74

 Brandon

Amalialeanedbackinher chair, tilting her face and closing her eyes as she soaked up the sun and the salt air. It wasn’t often that I got to see her this relaxed as she lounged by the ocean.

We tried to make time to get lunch together once every couple of weeks, but with both of us having careers, it could be hard to find the time. She had her career, and I had mine.

Throw sneaking around with Gina into the mix, and I had even less time than I used to spend with Amalia.

“Okay,” I said after our food was delivered. “How is work going? Do you have any shows coming up?”

“I’ve signed on for New York Fashion Week next year.” Amalia took a bite out of her lobster roll and shrugged. “Other than that, there’s not a whole lot going on. I’m building a new line, but some designs aren’t coming together quite right yet.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. New York Fashion Week is huge, though. We’ll have to have a party to celebrate. Congratulations.”

“I don’t think that I want to do anything to celebrate. Jaxon and I were supposed to take a trip when I got the invitation and signed all the shit that I had to sign.”

I sighed and ate a couple of my fries. “Why are you going to let him ruin this for you? This is a massive accomplishment, and you deserve to celebrate it. Instead, you’re letting your ex-boyfriend and what you had planned ruin the accomplishment.”

Amalia rolled her eyes. I remember when she was a teenager, and the only answer she would give me was those eye rolls. At least back then, my wife was still alive.

The last five years without her have been the hardest to navigate. Whenever I thought I was getting somewhere with Amalia when she was in one of her moods, it turned out that I was only making it worse.

It seemed like my wife was the only one who ever understood Amalia.

“Dad, I appreciate that, but Jaxon and I were together for a year. We were going to start our lives together, and this was supposed to be our big first event. So I don’t want to celebrate what will be a reminder of how we’re not together.”

“I love you, Amalia, but don’t let some man who doesn’t mean shit in the grand scheme of things take away big moments like this.”

She rolled her eyes again, but a small smile was on her face as she took another bite of her food. “Why don’t we stop talking about my relationships and start talking about yours?”

“Well, that’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about.” I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. “I know you’ve joked that I should start dating again, but did you mean that?”

Amalia shrugged. “Yeah. I don’t think you should spend the rest of your life alone. Mom would want you to be happy. She wouldn’t want you to be alone and wishing she was still alive.”

I smiled, even though the guilt was eating me alive inside. “Alright, well, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I just want you to be happy, Dad. If that means that you find someone else to share your life with, then I think that’s great.”

“Thanks, kid. I’ll let you know if I meet anyone special anytime soon.”

Except that, I wouldn’t.

I had already met someone special. I couldn’t tell Amalia I was falling in love with her best friend.

I am still waiting.

There was a part of me that wanted to be honest with her. I had the chance to tell her, but I couldn’t do that to Gina. Not right now. She would need to know that I would tell Amalia before I said, Amalia.

“Are you okay?” Amalia asked as she looked at me, concern shining in her eyes.

“I’m fine,” I said, plastering on a smile and sMateoering the guilt. “It’s just strange to think about finding someone new after all our great years together.”

“I’m sure you’ll find someone else to make many new memories with.”

“You know, you remind me so much of your mother sometimes.”

Looking at her now was bittersweet. Amalia looked a lot like her mother. Almost identical, if I was being honest. Being around her for the first year after my wife died was hard.

“I still miss Mom a lot. But now that I’m getting older, I have to start thinking about everything that will be happening in my life, and I have to think about doing all those things without her. It doesn’t seem right that she misses out on so much of my life.”

“She would have been here if she could. She always talked about being there for your runways and watching you get married. I know how much she will miss seeing you in New York. That’s been your dream since you could pick your outfits.”

Amalia smiled, but there were tears in her eyes. “I know that it’s been my dream forever. Without her, I don’t know how to make it through the first massive show.”

“Well, you know I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”

She nodded. “You and Gina. I’m happy that I have both of you in my life. But, honestly, I don’t know how I would have made it through university without her. High school was bad enough.”

“I know. At least your mom was around for that.”

Amalia fell silent for a few minutes, lost as we finished lunch. Then, finally, she looked around at the water crashing against the shore and the people strolling with their families.

My heart ached for my daughter. She was still so young but was going through the rest of her life without her mother. She had dreamed of many things with her mother present, and now those dreams weren’t the same.

And then I was dating her best friend.

That would only complicate her life more. So I would keep this secret for as long as I could.

I wasn’t going to hurt my daughter. She had been through enough pain in the last few years to last her a lifetime.

I was going to add to that when I had no other choice.

I only hoped that Gina would understand.

The next morning, my day with Amalia still played through my mind as I walked into my office. Mateo was sitting in my chair, leaning back with his feet on my desk. I sighed as I dropped my laptop onto the desk before sitting across from him.

“You’ve been coming into the office a lot lately,” I said as I looked at him. “Is there something going on that I should know about? Maybe something that would bring you into work more?”

Mateo put his hands behind his head and shrugged. “I don’t know. I had an interesting conversation with your girlfriend last week, but it doesn’t seem like anything has changed since then.”

“Are you threatening us?” I asked, getting up and shutting my office door.

I didn’t want anyone else to hear us if this was about to become a heated argument.

I stared at my best friend, my arms crossed, and waited for him to say something.

“I’m not threatening you, but I am telling you that you must be smart about this.”

“So far, you are the only one outside the relationship that knows.” I rolled my shoulders back, trying to relieve some of the tension. “And you keep choosing to bring it up at the office. You keep putting us at risk of getting caught.”

Mateo shrugged again. “I’m just trying to make a point.”

“And what point would that be? Because right now, it seems like you’re trying to cause problems for me.”

“We’re friends,” Mateo said as he took his feet off my desk and sat up. “I wouldn’t do anything to cause problems for you. My point is that you’re playing with fire; sooner or later, it will get you burned.”

“I know that.”

“Then why do you keep doing it? If you knew that, you wouldn’t keep putting both of you in the way of a massive shit storm.”

“We know what’s going to happen. One day, we have to tell Amalia. Then, the rest of the town will find out. We’ll be the week’s scandal for a while, and everything will blow over once the next big thing happens.”

Mateo shook his head. “You don’t think it’s that easy, do you?”

I sighed and dropped back down to my seat. As I ran my hands down my face, I knew he was right. Nothing was as easy as we liked to pretend it would be.

“She’s the only woman who has even come close to catching my interest since my wife died. I like her, Mateo. It seems like a giant mess, but she could be the one.”

“And I hope for your sake it works out. But, if it doesn’t, you must consider what this will do to her reputation. I’ve seen that Gina is a nice woman, but imagine what will happen once people know you two are dating.”

Gina’s career had been something I thought about since we started dating. But, typically, the woman was the one who suffered the consequences of a workplace romance.

I foolishly thought that since she intended to start her own business, I wouldn’t have to be as worried about the adverse side effects. There would be no concern for the gossip or what it could do to her.

At least, that’s what I tried to tell myself, even though I knew it was far from the truth.

My name was prominent in real estate. I knew people worldwide and several of the biggest names in other countries. So our relationship — and people’s desire to use her to get to me — would follow her wherever she went.

“I don’t know the best way to move forward,” I said as I looked at Mateo. “She could be the one, but I know a lot is on the line.”

Mateo sighed. “You’re just going to have to figure out whether it’s worth getting burned in the fire.”