Beyond the Cherry Trees: The Cook Brothers Series (25 page)

“I’m not walking,” I sniffed as I swallowed the lump in my throat. “You pushed me away. I can’t be with you anymore. Not this version of you. You’re so far from the man I fell in love with that I don’t even recognize you anymore.”

“I’m still the same man I was last week, and the week before that. I’ll never be the man you left two years ago. You broke him. He’s gone. This is the only
me
that’s left.”

“I,” I paused as I squeezed my eyes shut. “Please leave.”

“Please, Mia, I’m begging you. Please.” His lip quivered and a tear rolled down his cheek. This was the first time Tyler had ever cried in front of me. “My life is such a mess right now. Please don’t do this. I need you. Please, Mia,” he kept begging as I slowly shook my head. “I love you.” His shoulders shook as his emotions over took him.

I opened my door and stepped inside without looking up at him before mumbling, “Goodbye, Tyler,” and closing it behind me.

I waited for a few seconds, hoping that he’d leave, but at the same time wanting him to pound on my door, demanding that I let him in and work this out. He didn’t though. I pressed my ear flush with the door and listened to his faint footsteps as he walked away. My chest hurt as the burning sensation I’d been pushing away finally overtook me. I turned slightly so my back was to the door and slid down it to the floor. I bent my knees, wrapped my arms around them, and placed my head on my arms. I couldn’t hold it in anymore, and I wept.

I wept for the man I’d lost, wept for the career that did this to us, and wept for the innocent child that was going to suffer because two people made a mistake one drunken night. This baby didn’t deserve the life it was going to get, and even though I couldn’t do anything about it, I still felt responsible. Would Tyler make a good father? Would he love this baby? Would it look like him? Or would it look like its mother?

I
DON’T KNOW
how long it took for me to fall asleep, but the ringing of my phone the next day is the only reason I woke up. I’d passed out on the floor of my apartment and managed to sleep right by the front door. I was still wearing my dance clothes from the night before, and my head was pounding from crying so hard.

“Hello?” I mumbled as I tried to get my dry mouth to work.

“Mia? Are you ok?” Garrett’s concerned voice came over the line.

“No,” I started to cry again, and I swallowed determined to not do this. I needed to keep it together. I had today off from rehearsal; I needed to focus. We were opening in two weeks, and if I didn’t get my head in the game, it could be disastrous for the entire cast.

“Where are you? Are you at home?” I could tell by the tone in his voice that I was scaring him.

“Yes,” I whimpered.

“I’m coming over,” he rushed the words out. “I’ll be there in five.” The line went dead, and I balled myself back up on the floor.

IT TOOK GARRETT
less than five minutes to get to my place. I don’t know how he got there so fast, but the pounding on my door alerted me that he was standing right outside. His knock was different from the others. “It’s open,” I cried as I shifted over so the door could open up enough for him to slip inside.

“Geez Mia,” he gasped as he closed the door and knelt down beside me. Garrett always treated me like a little sister. Outsiders never understood this, and when I first joined the company, everyone thought we were dating. It was never like that with us though, and no matter what our status was, we’d never been more than friends. “Come here.” He slouched down on the floor beside me and tugged my upper body into his lap. “It’s gonna be ok. Whatever it is. You’re gonna be fine,” he whispered the soothing words as he ran his fingers gently through my tear soaked hair.

“It’s over,” I cried as my shoulders shook.

“What? You and Ty?” Garrett’s brow furrowed as I started to sit up. “I don’t understand. You two seemed to be doing well.”

“He lied to me,” I scowled as I sat up the rest of the way. My anger from the night before was coming back. “I asked him point blank if there was anything he needed to tell me, and he lied.”

“Come here,” Garrett stood and offered his hand. When I took it, he pulled me to my feet before leading me over to the couch. After sitting down, he turned sideways to face me, pulling his knee up on the couch. “Now tell me what you’re talking about.”

“That woman he works with.” I swallowed, and the taste of bile rose in my throat as I thought about her once again. “Christina,” I made a ‘yuck’ face. “She’s pregnant, and it’s his.” Garrett’s head snapped back in disbelief. “That was my reaction too,” I growled.

“Are you sure about all this?” He tipped his head to the side like he was appraising me.

“More than sure,” I groaned as I wiped at my eyes. “I saw her. She had custody papers. She was all smiles and rainbows over the whole thing.” I shook my head in disgust. “He had the nerve to tell me it didn’t mean anything.”

“It sounds to me like you’ve only got half the pieces to all this. I think you need to talk to him.” Garrett’s fingers caressed my elbow where he’d hung his arm over the back of the couch.

“Not you too,” I snapped. “I don’t need anything from him. He lied!” I sprung up from the couch and started pacing. “Why is it that every time a guy screws up all the men whether they know him or not, support him?” I flung my arms out to the side. “If it had been me that had lied, all of you would be telling him to leave me, and I’m sure you would all have some choice names to call me too.”

