voice gave me pause, and for a second I felt guilty for what I was doing. I could simply talk to him about what had happened now. I had him on the phone. But the angry part of me wanted to talk with him face-to-face. I wanted him to know that what he had done was unacceptable. Mostly because it was, and partially because if he came back into the store, there was a chance he would encounter Brody.
And there was no mistaking whose child Brody was.
I hung up the phone with Tyler just as the stockroom door slammed behind me. I jumped and whipped around, finding Kristi grinning as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Who can’t you wait to see?” she asked.
“None of your business.”
“Is this Mr. Monday Night Date? Because if we’re doing a second round, you know the deal. You spill now.”
“Kristi, don’t make me do this. It isn’t what you think.”
“All I know is you came into the store Tuesday morning with a very big smile on your face.”
“Kristi, it really isn’t what you think.”
“Then tell me what I’m supposed to think and I’ll stop.”
“I saw Tyler Monday night.”
Her jaw dropped in shock before she leapt toward me.
“What? And you didn’t tell me? What did you guys do? How did it go? Was that him on the phone?”
“I saw him Monday night to hash some things out and have dinner. I’m seeing him again Saturday night to hash out something else I just found out.”
“You just told him you couldn’t wait to see him.”
“Yes, to make sure he shows up. Kristi, he came in here and used the possibility of a lawsuit to get my information. That’s fraud. What if I would have been here? What if Brody had been here?”
“Ana, what did the two of you talk about Monday night?”
“About the fight we had that led to our breakup,” I said.
“And you didn’t tell him about Brody?”
“No, I didn’t. And I don’t intend to Saturday night either. I intend to sit down with him, tell him exactly what I think of this nonsense he pulled with my employee, and then tell him to stay the fuck away with his shenanigans.”
“You’ve got to realize how insane you sound right now. I know you still care about him.”
“I don’t even sort of care about him.”
“Bullshit. I heard the warmth in your voice when you said you couldn’t wait to see him. That isn’t something people can fake—not even you, Ana. You’ve always been a shit liar. And if you spend any amount of time with Tyler, he’ll know you’re hiding something from him.”
“He doesn’t know, and he won’t.”
“But you know he should, right?” she asked.
“Kristi, I don’t need you breathing down my back about this, okay? I got to tell him what I thought about our fight all those years ago and he got to talk to me about it a little. We got some closure, we had dinner, and that was it.”
“That was it?”
“Yep, that was it.”
I looked into Kristi’s eyes and tried to hold my ground as long as I could. But I could tell she wasn’t buying the shit I was selling.
“I still call bullshit.”
“Oh, come on,” I said. “This is ridiculous.”
“What’s ridiculous is doing this angry tango with Tyler and not admitting to yourself that you’re using your anger as a way to be around him. Really, you could use your son as an excuse to do that.”
“Brody. Oh my gosh. I need to go—”
“Nope. Stop right now. I set him up with his iPad and he’s sitting in his favorite chair and playing,” she said as she grabbed my arm.
“Let me go.”
“We’re not done here. You know I’ll always have your back—even now—but you’re being ridiculous. Now I admit, what he did in here was squirrely at best. You’re not considering why he did it, though.”
“I don’t care why he did it,” I said. I wrenched my arm from her grasp and went to push the stockroom door open.
“He did it because he still cares about you.”
I froze at her words, my shoulder against the door.
“Tyler still cares. I saw it on his face at the bar, and I’m seeing it in his actions to get closer to you. And you know that won’t change once you tell him about Brody. It’ll only make him care for you more.”
I closed my eyes and fought back tears as I shook the thought away. It wasn’t possible. Too much time had passed. I had raised Brody all on my own and his time to father up had passed.
“I’ll let you know how Saturday goes,” I said.
Then I pushed out the door, Kristi’s heavy sigh following me out onto the main floor.
Tyler
“Hey, Tyler.”
“Ana? Everything okay?” I asked.