Will checked his watch noticing that the hands were glowing ten minutes past nine. Annie was late; which wasn't like her. She had always been punctual but he was happy that tonight she was running behind. It's not everyday he had to tell someone he cheated on them. Truthfully, he had never been the cheating type. If he wasn't happy in a relationship he had always called it off.
Staring up at the stars, he took a few deep breaths trying to keep his nerves in check. The sailboat he was on swayed back in forth in slow even motions giving the evening a calming effect. How was he going to tell Annie he cheated on her? The whole thing had happened so fast that he was not even sure why he had kissed Ronnie. He remembered feeling the baby move for the first time and then his lips were on hers. Her soft full lips that beckoned to him like drugs to a drug addict. Even now he could feel his heartbeat pick up.
"Permission to come aboard, sailor," Annie stood on the dock holding out her hand for him to take. Her delicate fingers were soft against his skin as he pulled her onto the boat. Before he could get two words out Annie leaned in for a kiss. At first it was a quick peck but Will pulled her tight against him and cupped her face in his hands. The bag she was carrying on her shoulder was immediately dropped to the deck as he deepened their kiss. He heard her moan deep in her throat; which caused him to seek the source of that sound with his mouth. "I brought something for you."
"What's that," he asked before trailing kisses down her neck.
"A key to my apartment. I don't want Ronnie to feel uncomfortable with me around so I figured you could come see me."
Will abruptly let go of Annie at the mention of Ronnie's name. Starting the night out as if nothing was wrong wouldn't help. "What do you think of the boat," he asked trying to change the subject.
"It's great," she answered. "What's the occasion?"
"I need to find somewhere we can talk where you can't run away," he stated. Annie laughed thinking it was a joke but Will knew she wasn't going to think it was funny when she found out he was telling the truth. "The boat belongs to a friend of mine. My volleyball buddy."
"You mean the one who played in the Olympics?"
"That's him. I promised I would bring the boat back in one piece so I may not make it out of the motoring faze."
Will unhooked them from the dock and pushed off before motoring out. The town behind them was getting smaller until all you could see was a floating light show. Picking a spot, he dropped anchor and sat down next to Annie who was dangling her legs off the side.
"It's beautiful," she said in hushed tones. "It makes you want to stay here forever."
"Yeah," he answered with his eyes never leaving her face. She was breathtaking.
"I'm glad you invited me," Annie grinned up at him and then laid her head on his shoulder. He rested his head on top of hers and ran his hand through her hair. He was more sorry than she would ever know.
"I kissed Ronnie," he whispered almost hoping she didn't hear him. Why had he put his relationship in danger when Ronnie had made it perfectly clear where they stood? He kept picking at the scab until he had made it bleed again.
Annie stiffened underneath his touch before she pulled away. The tears in her eyes left a stabbing pain in his heart. "I don't know how to respond to that. Are you telling me that you are getting back together? After you just kissed me?"
"No, baby. Of course not," he cupped her face in his hands and placed a kiss on her nose. Luckily she didn't pull out of his arms but tears started falling down her face. "I'm such a jerk. I never meant to hurt you."
"I know you would never hurt me on purpose. I'm just afraid that in three months, when I am more in love with you than I am now, you are going to choose her."
Will swallowed hard wanting to put her fears at ease but knew he couldn't. His feelings for Ronnie were so complicated and it wouldn't help to lie. He still loved Ronnie there was no doubt about it. But Annie was creating a little spot in his heart that he couldn't ignore and it was growing bigger every day. It was her smile that pulled him through the hard days when he felt the blow of losing Emma weighing down on him.
"We're divorced. The whole thing was orchestrated by her so I don't think there is any going back."
"I wish I could hate her but I can't," Annie sighed. "She lost a baby. I've never had a child myself but I can just imagine how awful that must be. Look, I've resigned myself to the fact that she is going to be in our lives but that is the point, in OUR lives. Us. Together. I want a future with you, Will. I know that may be presumptuous since we have only been together a few months but it's the truth."
Will gazed across the water back to the city, which had lost some of its grandeur. The lights didn't seem to twinkle as much and the stars seemed to have dimmed. "I can't promise anything of a future. This divorce thing is kind of new to me but if there was anyone I wanted to build a future with, it would be you."
Ronnie stood in front of the mirror shaping her belly with the new shirt she had bought at Pea In The Pod. She had a pair of blue jeans on with a coral tank top that went nicely with the tan she had been working on. She groaned while sneering at the reflection staring back at her. Could she get any bigger? Needless to say she had seen expectant mothers with bigger bellies but she had reached her breaking point. She wanted this baby out now. The only problem was she had three weeks left to go.