“Don’t get mad at me,” Garrett pointed to his chest. “I’m trying to be your friend Mia. It sounds like Ty had all this happen before you came back into his life. He didn’t have any obligations to you when this first happened. How would you feel if it was turned around? What if you’d been with somebody and were pregnant? Would you have told him right away? Think about it. Maybe he wasn’t sure you’d let him back into your life. Maybe he was scared. Becoming a parent is hard enough, but having it sprung on you? I can’t even imagine how that would feel.”

The longer Garrett went on, the worse I felt. He was right. I was overreacting, and even though Tyler had lied, he hadn’t been having an affair while we were together.

“I can see the wheels turning,” Garrett smiled. “You’re starting to agree with me, aren’t you?”

“Why are you always right?” I narrowed my eyes on him as I placed my fists on my hips and turned to face him. I’d stopped pacing as soon as the pieces started clicking together.

“I’m a guy,” he smirked. “We’re supposed to always be right.” He shrugged his shoulders before dodging the punch I tossed in his direction.

“Hey,” he balked. “You know you love me.”

“What do I do now, oh wise one?” I blew out a breath as I let my eyes roam the space.

“You need to talk to him about the lying.” Garrett’s eyes went from smiling to sad. “That’s not ok, and you need to make him feel like he can talk to you about all this. You say he said he didn’t love her. Tell him you believe him, but he needs to tell you all of it.”

“What if I don’t want the details?” I flopped back down on the couch.

“You two need to trust each other. You’re not going to work if you don’t. He needs to tell you how he feels, and you need to give him time. Shit, Mia, I bet he’s scared out of his mind. I know I would be. If one of my one-night stands showed up at my door and was like ‘hey, you’re going to be a dad’ I would shit my pants. You think he blindsided you, think about how he felt. Do you even know how he was given the news?”

“I didn’t really let him talk that much,” I mumbled.

“See?” Garrett’s lips pursed as his eyes widened. “Get your thoughts together, and then go talk to him. Let him explain, and then go from there. This can work for you two. There are lots of couples out there that have kids from previous relationships. If you love him, and he loves you as much as you two say you do, then you can make it work.”

“Ok, Dr. Phil,” I grumbled. Garrett stood and started shuffling toward the door. “As good as that sounded,” I paused as I followed him over to where he was standing, “I’m surprised you and Stephanie couldn’t work things out.”

“Steph didn’t understand you and me. I can’t make her get that. You’re like a sister to me. I don’t want to be with a woman that can’t see that. Steph needed to grow up. I’ll find somebody,” he shrugged as he opened the door. “Now clean yourself up and decide how you’re going to fix this. I’ll see you at rehearsal tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Garrett.” I smiled at him as I pushed up on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“You’re welcome,” he mumbled before gripping my shoulders and pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Now fix this. I’ve had enough crying to last a lifetime,” he chuckled before pulling away and walking down the hall.

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered before disappearing inside. I needed to figure this out, and I needed to figure it out now. My head was such a jumbled mess, and as much as I loved Tyler, I wasn’t sure if I could handle a lifetime of these types of uncertainties. If we fought like this over the small things, what would the big ones be like? Could I do this? Could we?

DAYS WENT BY
with no word from Tyler. I’d called and left messages on his voicemail more times than I could count. I’d tried leaving him a message at work, but the few times that I was able to call, I wasn’t able to get anyone to pick up. I’d thought about stopping by his place, but after last time I was slightly scared to. It almost seemed like he’d vanished. I knew that wasn’t possible, but we kept missing each other. The message that I’d saved from him was proof.

I lifted my cell to my ear and heard his words play over once again. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say. I love you, Mia. Please give me a chance.” His breath blew across this phone as he sighed. “I’ve got a lot going on in my life right now, and I don’t know exactly how things are going to go, but I know I want you there. Call me.” The line went dead, and that feeling that I’ve been pushing down starts rising to the surface. I loved him, and the longer I stayed silent, the more I realized that Tyler wasn’t trying to hurt me. It had taken me a week before I had finally worked up the courage to call him, and now it seemed we just couldn’t connect. I had to admit, I’ve called him at least a dozen times, but that was the only call he’s made to me.

“You ready?” Garrett poked his head in my dressing room. It was opening night, and I was a mess. I had hoped that I would see or even talk to Ty, but it wasn’t in the cards. It’s silly really, I haven’t had him back stage since high school, but him sitting in here telling me I was going to be fabulous was something I missed.

“I guess.” I took a deep breath as I slowly stood. I stretched my ankles as I removed the jacket that had been keeping my shoulders warm. I glanced at myself in the mirror one final time before grasping Garrett’s hand and letting him lead me down the hallway toward the curtain behind the stage.

“You’re going to be great,” he nudged my shoulder. “I have faith in you.” He grinned when I looked up. “We’re going out for coffee after, you want to join?”