Crossroad to Love (Fab Five Series)

chapter 19

Heads turned as Ryan O’Grady walked across the room. His looks and charisma made him a very attractive man and every woman in the bar had noticed that fact. He knew where he was headed, though, and gave no notice to any of the other women in the bar. He spotted Katy’s table and walked straight to her.

“Pardon me for intruding, ladies. I found that I just couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see Katy, so I thought if you would permit me, I’d buy y’all a drink. Then I will leave you to your girl time,” he announced as he stood beside Katy and smiled.

“We’ll always take a free drink from a handsome man. Pull up a chair, Ryan,” laughed Lizzie as she looked to Katy for approval. Katy nodded.

He took a seat at the table with them. “When I spoke to you on the phone earlier and you said you had plans for this evening, I was disappointed, even though I know you’re in Dallas to spend time with your friends. So I thought this way, I could spend a little time with you and still give you time with Lizzie, Marianne, and Angie.”

Katy blushed and then replied, “Perfectly all right, Ryan. I’m glad to see you. Did you have a busy day at the restaurant? And how is it that you were able to sneak out tonight by the way, after being gone last night?”

“We try to take turns being at the restaurant. That way none of us gets burned out. Chloe took off and did some shopping earlier in the day, so she is covering for me tonight. And I think my sister-in-law approves of you, so that makes it much easier for me to get away. In the old days, she wasn’t so agreeable at times.” He grinned mischievously.

Chloe did more than shop this morning, thought Katy, remembering her conversation with his sister-in-law when they had coffee earlier. She turned her attention back to Ryan.

“Lizzie’s husband is flying in tomorrow to talk with you about the ads. So we’ll all be at the restaurant tomorrow night. You will be there, won’t you?” Katy teased.

“That’s what I hear. And, yes, my yellow rose, I will be there with bells on.” He smiled and took her hand in his as he spoke. “Michael will be there, as well, I believe. Marianne, you should have your husband join us. You live in the Dallas area, don’t you?”

Marianne paled and replied, “Yes, as a matter of fact we do. I am not sure if he will be able to make it or not.”

“Well, the invitation is open. If he can, he is more than welcome. We should all get to know each other. Some of us will be working together, and if Katy and I are going to become an ‘item’ I need to get to know her friends.” He winked at Katy as he added the last comment. She blushed again and smiled up at him.

I wonder if he will still want to become an ‘item’ when I tell him who I really am. She was going to have to do that soon. Tomorrow night after the dinner was when she had decided to tell him. She did not want to ruin the dinner. It was going to be hard enough with Angie and Michael there together and with Marianne and Jon at odds. Oh, I need to get those two gals in gear so I can concentrate on my own woes.

After a few drinks and polite conversation, Ryan rose to leave. “I will leave you ladies to your girl talk now. Have fun and I’ll see all of you tomorrow night.” He leaned over and gave Katy a kiss on the forehead. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.” He grinned at them as he waved goodbye.

The ‘Fab Four’ watched in awe as he walked out of the room. He really was taken with their little Katy. It was quite obvious he was interested in starting something with her. And it was such a shame that it probably would never happen.

“You have to tell him soon, before this goes any further, Kate,” Lizzie said as Ryan walked out the door.

“I know. I plan to tell him tomorrow night, after dinner. I just hope he can handle the information.” Katy sighed as she thought about how she would break the news to him.

“And to think our little Katy is the woman who stole the heart of Dallas’s most eligible bachelor. Way to go, girlfriend.” Marianne laughed for the first time all evening.

Angie went white all of a sudden. She gasped.

“What in the world?” Marianne followed her friend’s gaze and saw what had alarmed her. Jon and Michael were seated at a table across the room, apparently in deep conversation.

“Probably commiserating about how we ruined their lives,” Marianne said grudgingly.

“Forget about them. We’re here to have dinner and a good time. If they see us, we will deal with it then,” Lizzie advised her friends. “No use starting something here in the bar.”

