When we get to the top of the stairs, Tommy sees our Christmas tree.
“You even have a tree. How did you buy the place and furnish it all from school?”
“I had a lot of help. Sam, the guy who handles my money, took care of all the financial details. Garrett introduced me to a great interior designer who totally got my style. We talked on the phone and emailed pictures back and forth. Garrett installed the security. Really, my job has been to fill up my closet.”
“I noticed it looks like your closet at home.”
“After dad died, Mom sold our house. She did one movie after another and said we didn’t need it because we’d never be there anyway. We were always on location somewhere. Even when she filmed in L.A., we leased a different place with each movie. When you let us move into your house, I finally had a place where I could leave my stuff and it’d be there when I got back. You did more than just become my stepdad, Tommy. You gave me a home.”
“A home we basically kicked you out of after you were almost kidnapped.”
“I left because I wanted to.”
“Doesn’t really help with the parental guilt,” he says, running his hand through his thick, dark hair and taking a closer look at the tree. “Did the designer do the tree too? All the ornaments are things you love.”
I smile broadly. “No, Aiden surprised me with all that a few weeks ago.”
Tommy studies the tree some more. “He knows you well.”
“All the ornaments have meaning. Like, to us.”
Tommy chuckles and shakes his head. “You’ve known him for four months, and you have enough to fill a whole tree?”
The lights on the tree blur as my eyes fill with tears.
Because we have.
So many of my Take my breath away moments have been with Aiden.
“Why are you crying?” Tommy says quietly, moving to my side.
“I promised to give B another chance when I got my life back. I’m going to hurt Aiden no matter how it plays out. If I die, he’ll be hurt. If I choose B, he’ll be hurt. Why did I have to meet someone so amazing when my life is such a mess?”
Tommy leads me over to the couch, where we both sit down. He pats my hand and says, “My life was a mess when I met your mother.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I didn’t have a stalker, but the woman I was seeing occasionally had just told me she was pregnant, I had just found out my dad had cancer, and I had just fired my long-time agent. I didn’t even want to be on the movie set with your mom. My part in it was so small, it didn’t seem worth my time. But Matt and I were going to start filming the first Trinity movie next, and the actor who was cast had to back out last minute. Matt asked me to do the cameo as a favor. He fed me a bunch of bullshit about how it’d show my softer side. About how your mom was romantic comedy box office gold. Honestly, the real reason I did it was to get the hell out of L.A. for a few weeks.”
“But then you met her.”
“But then I met her,” he says dreamily. “In the midst of all my chaos, there she was. And even though we were both pretty smitten, it wasn’t easy.”
“It wasn’t? I thought sparks flew, you took us to the ballet, and we lived happily ever after.”
Tommy chuckles. “Not quite. We both had some big personal hurdles to jump over before the happily ever after happened. No offense—I loved you right away—but, not only was she a widow, she was a mom. Being with her meant taking on a kind of responsibility I never thought I’d have.”
“You didn’t want kids?”
“I very much wanted children, but I wanted a relationship like my parents’. A good, solid one based on love and trust. I was thirty-five when I met your mom. I had all but given up on that dream.”
“Tommy, do you have another kid you haven’t told us about?”
“No. Turns out the woman I was seeing just wanted to rope me into marriage. She liked my money more than she liked me.”
“You have a good agent now. Although your dad didn’t make it. I miss Grandpa.”
“I miss him too. He got to spend time with the triplets before he passed, though, so that’s comforting. I guess what I’m trying to say is what my mom always used to tell me when things didn’t go the way I planned.”
“She always says that things happen for a reason.”
“Exactly. And she’s right. Once I got through all that, my life was better than before. Because of you and your mom. The family we’ve created. My career skyrocketed to a whole other level with the Trinity series. It all worked out.”
“You found your calm in the chaos,” I say quietly, understanding exactly what he means.
“Is that a yoga thing?”
“No, it’s finding one thing to focus on that gets you through.”
“What are you focusing on?”
“Getting my family back. My life back. Truth? I was sort of excited to go to Eastbrooke where no one had expectations of who I should be.”
“And?”