"You can do this, Ronnie," she chided. "It's just three more weeks."
Giving herself a final once over she reluctantly realized that this was as good as it got and left the bathroom. The guest room she was staying in looked disheveled and she had wanted to clean it up but Will had caught her working on it the day before and told her to wait till the maid got to it. Thankfully, the maid had shown up that morning because she would have gone out of her mind if it hadn't been cleaned.
Ronnie waddled down the stairs and to the kitchen hoping to find some fruit to snack on when she heard the front door open and Megan call for her down the hall. "In here."
Megan swept in the kitchen with a big mischievous smile on her face and dressed as if she was going to spend the day at the local golf club. "How is my favorite sister doing today?"
Ronnie opened the fridge door and peered through the overflowing shelves till she found a container of cantaloupe. "Am I still pregnant," she asked showing off her enormous belly. Megan nodded. "Then I have been better."
"Oh, no. You have the cranky last month thing going on."
Lifting the top from the container, Ronnie viciously stabbed the fruit with her fork. "Well, I'm swollen and fat," she whined. "Not to mention I have front row seats to watch Will and Annie fall in love."
"You say that as if it is a bad thing," Megan beamed.
"Yes, every woman loves to watch her ex-husband fall in love with someone else," Ronnie sarcastically shot back.
Megan traversed the Kitchen Island and linked arms with Ronnie. "As I see it you are in a very good position right now. How is he supposed to fall in love with Annie when you are constantly around to remind him of your life together?"
"I guess kissing him also helps," Ronnie mumbled.
Megan's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "What do you mean? You kissed him?"
"Well, he sort of kissed me. But now that I have forgiven myself for the divorce and Emma I realize that I want to start over with him. I want our family."
"Finally, now the girl is making sense," Megan joked while pulling Ronnie in her arms to give her a hug. "My brother loves you. He has only ever wanted you."
"What about Annie," she asked into Megan's hair.
Megan pulled back but kept her hands on Ronnie's shoulders. "Annie made sense if he had to move on but he belongs with you. I am a firm believer in soul mates and you two are lucky enough to have found that one special person."
Ronnie grabbed the back of one of the bronze stools and sat down. Her feet were killing her from the extra twenty pounds she was carrying around. "Now what?"
"Don't worry I have a plan."
"You always do. So what is it?"
Megan smirked," You'll know when you see it."
Ronnie crossed her arms over her belly trying to look intimidating but knew she couldn't pull it off. "Not even a hint?"
"Let's just say that someone may be paying a visit to you tomorrow during my parent's charity golf tournament."
Ronnie shielded her eyes from the sun that was beating down on the links. The golf tournament would start off in the next few minutes and all the golfers and their families were waiting for Mr. and Mrs. Blakelee to kick off the event. Beside her Megan and her husband were trying to keep the kids preoccupied while Will, Scott, and Annie were on the other side discussing who was going to win on their team. Scott, who lived in California, had come on vacation to support the charity that had started up after Will's brother had died. All the proceeds for the event went to the children's hospital and some of the kids who were patients there had shown up to watch the festivities.
"You're not going to join us Ronnie," Scott called out to her. "That's okay I would feel bad having to beat up on a pregnant woman."
"I could kick your butt any day, pregnant or not. I just don't want to hurt your male ego."
Will covered his mouth trying to act like he was coughing instead of laughing. The sun beat down on Ronnie and she lifted her hair to let the slight breeze cool her off. It was a great day for the event and she hoped it pulled in a lot of money for them.
"Don't worry Scott," Annie chimed in. "Golf was never my game so I should be easy to beat."
"I think my male pride just got stomped on," Scott groaned.
As Tom Blakelee began the opening ceremony Ronnie watched Will out of the corner of her eye. He pulled Annie into his arms and nuzzled her neck while she let out a few high-pitched squeals. She couldn't help it when she rolled her eyes. Did they have to do that right in front of her?
"I want to thank you all again for your continued support and we wish all the golfers a great game," Tom finished. There was a round of applause from the crowd and the first golfers went to tee off.
"I just want to let you all know that the trophy this year is mine," Scott joked.
"I thought it was yours last year," Megan laughed. "Or was it the year before that."
"That was cold. Can you get your wife under control," Scott asked Megan's husband.
Out of nowhere, Ronnie was swiveled around and lowered over someone's arm while familiar lips pressed against hers.
I know I am horrible leaving this on a cliffhanger but what did you all think? Who is this mystery man? Please take a minute and leave a review / comment it would be much appreciated.