“She’s right. I am starved,” Angie answered. She would not let Michael Gray ruin her evening with her friends. In a few days it would be time for them all to go home and face their lives. Tonight was for the four girls.

“Angie, we need to decide when you want me to come to Iowa and meet with you about the designs for your hotel,” Katy subtly changed the subject.

“I’ll check my schedule when I get back home and get with you on that. I know you’ll be coming back to Dallas to work with Ryan too. I am so excited about us working together.”

“I’ll be coming back to Dallas if all goes well with Ryan tomorrow night,” she replied quietly. “He may ask me to bow out of the project, though.”

“Now, now, we’re not going to discuss our problems tonight, remember?” Lizzie chided.

And on that note, the girls ordered their dinners and began indulging in light, fun conversation. At least they tried. Given their individual circumstances, it was not an easy task.

“Well, would you look at that?” Michael asked as he spied the table of four.

“What?” Jon asked distractedly.

“The famous ‘Fab Four’ is dining in this very room. Obviously, they haven’t seen us or the fireworks would have started by now.”

“Either that, or they’re simply ignoring us.”

“I’ll let them finish their dinner in peace, then little Miss Angie and I are going to have some words. We have to get this thing settled before we start work on her big project next week.”

“Don’t do or say anything you’ll regret, my friend. I need to try and convince my wife to talk to me too, because I can’t go home with this dark cloud hanging over us.”

The two men agreed to wait until the girls had finished their dinner before making a move. As the girls were bantering back and forth, laughing and apparently having a good time, the two men at the table across the room watched and waited patiently. They paid for their drinks and food, and when they saw the waiter take the check to the girls, they rose from their seats and headed straight to their table.

“So, are you stalking us now?” Marianne asked coldly as Jon walked up to the table and stood by her chair.

“Marianne, stop it. We have to talk and you know it. I’m going to book a suite and you and I are going to go there and hash this thing out right now.”

“Oh, can you get your girlfriend out of the suite long enough for us to talk, or is she going to join us? I don’t think I’d be interested in a threesome. She’s not my type.” Mari could have bitten off her tongue. Why on earth am I being such a shrew? I am pretty certain by now that Jon is telling the truth.

Jon sighed as he replied calmly, “There is no suite with a girl in it. I am going to the desk right now to try to book one for us… you and me… We’re going to talk and then you can join your friends to finish your vacation. But I am not going home tonight without talking to you about this. The air needs to be cleared once and for all. This whole thing is just downright ridiculous and you know it.” He was growing more perturbed with each passing minute.

“You do what you want, Jonny boy, but I think everything has been said.” Marianne was still very angry with him in spite of the fact she believed him. Angry that he had put her through months of agonizing. If he had told her the truth to begin with, it would have saved her a lot of grief.

“The problem with that is you didn’t listen to what was said.” And on that note, Jon walked out of the bar and straight to the front desk to book a suite. I have to get her to listen to reason. She was acting so flippantly with him in front of her friends. I have to get her alone and try to get her to hear what I am saying. Nothing happened. How many times do I have to keep saying it before she will believe it? Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. This would explain the drinking problem.

“Angie, you and I have to talk also. I would appreciate it if you would accompany me back to my room for a little while.” Michael looked at Angie with sadness in his eyes.

“Of course I will, Michael. I realize that we have things to discuss before we go back to Iowa next week. I just want to make sure Marianne is going to be all right and then I will meet you.”

That was easier than I thought it would be. Michael thought. But how in the world am I going to handle the situation when I get her alone?

“Marianne, you have to calm down and listen to what Jon has to say,” Angie said. “Please, don’t be the fool I was fifteen years ago and throw away your life. If there is any way to salvage your marriage, you need to find it. And that is all I am going to say, other than good luck. I love you.” Angie gave her friend a quick hug.

“I love all of you too and I will listen to him. I just have to find a way to control this horrible anger I have inside of me. I can’t seem to stop myself from lashing out at him.”

