Someone Like You

When she entered the town house, he forced himself not to rush to her and gather her in his arms. She came inside and Adam took her coat, throwing it over the hall banister before leading her into the family room. The sun was setting and the room had become dark.

Teddy looked around. “The fire’s dying,” she said.

Adam didn’t remember making a fire. He went to the hearth and added more of the liquid that burned the crystals. Sparks flew up but died quickly.

“I talked to my mother,” Teddy said when he turned around. She was sitting on the sofa where he’d been only a few moments ago. “We’re back to being friends. I told her everything.” Teddy paused. Time stretched between them as if they were ex-lovers who hadn’t seen each other in years and were at a loss for what to say after “hello.” Teddy lifted his glass and took a sip of his coffee.

“I talked to mine, too. We’re walking on eggshells.”

“Do you think you’ll work it out?”

“I’m going to try.”

She smiled and he knew she approved. Teddy picked up the ring he’d left next to his coffee mug.

“I see you didn’t return it,” she said.

Adam shook his head.

“Why not?”

“No reason. I haven’t been back to the store.”

“But you are taking it back?” Teddy questioned.

Sitting down next to her, he said, “I’ve gotten us into a fine mess.”

She nodded with a smile. “It’s too bad we didn’t just fall in love and make everything real.”

Adam stared at her. He wanted to tell her that he had fallen in love with her, but her statement told him the love was one-sided.

“That would have solved all our problems.” He paused a moment and took a drink. “But that didn’t happen.”

“No, it didn’t.”

He felt they were talking like two people who wanted to say something but were refusing to do so. He knew it was his turn to explain. Setting his mug on the table, he faced Teddy and took one of her hands.

“Chloe,” he said, speaking only the one word.

Teddy waited.

“I should have told you about her.”

“I understand that we didn’t tell each other everything about our past. The point is moot now,” she said. “Since the proverbial jig is up, I don’t need to know.”

Adam kept her hand in his. He ignored her comment. He wanted to tell her about Chloe. Other than Quinn, no one knew the whole story.

“It was a fairy-tale romance. We met at a picnic the year before I got out of college. Remember what that was like?”

Teddy nodded.

“Did you have a boyfriend that year?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, but didn’t elaborate.

“I didn’t have a girlfriend,” Adam admitted. “I went out with many women, but there was no one special. Then there she was, sitting on the sand, all golden and brown. She was like honey to a bee and there was an entire hive of bees buzzing around her. I didn’t think I had a chance. So I looked but didn’t enter the fight for her attention.”

“Before you knew it she was standing somewhere near you.” Teddy completed the thought for him.

“Something like that,” he said. “How did you know?”

“It’s a woman thing.” She left it at that.

“We didn’t see each other after that. I met and married someone else. When that dissolved, I started my business. Getting it off the ground took all my time. One day Chloe came in with her aunt to talk about estate planning.”

“You started seeing each other,” Teddy stated.

Adam nodded. “I was working night and day, but she was there when I had free time. She was supportive, fun, easy to talk to. She even helped out just to be with me. I thought she was so different from Chelsea. She was interested in the business, interested in me.”

“And so you fell in love,” Teddy suggested.

“We did. And we were planning our wedding. We didn’t have the white lace and orange blossoms. We were just going to go off one afternoon and get married.”

“But that never happened?” Teddy questioned.

“We’d been dating a little over a year,” Adam said.