Then & Now (40 page)

“Well, that’s because they didn’t know what they had.  Or they did and got scared, most men don’t know how to handle angels.  In fact a lot of men miss use them.  They hide them away tapering their magnificent wings.” Colin stated mindfully.

His flattery made her blush as she felt his hand creep into the fold of her robe and up her bare thigh. “I feel like this is some kind of wonderful dream. I don’t want to go back.”

Colin’s embrace tightened around her although he didn’t say anything for a long moment.  His silence made her nervous, which caused an unsettling pinch in her stomach.  Maybe she had said too much.  Taking a deep breath she made a move to get off of his lap.  He stopped her before she could get too far.

“I’m in love with you, Ella.” His confession rolled off his tongue as if he had rehearsed it. “I have been for a long time.  I don’t want you to go back. I want you to stay with me.” He was looking straight into her eyes, with a sober expression upon his face.

Ella’s heart nearly stopped short. Without saying a word she took his face into her hands and kissed him harder than she had ever kissed anyone in her life.  While they continued to kiss Colin lifted her up and placed her onto the table. She gasped for air as he kissed down her neck.  “Colin… I love you.”

Kissing the side of her head Colin gazed deep into her eyes. “Will you stay with me?” His voice shook as the words tripped out from his lips. “I will buy you everything your heart desires.  You’ll never have to go without. I will—”

“I’m in love with you not your money. My heart only desires you, even if we’re living in a cardboard box.”  Ella’s reassurance brought an enormous grin to his face.

“Say it again.”

“I don’t want your money.”

“No, the part before that.”

Ella released a smile almost too big for her mouth to take. “Oh, you mean when I said I was in love with you?”

“Yeah that part I like that part.”

Amy sat in the large booth playing nervously with the cloth napkin. She had been the first to arrive at the dinner, which was strange. It seemed like another life time ago when she would be the fashionably late one.

Letting out a small chuckle she realized being first wasn’t the only thing that had changed over the year. A year ago everyone was stuck. Back then, Madeline was going to marry the wrong twin, Amelia hid behind plants to admire her boss, Sophia thought John was the only man she was ever going to marry, Alethea lived in her sister’s shadow, Leya loved Jasper from a far, and Ella was married to the wrong man.

Now, everyone was insanely happy living the
ir new lives with their new men. Even Mary Young, the friend who had inadvertently got the ball rolling, was living an exciting life in Maui with her new lover. Everyone was living the life they wanted. 

Everyone…
except her. Her entire life had turned upside down. From fine dining, shopping sprees, and world travel, to moving back home with her parents. Not that she would ever trade it back, that life belong to Ella; now and forever.

She had asked for nothing in the divorce and threatened Matt to do the same, even though Ella had pretty much left him everything.
Which was to be expected, nothing about her life with Matt needed to be kept. Colin gave her more than she needed in a home, and a life. 

A knot began to form in the back of her throat as she thought of Ella and Colin.
She knew they would be happy together.  Hell, they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other at Maddie’s or Amelia’s weddings. Colin wasn’t like that when they were together. The thought should have ripped her heart out, although it didn’t. He had never been hers. She was wrong to even think he ever could be.

She had thought that she had set things right, that all had been forgiven.  Ella had even asked her to be her maid of honor when they
had decided to have a quick, intimate wedding. Amy had been ecstatic to stand by her sister’s side.  She had invited all of their friends, and their new husbands to attend. Everyone had laughed and enjoyed themselves at the tiny gathering.

Amy really believed that everything was going to be okay between her and Ella, until
she and Colin had left for Egypt. No one had heard from them since.  Sure she had called their parents, but as for Amy or any of their friends; not a word.

Six months without a word from her twin had her wondering if she had really been forgiven for her
unorthodox method of cleaning the mess she had made.

“If you get any deeper into thought you’ll rip that napkin in two.” A deep male’s voice grabbed Amy’s attention.

Glancing up, Amy smiled politely at Mike Anderson. Mike was a young lawyer who worked at her father’s firm. Who, according to all the women who worked with him, was a real catch.  She would agree with them if her heart was in it.  Unfortunately, after the year she had she was more worried about her and Ella’s relationship, than finding a new man.

“Hello. Are you just grabbing some lunch before heading back to the firm?”  She asked casually, not really interested in his answer.

Without answering he eyed the large booth she was sitting in.  “Are you waiting for someone?”

“Yes. I’m meeting my friends.  We meet here once a month.” Taking a quick look at the empty seats, she wondered if Ella would be joining them this time.

“Do you always concentrate that hard before meeting with your friends?” He asked with one eyebrow cocked slightly.

Smiling she lifted a shoulder.
“Only the last few times.” Why did she admit that to him?  It wasn’t any of his concern. Maybe it was because he was a lawyer and he had a talent of getting the truth out of people.  Her father had mentioned how “amazing” he was in the court room.

“Ahh,” He nodded.

“Amy!” Sophia waved as she, Maddie, and Leya made their way towards Amy’s booth.

“Well, I hope you have a nice visit with your friends and I hope to see you at the firm’s picnic this Saturday.” His grin was a little more attractive then she wanted it to be.

“I’ll be there.” She really didn’t have a choice.  Her mother would drag her there if she wanted to go or not.

Watching him turn and head back to the front of the house, Amy couldn’t help but notice how nicely his
suit fit. She had to mentally smack herself. Men only end in drama with her, and she wasn’t in the dramatic mood.

“Who was that good looking hunk of meat?”  Leya asked as she waddled up next to Maddie.

“Leya, you shouldn’t be looking at guys anymore.” Sophia scolded. “You’re a married woman now.”

“And twice the size you were the last time I saw you!”  Amy gushed as she jumped up to gi
ve Leya a hug. “When are you do?”