“That’s totally understandable. He apparently thought it wasn’t worth mentioning, but he seems to be willing to admit that it was wrong not to tell you anyway. You need to find it in your heart to forgive him, if you want to stay married to him. You can’t continue the bitterness, or you’ll both be miserable for the rest of your lives. You’ve wasted months agonizing over an affair that never happened,” Katy cautioned her friend. “Maybe he was trying to spare you. It had to be aggravating for him to have her harassing him all the time.”

“Good luck to you both. We’ll wait up for you. I need to give Rex a call back to discuss the ads for the O’Gradys with him before he arrives tomorrow. I didn’t really have a chance earlier when he called.” Lizzie got up from the table.

“And I need to give some thought to how I am going to tell Ryan what I need to tell him tomorrow night. So I’ll see both of you later this evening. Follow your hearts, both of you,” Katy said as she hugged them both and got up to follow Lizzie back to the suite. As she walked into the suite, her thoughts were racing. Hopefully they are going to work things out, and then I can go home at the end of the week knowing that all is well in the lives of my friends once again. Too bad things won’t be well in my life by then.

Angie prepared to face Michael in his suite. She told Marianne she would walk her out to the lobby to meet Jon. “And then you’re on your own.”

“Thank you, Angie. I will remember what you said. Good luck with Michael.”

Angie smiled and walked toward the elevator. Please, God, let Michael be willing to forgive me for what I did to him all those years ago. She reached his suite and timidly knocked on the door.

Michael answered the door with a tense smile. “I’m glad you agreed to join me, Angela.” He welcomed her into the room.

“Thank you,” she answered nervously.

“Have a seat. Is there anything I can get you?”

“No, thanks.” She began, “Michael, I am so sorry. I know I have hurt you deeply. That was never my intention. You have to know that.”

He ran his fingers through his hair as he sat down in the chair across from her. He looked at her with sadness in his eyes as he began to speak very softly to her.

“I have done nothing for the last twenty-four hours but think about what you told me last night. I was very angry with you at first. I could not believe that you didn’t trust me enough to call me back from my trip when you were in the hospital. I couldn’t believe that you chose not to tell me at all, divorcing me, leading me to believe it was because you wanted to pursue your career. You told me that your work didn’t allow you to start a family, that you had goals and you would never achieve them if you stayed married to me. Do you have any idea how that made me feel, to know that you chose your career over me and a possible family together? Women work and stay married and have babies all the time. So I had to assume you had fallen out of love with me. I was devastated. But I decided not to stand in your way. I always had the hope that we could someday find our way back to each other. That’s why I jumped at the chance to work with you on this project of yours, so that I could see you again, see what kind of a life you had. I wanted to see if you were happy with the life you had chosen or if there was the slightest chance that you might have missed me as much as I had missed you.”

“And then last night, when everything was so perfect between us, when we had admitted, for the first time in all these years, that we were still in love, I thought we actually were getting our act together. And then boom, out of nowhere, you lay something so heavy on me that I couldn’t even stand to be in the same room with you. Do you know how it made me feel to know that you kept something so sacred hidden from me? You didn’t even give me the chance to grieve with you. We could have stayed together, Angie. We could have had a childless marriage or we could have adopted. We could have been happy together all these years instead of miserable apart.”

He simply dropped his head and sobbed as he finished, “I love you, Angie.”

Angie watched as the man she loved cried. The tears he should have cried with her fifteen years ago, had she let him. I am such a fool. I can see that now. But back then, I just couldn’t see it, she thought as she watched him. She walked over to him and put her arms around him. She did not say a word. She just held him in her arms and cried with him.

Finally, she spoke softly, “Let it all out, Michael. These are the tears I deprived you of fifteen years ago. Let it all out, my love.”

They held each other and sobbed together. They cried for their baby. And they cried for the last fifteen wasted years of their lives.

When they had cried all the tears there were to cry, he said softly, “Angie, I never stopped loving you.”

“And I never stopped loving you,” she answered as she cradled him in her arms.

