Monica let out a sob and said, “I can’t tell her.”
I shook my head as I yelled, “Can’t tell me what?”
A male voice came over the line. “Maddie, it’s Jack.”
I felt my legs giving out on me. Cale. What’s happened to Cale?
“Sweetheart, I don’t know any other way to tell you this, but to just blurt it out. Zoey’s passed away.”
The air left my body in one quick breath. “What? Wait…what do you mean? Jack, what do you mean?” I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to hold back my sob.
“Maddie, I’m so sorry to tell you over the phone. Zoey had a heart attack. Her heart just couldn’t take any more stress and…she’s gone, Maddie. They were able to get Lily out okay. She’s okay, the baby is okay.”
My thoughts raced. Baby? Lily? Cale had a girl? Zoey’s gone…
I let out the sobs I’d been holding in as I sank to the floor. Andre came around the corner and took one look at me before running over.
“Maddison!” He fell to the floor and held my face. He tried to wipe my tears away. I shook my head, trying to calm myself.
“Cale? Is… Cale… okay?”
Jack sighed. “No. He hasn’t even seen the baby yet, Maddie. His mother and Monica have been taking care of her.”
I gasped. “What? Why?”
“He’s blaming himself. He thinks Zoey had the heart attack because he confronted her about her knowing about the two of you all along.”
What? My head was spinning. I looked at Andre and nodded as he helped me into a chair. “What do you mean, Jack?” I asked.
“Listen, Maddie, I’ll explain it all when you get back. Can you come home? Zoey’s parents want nothing to do with the baby. Zoey’s mother said that Lily will remind her too much of Zoey.”
I nodded. “Yes. Yes, I’ll try to get the next flight back to the States.”
Andre grabbed my hands. “Bella, I have my family’s private plane. I’ll bring you anywhere you want to go.”
I smiled at Andre. “I’m on my way now. Andre’s private plane is here. I’m on my way.”
I hung up and ran down the long hallway to the room Andre and I were sharing. I hadn’t even unpacked, since we’d just arrived the previous evening.
I grabbed my suitcase and began throwing the few things I’d taken out back in.
“Maddison, please tell me what’s happening.”
“Oh God I’m so sorry, Andre,” I said. “You remember my friend, Zoey, the one who was pregnant?”
He nodded and said, “Yes. Cale is her husband?”
I felt a stab in my stomach as I remembered the night that I sent Andre home after Cale showed up drunk.
“Yes. Well, she had a heart attack and…and…she died. The baby is okay, but Cale hasn’t even touched his daughter. Hasn’t even held her. Zoey’s parents want nothing to do with the baby. I have to get back home. I’m so sorry.”
Andre ran his hand through his hair. “Bella, I’m so sorry about your friend, but I don’t see why you need to rush back home.”
I stopped moving and stared at him. “What? My friend just died, her husband, who is also a friend, now has no one.”
Andre looked at me funny. “I thought you said you couldn’t stand Cale. Why are you rushing back for him? Do you have feelings for him, Bella?”
I couldn’t believe my ears. “Are you for real? You’re really asking me this, Andre? His wife just fucking died. My friend. I was her only friend, and you’re standing here asking me such stupid-ass questions?” I grabbed my suitcase and pushed past him. “I’ll find my own way back to the States. I don’t have time to play games.”
He grabbed my arm. “Maddison, wait. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to sound so cold-hearted. Of course you should be rushing back. She was your friend. I’m being so insensitive. Let me grab my suitcase and I’ll meet you out front. I’ll call the airport and have the plane ready to go by the time we get to Pisa.”
I dropped my suitcase and wrapped my arms around Andre’s neck, pulling his lips down to mine. “Thank you,” I whispered against his lips as I pulled them away.
“Anything for you, Bella.”
“MADDISON, ARE YOU sure you don’t want me to bring you home?” Andre said. “I can stay a few days, work from your house. You know I can work from anywhere.”
I smiled, placing my hand on Andre’s cheek. “I love that you want to do this for me. But let me get a handle on things. You know you’re welcome anytime. I’ll miss you.”
He pulled me to him and I could feel his hard-on. “I’ll miss you, Bella. I’ll fly home and take care of some things, then fly back in about a week. You’ll let me know if you need anything, yes?”
I grinned and reached up to kiss him. “Yes. I promise. Have a safe trip to New York.”
He tucked my hair behind my ears and gazed at me, longingly. “I meant it when I said I was falling in love with you, Bella. I won’t push you into saying it back, but I want you to know how I feel.”
My heart tightened in my chest as I smiled and chewed on my lip. He turned and headed back to his plane. I watched him until he rounded the corner, out of sight.
I pulled out my phone and hit Monica’s number. “I’m here,” I said as I walked toward the airports nearest exit.
I sat in Monica’s car in silence as she drove us to my house. I wanted to stop and shower and change my clothes before heading to Cale’s. The baby came home yesterday, and Monica and Jack had stayed with Cale last night and most of today.
“He won’t even look at her,” Monica said, her voice cracking.
“Why? I don’t understand?”
“It’s simple—he blames himself for Zoey’s death.”
I shook my head. “Why?”
Monica gripped the steering wheel and sighed. “Jack found out from Zoey’s cousin that Zoey knew all along about you and Cale.”
“How in the world would Zoey know?”
“I told you! You know, that day when we were talking about Cale and your feelings for him? I always thought that Zoey was listening in on our conversation. You didn’t believe me. Well, she was, and the moment Cale told her his name, she realized who he was and set out to win him over. That’s why she just went full force on him. It was Zoey who was always bragging about how much Cale loved to fuck. It was her. She wanted it that way. Cale barely touched her since he saw you again. Then, when he found out she’d tricked him into the pregnancy, things really changed. He told Jack he wanted to have feelings for Zoey, but couldn’t, because of his feelings for you.”
I looked away and tried to let everything sink in. I shook my head. “If he didn’t have feelings for her, why would he marry her?”
“Pressure from both their parents. He was trying to do the honorable thing, Maddie.”
I held back my tears. “You’re on Cale’s side now?”
Her eyes widened as she gave me a look at a stoplight. “I didn’t realize we had sides, Maddie.”
I stared out the window in silence.
“You and Andre had sex while in Italy, right? I mean, you’ve been sleeping with him for a while now.”
“Excuse me?”
Monica raised an eyebrow at me. “You heard me.”
“What the hell does that have to do with any of this?”
Monica pulled into my driveway, parked, and looked at me. “It has a lot to do with it, Maddie. You sit here and act pissed off because Zoey and Cale had sex. He was having a baby with her. They dated. They were together. He had no idea that Zoey even knew about you guys. He had no idea she was playing him. He tried to do the right thing. Did they sleep together? Yes. Did Zoey exaggerate their sex life? Very much so. But don’t sit there and judge Cale when you’re fucking Andre while your heart belongs to someone else.”
She got out of the car, slamming the door behind her and heading for my front door.
I sat there in a stupor. Zoey had played all of us. Somehow, I think I knew it when she told me she was p
regnant. It was in her smile. I dropped my head back against the seat.
“This just sucks,” I whispered, pushing the door open. I didn’t want to admit that Monica was right. So I did what I always do.
I pushed my feelings aside.
I SAT ON the deck and looked out over the dark water. I hadn’t heard any voices in about an hour. I still hadn’t seen my daughter yet. I let my mother name her when the hospital said they needed a name for her birth certificate. I didn’t deserve to name her. I didn’t deserve to be her father.
I took another swig of beer.