“Mother, can you take Liam to our table? I need to talk to Sadie, then I’ll be right there.”
“Of course, but why don’t we all just go sit down?”
“Please, Mother.”
She gave me a slight smile and eyed her son, confused, before patting me on the hand and offering, “So nice to see you, dear.”
I couldn’t stop myself from taking another peek at the toddler she held. Now I knew his name. Liam.
“Sadie, I think we should talk.”
Henri wasn’t touching me, but his commanding voice turned me to stone. I was still processing that he was here. Here and acting like it hadn’t been a year since he’d last texted me, two years since I’d left him.
There was a part of me that yearned to give him the finger and walk away. But then I remembered my conversation with Zach about wanting to prove to myself I could handle letting Henri say whateverthefuck he thought he needed to. This reckoning was two years in the making, fate apparently deciding that today was the day. And I was safe. Renn, Zach, and Teddy weren’t facing me, but I could see them from where I was standing.
I exhaled heavily, willing my arms to stay loose at my sides. Calming, I registered my surroundings—the Mexican pop music blaring from the bar, steaming fajitas being delivered to someone’s table. I was good. I could do this.
“You think we should talk? Okay. What should we talk about?”
He appeared briefly flustered by the confident derision in my voice before his usual cockiness returned. “Darling, you know we need to discuss…us.” He ran a hand over his face. “Let’s find a quiet place where we can speak freely.”
He was delusional. I watched him evenly, feeling the vice grip of his power over me loosening. He’d inflicted scars that would never fully fade, but as I continued to meet his gaze, I was sure of his inability to create new abrasions.
Henri mistook my silence for acquiescence, because of course he did.
“I’d love to spend some real quality time together,” he said. “I’m in town on business, but my schedule’s flexible.”
His mouth kept moving as he spoke about his itinerary, but I didn’t hear. Since I was feeling so steady, I figured I should take this opportunity to get answers to all my lingering questions. I’d made the mistake of leaving things open-ended before. Henri was trying to convince me to come sit with him at his table when I cut him off.
“You bring your son with you on business trips? He can’t stay with his…mom?” I glanced over at the admittedly adorable little boy, recalling Henri’s insane text suggesting that the three of us could somehow become a family.
Henri flinched at my abrupt inquiry but had an answer. “Liam’s mom is not in the picture. It was her choice, and her loss, because he’s a wonderful child. My mother helps. And I have a nanny.”
Although he recited these facts with little inflection—a prepared statement—it was clear he loved his son. He continued in a warmer voice. “I brought them this time because it’s been a tough year, so I was thinking maybe Disneyland was in order.”
Cecelia still stared at us with abject interest. “Why does your mother think I’d join you for dinner? I haven’t seen you in years. Plus, she always hated me.”
“She never hated you, Sadie. She’s just…particular. And ever since Liam came along, she’s been after me to reconcile with you. I might have let her believe we’re on our way toward getting back together.”
I crossed my arms. “So, basically, you’re just a stupid Liar McLiarface.”Jesus. Smooth, Sadie. And you’d been doing so well.
He smirked. “I see your language is still very…mature. Besides, it’s not exactly a lie. You know I want you back. We belong together.”
“Yeah, I got your texts.” I needed closure, to know why he’d never followed up on them. After all, I’d been so affected by those messages I’d almost lost Renn for good. “Honestly, Henri, after you sent those, I thought I’d see you. I mean, I know Zach told you to stay away, but it surprised me you gave up so easily.”
“You sound disappointed. I knew you missed me.” He grinned like he’d won something. “I had every intention of seeing you after I sent those texts. I had planned to track you down and get you to talk. What I said stands—after eight years together, you owed me a conversation.”
“Fuck you, Henri. After you knocked up someone else, I owed you nothing,” I whisper-shouted to avoid making a scene, but my vehemence was unmistakable. And I was done with this little reunion. With perfect clarity, I realized that all the closure I needed lay in the fact that everything had turned out for the best. “My life has been a million percent better since we split up. And make no mistake—weareover. So we don’t need to find a place to talk. There’s nothing more to say. Please tell your mother I will definitely not be joining you.” And because I was one hundred percent the bigger person, I added, “Cute baby. Excuse me.”
As I made to walk by him, he commanded, “Wait.”
I recognized that tone, the one I had responded to for so long. And maybe it was the years of history, the tentacles of hurts long since inflicted, but something made me stop and ground out, “What?”
“When I sent those texts on your birthday last year, I would have followed up, found you, talked to you, except…” Henri scratched his head, indecision tinging his face. “Except my father died.” At that, I turned around and faced him again as he spoke. “Heart attack. And it’s been a shitshow ever since, handling the estate, getting my mother set up, taking care of Liam, everything with the promotion. Losing him was…tough. I wanted you to take me back, but I also didn’t want you to—”
“Didn’t want me to what?”
He paused. “I didn’t want you to see me like that.”