“Why did you do it? I spoke with Jackie this morning. She said you were devastated.”

“I was so messed up at the time. I guess I went into some sort of shock. You were out of town and it just seemed simpler not to tell you. When I lost the baby, it was bad enough, but when the doctor told me I could never have a child, something in me just snapped. I was numb. It was like my whole world was over. I knew how much you wanted children. I did what I thought was best and set you free. I grieved for you and that baby and all the other babies I could never have for years. I was heartbroken, so I threw myself into my work. It was the one thing in my life that I felt I was actually not a failure at. It wasn’t until I saw you and found out that you had never remarried and never had a family that I realized what a mistake I had made. What a mess I had made of both our lives. That’s why I knew that if we were to get back together, as I was so hoping we would, I would have no choice but to tell you everything. No more secrets. I am so sorry, Michael. I love you with all my heart. I always have and I always will, no matter where you decide we go from here.”

“Where do you want to go from here?” he asked gently as his chocolate eyes searched her green ones for an answer.

“I want you back in my life. I want your forgiveness. I want to put the last fifteen years behind us and move on. I want us to start a new life together. I feel like we’re at the crossroad and we have to decide which way to turn. It’s now or never. We need to decide which direction in that crossroad we’re going to take, because once we take it, there is no going back. But it won’t work if you cannot forgive me.”

“Last night, I would have said I could never forgive you. But tonight, after much agonizing and a lot of good advice, I realize what it took for you to keep this to yourself. I realize the sacrifice you made for me even though I wouldn’t have asked you to do that. As long as I know that you still love me and that there are no more secrets and never will be again, I actually think there may be a chance for us, Babe. Maybe we just need to take it a little slowly at first.”

Angie rushed into his arms. “Oh, Michael, I will never keep a secret from you again as long as I have you back in my life.”

“Do you need to get back to the ‘Fab Four’ right away, or can you stay awhile and just be with me?” He kissed her forehead and her nose.

“I thought we were taking this slow?” She laughed as she gently caressed his cheek.

“We are. I just want to spend some time with you. We need to just spend some quiet time in each other’s arms. We have had a very heart-wrenching few hours.”

“Let me call Lizzie and tell her not to wait up for me. There is nothing I would like better than to spend the next few hours cuddling with you and discussing our future, Mr. Gray.”

“Um… that sounds good to me, Mrs. Gray. And I think you had better give your mother a call and let her know we are all right. She has already invited me to dinner.”

“Mom will be pleased to hear that we are going to give it another whirl, I’m sure.”

After Angie had made her phone calls, she settled back in Michael’s arms and sighed. “They were both happy for us.”

“I’m glad we had so many people rooting for us. Lizzie and Marianne paid me a friendly little visit this morning.”

“That doesn’t surprise me, the ‘Fab Four’ in action again. I’m really surprised Katy wasn’t beating down your door.”

“You know, we really need to discuss this Mrs. Gray thing. What kind of time frame are you thinking, before we make it official again?” Michael asked, getting back to the subject at hand.

“Well, so much for taking it slow, Mr. Gray. We can discuss that later. Right now, I just want to enjoy the next few hours being with you. We have so much to talk about and so many plans to make. But rest assured I won’t let you drag your feet getting me back to the altar. I am not letting you get away. We have a lot of time to make up for.”

Michael leaned down and kissed Angie. It was the kiss they had both been longing for. And now, at last, the longing was over. The last fifteen years and Angie’s painful secret were behind them. It was time to plan a future. The future they always should have had.

Michael lifted her from the couch and carried her to the bedroom where they spent the next three hours together rediscovering their love for one another. The magic was still there, and with each kiss, each caress, the past slipped further and further away and the two became as one, the future belonging to them once again.

With one last, tender kiss goodnight, Angie quietly went back to her suite to finish her vacation, truly happy for the first time in fifteen years.

Meanwhile, in another suite down the hall, Jon and Marianne were glaring at each other. They had been in the suite for over half an hour and had gotten nowhere.