After returning the hug Leya let out a noisy shy. “Not soon enough.  Although it’s fun to watch Jasper and Victor get all mushy over her little dresses and shoes.” She loving rubbed her round belly. “I’m just glad it’s a girl.  We need to even the score around the house.”

“Are you still going to name her after Victor’s late wife?” Maddie asked as she reached over to feel the baby kick.

“Annie.”  Leya nodded. “I even got this really cute block design that spells out her name.  Jasper hung it over the crib the other day.”

“That’s so sweet.” Sophia grinned.

Leya let out a short laugh. “Who would’ve thought I would’ve been the first, out of all of us, to have a baby?”

“You’re not too a head of the game,” Alethea informed as she and Amelia came up to the table. “We just found out that I’m having a boy!” She squealed.

Cheers and gasps filled the booth as everyone filled in the empty seats. Amy smiled and congratulated her close friends all too aware of the one seat that hadn’t been filled in over six months.

“Have you talked to Ella, Amy?” Amelia asked quietly.

Shaking her head, Amy rolled her water cup between her hands. “My mother told me that she should be back from Egypt sometime this month.”

“That’s what she told me.” Sophia agreed while she accepted the menu from the waitress.

Turning to her friend Amy couldn’t hold back her surprised reaction. “You’ve talked with Ella?”

Sophia nodded slowly. “Tristan wants to go to Egypt for some kind of sand-sport-thing. So I called Ella to see where in Egypt they were.  You know, to catch up with them.  But she said they were coming home this month.”

Amy did everything she could not to show her emotions.  Ella hadn’t answered any of her calls.

“Amy, are you okay?” Amelia scooted closer as she gently placed a comforting hand on Amy’s shoulder.

“I think I really messed up this time.” Amy confessed softly.

“What do you mean?” Leya asked as she grabbed a roll from the center basket.

Amy laughed without humor. “Oh, let me count the ways…” When she got nothing but blank stares, she rolled her eyes. “I should have never gone after Colin to begin with.  Then, like a lunatic, I throw them into a situation that was completely unconventional, and to top it all off I slept with Matt.”

When she heard all of her friends gasp at once, Amy inwardly groaned.  No one had known about that little tidbit until now.

“When in the hell did you sleep with Matt?!” Leya asked as she choked on some of her bread.

“It’s complicated…besides I think Ella and Colin were already together when we—you know.”  Amy explained while trying to avoid eye contact with any of her friends.

“You think?” Maddie’s question hung over the table like a noose.

Amy dropped her head down against the table. “I only made the mess bigger, didn’t I?”

“I wouldn’t say that. I mean, I saw Colin and Ella at all of our weddings they looked very happy.” Amelia shrugged. “If your goal was to get them together it worked.”

“She’s right. I’m sure sleeping with Matt wasn’t even close to your original plans. But, all-in-all, your plan did work.” Sophia stated mindfully.

Amy shook her head as she thought of the comment. If her plan had worked then why did Ella put such a distance between them? She needed to be truthful with herself; Ella might have got what was rightfully hers, but that didn’t mean she was happy with the way it happened.

Needing to get away for a moment, Amy excused herself. Maybe a cold splash of water on her face will help her get through this lunch. She could break down and freak-out when she got home.

While she tried to side step a large crowd of elderly women she found that it only led to more elderly women. When “excuse me” didn’t work and “may I just slide by” fell on deaf ears, Amy stood there for a moment wondering if she should just head back to the table.

“I never got to thank you.” The familiar voice nearly brought her to her knees. 

Spinning around she came face to face with Colin. He stood tall and proud in his Armani suit, with a small smile on his ever-handsome face. It was hard for her to think that she once believed she could take something so beautiful from someone who truly respected it.

“A thanks isn’t necessary. I did what was right.” Even if it was completely unorthodox. “Although, I do want to know when you figured it out.”

He lifted a shoulder with a charming smile.
“You and Ella might look a hell of lot alike, but you are complete opposites of each other.”

“So, you’re saying she gave herself away the second we stepped off that plane.”  Amy laughed. She figured her twin would;
Ella’s kind heart was too hard for anyone to ignore.

“Yeah, pretty much.” His deep chuckle took her for a moment.  He never laughed like that when they were together.

Giving a look around, Amy searched the dinner. “Where is Ella?”

“Behind you.” Ella’s soft voice cut neatly through the crowd of chatty women.

Turning quickly Amy let out a quiet sob. There stood her twin, happy, healthy, and pregnant. She held out both of her hands to the small bump in Ella’s tummy. Overjoyed for her twin would be an understatement. Besides Colin, a baby was the only thing Ella ever really wanted in life.

Ella smiled brightly as she allowed Amy to rub her stomach. “They’re the reason we came back early. I was having a hard time with heat in Egypt.”

It took only a moment for the word “they” to register. “Twins!”  Amy nearly shouted.

“We can’t make-up our mind if we want to know if they are girls, boys, or one of each.”  Colin beamed as he took a hold of Ella’s hand.
The last time she had spoken to them Colin had talked about having a baby; he didn’t mention the media once.  It was all about Ella. Ella wants to redo the spare bedroom for a nursery.  Ella wants a baby right away. Ella has already started shopping for baby cloths.  Every statement started with Ella and ended with a giant smile. It was bluntly obvious that he wanted these babies just as bad as she did.

“When he says ‘we’ he means me.”  Ella corrected. “He can’t wait to find out.”

Colin smiled warmly at his wife. “I will wait if that is what you wish.” Turning her hand over, he gently pressed a kiss into Ella’s palm.

It felt good to see them together.
Maybe her plan had worked after all.  She had never seen either one of them this happy before. But then why didn’t Ella except any of her calls while she was away?