“Because she cares about your kids more than she cares about her own feelings. That says a lot about her, man. I don’t think it’s a healthy thing for you to try and reconcile with Sarah. She’s only going through this because she found out about Sydney’s kidnapping. If she’d never run into you on that blasted island, you think she’d be knocking on your door now?” he asked.
“That’s the point, Owen. Circumstances change people. And if she was going through postpartum depression and struggling that badly, I owe it to her to hear her out.”
“You owe that woman nothing. I saw what she did to you. How broken and lost you were when you called me that morning and told me what happened.”
“And I appreciate your concern. Owen, you’re my children’s godfather. I want you on my side with this. But if you're not, it’s not going to change the decision I’ve made. We’ve set up an appointment to meet with the therapist she’s supposedly been seeing for a couple of years and we’re going to see where it takes us.”
“At least get an unbiased therapist in there. You know, someone who hasn’t sympathized with that woman for months on end.”
“I’ll take it into consideration,” I said.
“Which is code for ‘no thanks.’ Just keep it in the back of your mind.”
“I will. I promise.”
Owen walked out of my office and I looked over at the clock. I had our first therapy session in an hour. I finished signing some papers and sent them down to Finance, then I packed up my things and headed downstairs. Owen’s words were flying around in my head, distracting me from the task at hand. Was it possible Brooke was in love with me? It didn’t seem like she was. She’d been distant and unwilling to come by the house unless the kids were involved somehow.
But he had a point.
No woman whose heart I had broken would do what she had done for Sydney if love wasn’t somewhere in the picture.
I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Even with the distance growing between us and her unwillingness to come over more often, I found her in everything. In the wine I drank alone at night and in the eyes of my children when they asked where she was. I found Brooke in the back of my mind when I closed my eyes and saw her face when I dreamed. She had permeated my existence, and even as I drove to the therapy session she was the only thing on my mind.
She was good with the kids. She saved Sydney. She brought a light back into my life I hadn’t had since—well? Since we’d first gotten together. Sarah’s pregnancy had been an accident. A wonderful one that gave me the two most precious beings in the world, but an accident nonetheless. I sat in front of the office of the therapist and sighed as Owen’s words bombarded my mind.
She’s in love with you.
I can’t believe you can’t see it.
And I couldn’t deny that I had some of the same feelings.
I stepped out of my car and tried to shake her from my mind. I told Sarah I would try my best in these therapy sessions, and I was a man of my word. But I was going to bring up my reservations.
I wasn’t going to hold back.
“Mr. Spencer, I’m so glad you could join us. I’m Doctor Valesky.”
“Nice to meet you, doctor,” I said, as I shook his hand. “Where would you like me?”
“Right here’s fine,” Sarah said.
I looked over at her and saw her patting the couch close to her.
Very close to her.
I decided to sit on the opposite end of the couch, much to her dismay. I could see her therapist shoot her a look and I suddenly regretted not taking Owen up on his advice. There needed to be an objective third-party here. Someone who didn’t know either of us.
I made a mental note to start making calls this week.
“So, you are here to see if there’s a possibility of reconciliation,” the doctor said.
“I would like that, yes,” Sarah said.
“Let’s just talk and see what happens,” I said.
“You seem hesitant,” the doctor said. “Care to elaborate?”
“I’m worried Sarah won’t ever be comfortable with the idea of being a full-time mother. She never wanted children in the first place and, based on my prior interactions with her, I have my doubts.”