Finally, Jon spoke again, “I guess I need to start at the beginning. We have got to get it all out in the open. I won’t let you throw us away over something like a colossal misunderstanding such as this.”

“It seems to me that you are the one who did that,” Marianne answered coldly.

“I deserve that. Call it stupidity. A few months ago, this cute, young lab tech started flirting around with me. I ignored her from the start. I’m a busy man and I don’t have time for that sort of thing. You know that. One thing led to another. She was always finding excuses to come by the office or to call me. One night, in the lab, she cornered me and kissed me. I don’t know what I was thinking or why I let it happen, but I did. It happened so quickly, but I immediately drew away from her. I felt guilty, but was flattered at the same time. Let’s face it, I’m no dashing young doctor anymore. She could have had any number of young guys falling all over her, but she wanted me. It made me feel young again. But it never went any further than the one kiss and it never would have. I love my wife.”

“Don’t try to defend yourself. You failed to tell me any of this.”

“I’m not defending myself. I am just trying to tell you what happened. I’m trying to come clean here, to be honest. I guess I should have done that a long time ago.”

“It might have been easier to swallow if I hadn’t heard it from Julie, of all people.”

“We all know Julie is bitter after her failed marriage. She made it sound worse than it was, I’m sure.”

“Go on with your little tale of woe. I want to hear the rest of it, Casanova.”

Jon sighed. “Anyway, that is pretty much all there is to it. She wouldn’t leave me alone. I was annoyed and reported her actions, resulting in a transfer for her. That didn’t stop her and she must have somehow found out I was coming here tonight so that she could show up and cause a scene. That’s when you must have walked into the lobby. If you had stuck around a few minutes longer, you would have seen me escorting her out the door so that security could deal with her.

Marianne winced at his words. I’ve been a damn fool.

Jon went on, “The night Julie saw us at the lab was the night of the kiss. It had to be, since that’s all there ever was. Of all people to walk into the lab at that particular moment, it had to be her. There again, if she had stuck around a few minutes longer, she would have seen me pull away and would have heard me giving Jennifer an earful.”

“I have agonized for months over this. If you had told me what was going on, it would have saved me a lot of sleepless nights, and glasses of wine. I guess I’m at fault too, though. I could have confronted you about it months ago, instead of keeping it all bottled up inside, hoping it would go away.”

“So that’s why I came home so many nights to find you passed out on the sofa with a half-drunk bottle of wine on the table, you wino,” he teased as he pulled her close for a kiss.

Marianne was back where she belonged. In the arms of the husband who loved her. She returned the kiss, relieved to finally know the truth.

When they came up for air, Jon continued, “I suggested to Jennifer tonight that it might be a good idea for her to find a job in another town if she couldn’t stay away from me. Hopefully, she has finally gotten the message. Rest assured, I’ll call the hospital first thing tomorrow morning and report what happened tonight. I have sufficient grounds to do that and she’ll probably lose her job this time. And if that doesn’t stop her, I will also file a restraining order against her. I realized tonight that she’s beginning to become a danger to my happy home in spite of the fact that I want nothing to do with her. She is becoming a stalker and I will take action against that if it doesn’t stop.”

“You make it sound so scary. I hope she’s not like the stalkers I’ve heard about. Surely she’ll leave you alone after you had security escort her off the premises tonight.” Marianne looked away, embarrassed, before admitting, “I thought you and she came here together to flaunt your affair in my face.”

“That is not the way it happened and I can’t believe you’d think that of me anyway. I should be angry with you for that one. That’s what I was trying to explain to you earlier, but you were so mad, you wouldn’t listen. I haven’t seen you mad like that for a long time. I kind of liked it. It was pretty hot, in fact. Shows me you were jealous and that you really do still care,” he cautiously teased her, as he pulled her closer and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

“I was furious with you. I had been contemplating all week about how I was going to approach you with the fact that I knew what was going on. Of course, I thought there really was something going on. Then, when I saw the two of you in the lobby, I thought the worst.” She leaned up and kissed him, a deep and passionate kiss to reaffirm their commitment.

