Return to You

exploited it.
Michael couldn't resist the offer." She laughed mirthlessly. "He
wasn't meant to. So he left."
    "I don't understand," Eve said. "Why didn't
you just go with him?"
    "That's just it. I would've
gone if he made any kind of overture, but he didn't want me.
According to him, I would've gotten in the way. He needed to focus on his
career."
    "The bastard," Eve said with feeling.
    "I can't blame him for taking the job," she
grudgingly added. "All Michael ever wanted was to be a director,
and my father gave him the shot. But I do blame him for believing
I'd get in his way."
    She only wanted him to love her enough to
make their relationship work regardless of where they ended up.
    He hadn't.
    She lost Michael, and then three weeks later
she lost him all over again.
    Leaning forward, she
grabbed Eve's hand. "What I'm going to tell you can't ever leave this room. You
can't tell anyone —not even Treat. Swear to me on your unborn children's
heads."
    "It must be pretty serious to invoke that
kind of oath."
    " Swear ."
    "Okay. I won't tell anyone." Eve crossed her
heart with two fingers.
    "I was pregnant when Michael left."
    " What ?" Eve half fell off the
couch.
    "I miscarried." That was Michael's fault
too. She lifted her glass and blinked. "Someone drank all my
wine."
    Eve automatically refilled it. "He left you
knowing you were pregnant?"
    "I never told him."
    "You had to tell him."
    "I didn't want him to stick with me because
he had to. I wanted him to want me for myself. But he didn't, so I
thought I could raise the baby on my own. But she died. That's why
I went to Paris. I could feel myself sinking into a deep pit of
despair." She looked up at Eve, who had tears in her eyes. "That
wasn't me. I thought if I distanced myself I could figure out who I
was. For the longest time, Michael and I were one entity. I had to
learn to be my own person."
    Eve wiped her eyes. "No wonder you hate your
father. It seems wrong of him to offer Michael that job knowing it
could break you up."
    "Not if you know him. He probably did it on
purpose. He's a manipulative bastard."
    "But why?"
    "What difference does it make? Whatever the
reason is doesn't change the outcome." The room was starting to
spin. She laid her head back and tried to focus on the wine bottle
on the coffee table. "Did we drink that whole bottle already?"
    "No, you drank the whole bottle. Have
another cracker. I'm surprised you're still upright considering you
haven't eaten all day."
    "I have a strong constitution." She
hiccupped.
    "I can see that." Eve took a small sip. "So
what's your plan?"
    Olivia wrinkled her nose. "Plan?"
    "You're the one who always wants a plan of
attack."
    "Oh. Oh, right." She nodded, wincing at the
way the room jerked sickeningly. "A plan. My plan is to stay as far
away from both those cretins as I possibly can. The Bay Area is big
enough, right?"
    "So that just leaves your home," Eve pointed
out.
    Olivia growled.
    Eve held up her hands. "Don't kill the
messenger. I was just making sure you realized that."
    "I can ignore my father."
    "And Michael?"
    Olivia folded her arms tightly across her
body. "I'll avoid him too."
    "Are you sure you want to?"
    "Of course I do. Why would I want that
faithless dog back?" In her mind, she saw his blue eyes aged with
wisdom, the broad expanse of his shoulders, and how good his butt
looked on his way out the door.
    She downed her entire glass in one gulp and
held it out for a refill.
    "So you don't still have feelings for him?"
Eve asked, handing her a cracker instead.
    "Other than tense loathing? Not a thing."
She took a savage bite out of it.
    "Isn't that telling?"
    "What do you mean?"
    "What do you feel for David?"
    "David?" She frowned. "David Mariner? What
does he have to do with anything?"
    "Just answer the question. If you ran into
David on the street, how would you react?"
    "I haven't thought of David in ages. He was
several dates ago." She pursed her lips. "I suppose if I ran into
him I'd make some small talk and then get back to whatever I was
doing."
    "Exactly. So what does it tell you that
you're so worked up over seeing Michael again?"
    "That I need more to drink." She reached for
the bottle and almost toppled off the couch. "Whoa."
    "Here." Eve steadied her. "Sit back and I'll
do that."
    "You're a pal." She muffled another hiccup
behind her hand and leaned back until she was reclining against the
armrest of the couch.
    "I wonder if you'll feel that way in the
morning."
    "Don't worry. I've