“Is there any chance that you would be interested in a trip to San Antonio next weekend? I’m not on call and I can’t think of anything more romantic for a couple of Texans than strolling along the Riverwalk in the moonlight. We can go into that Piano Bar you liked so well the last time we were there. It will give us a chance to put this whole stupid misunderstanding behind us. I think my lady could use a weekend of pampering after the last few months of aggravation I unknowingly put you through. What do you say?”

“I say let’s go for it. We haven’t been down there in a while and I think it will be good for both of us. Jackson will be at school and I’m sure Jordan can stay at Dustin’s house. I’ll give Dustin’s mom a call when I get home.”

“I’ll make the reservations, then. All you need to do is get Jordan taken care of, pack, and prepare to be pampered and wooed.” He glanced at his watch. “You probably need to get back to your friends, unless you want to stick around here for a while… We do have this nice big suite to ourselves.”

“Next weekend is for that… This week is for the girls. You need to get some rest, anyway. You look tired,” she teased as she leaned up to kiss her husband goodnight.

“So, we’re good, then?” He kissed her again.

“We are more than good, Dr. Jon. We are very good.”

“It’s a shame to waste the suite I just paid for, so I think I’ll stay here tonight and rest. Jordan is at Dustin’s. I’m off tomorrow, so it’ll be nice to have some quiet time, since you refuse to join me.”

“You will get your turn, Casanova. I only have a few more days with my friends, so let me enjoy them. Oh, that reminds me. You’re invited to have dinner with all of us tomorrow evening at the O’Gradys’s restaurant. You’ll be able to see Rex. He’s flying in, and you’ll be able to meet the O’Grady family. Katy, Lizzie, Rex and Michael are all going to be working with them actually. I think you’ll like them. They’re good people.”

“Sounds like a plan, since I didn’t get to treat you girls to dinner tonight as I had hoped.”

“How did you and Michael end up together, by the way? Such a surprise, seeing him here in Dallas, wasn’t it?”

“I decided when I left the suite that I was not going home until I had a chance to talk with you again. I was going to give you some time to cool off, so I went into the bar and ran into Michael. We talked and had dinner and a few drinks. He and Angie are having a rough time of it, too, I hear. I always thought the two of them belonged together.”

“Yes, hopefully, they can get past this and find their way back together. It’s where they belong. We have all thought that for years. Oh, you should also know about Katy and Ryan O’Grady before we go to dinner tomorrow night.” She proceeded to tell Jon the story of Ryan and Katy meeting and all that had happened in the days since.

“Wow, what a coincidence. Who would have ever thought that could happen? I hope it works out for them. Katy deserves to be happy after all this time and this Ryan sounds like a decent guy. Lizzie have any deep, dark secrets that I need to know about before this big dinner?”

“Only that she got the O’Grady account on her own and told Rex afterward. He is flying out to seal the deal. She wants to work in the agency and was hoping this would prove to him that she was capable.”

“Some things never change, do they?” he laughed. “The ‘Fab Four’ strikes again.”

“Ryan told me to invite you. I wasn’t going to tell you, but now that we’ve talked, I think it would be wonderful if you join us, especially with Rex and Michael there. It’ll be just like old times.”

“I look forward to it then. Sounds like a fun time. I hope Michael and Angie worked things out though.”

“So do I.”

“Go back to your friends now, Honey, I’ll use the time for some much-needed rest and relaxation. It has been a killer week in the OR, not to mention the strain of tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow. Call me with the details about dinner. Babe?” he asked.

“Yes, Jon?”

“Thank you for listening to my side of the story. I do love you.”

“I love you too. I’ll call you tomorrow. Get some sleep.”

Marianne let herself out of the suite and slowly walked to the elevator. All was right with her world again. She could not wait to tell her friends, especially Katy.