Honey on Your Mind (32 page)

“A lot of things. I’ve been a little…confused.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment.

“Confused about what?” she finally said.

Now it was my turn not to say anything, because I didn’t know what to say.

“Waverly?”

I looked out the window. “The name of this neighborhood is appropriate for me, don’t you think?”

“Huh?”

I kept looking out the window. “You know,
Dumbo
? God knows I’ve acted like a
dumb ass
lately.”

She laughed. “Waverly, what are you talking about?”

I turned to face her.

“I know,” I blurted.
Ugh, so graceful.

She raised her eyebrows but didn’t reply.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, she finally spoke.

“You know?”

I nodded.

“You know…what?”

I didn’t want to say anything compromising. What if she
didn’t
know?

I thought for a moment.

What should I say?

How can I put this without giving anything away?

I walked over to the conference room table and sat down, interlacing my fingers in front of me. Paige took off her coat and hung it over her chair as she took a seat across the table.

“Waverly, will you please tell me what you’re talking about?”

I finally looked up from my hands and made eye contact.

“I saw her last night…with Tanya.” I said softly.

A light went on in Paige’s eyes.

“Wendy?”

I nodded.

“You saw Wendy with Tanya?”

I nodded again.

She scratched her cheek. “So you
do
know.”

“Apparently so.”

She smiled. “Things aren’t always what they appear to be, are they?”

I put my hands on my forehead. “You can say that again. I’m so sorry for judging you, Paige. I had no idea.”

She shrugged and pushed her hair behind her ears, and for a brief moment, she could have been Andie. “It’s OK. You didn’t know. And it certainly wasn’t my place to tell you.”

“So you just let me think you were a…home wrecker?”

She laughed. “What else was I supposed to do? He didn’t want anyone to know. He
does
love her, you know.”

And you must really love
him
,
I thought. I was so impressed that she’d kept quiet about everything.

“So um, how long…or has it always been…” My voice trailed off.

She sighed. “I guess I can tell you the whole story now. Do you mind if I get some water first?” She looked over at the water cooler, our one piece of office furniture other than the table and chairs. A few paper cups were stacked on top of the plastic jug.

“Of course not. Go ahead.”

“You want some?”

“Sure, thanks.”

She poured us each a cup, then handed me one and sat down.

“So?” I said, my eyes getting big.

“From what Wendy has told Gary, it started in February, when she appeared on the
Today
show.”

“You mean the Valentine’s feature? When I first met her?” I’d never forget how awful Wendy had been to me that day.

She took a sip of her water. “Yep. Tanya did her makeup.”

“Tanya did her makeup, and she suddenly became a lesbian?”

Paige laughed. “I don’t think so. But that was the first time she
acted
on it, although apparently it was just a kiss, and they didn’t start seeing each other until after she moved here for the
Love, Wendy
job.”
She lowered her voice. “Gary and Wendy hadn’t slept together in five years.”

“
Five
years?”

She nodded. “Wendy always had an excuse. Too tired, need to get up early, have to help the kids, that sort of thing.”

“For
five
years
?”

“For five years.”

“And he never suspected the real reason?”

She shook her head. “He thinks even Wendy didn’t know the real reason, or that she’d buried it so deep inside that she couldn’t bring herself to consider it. I mean, look at where she’s from. They’ve been together since high school. She was head cheerleader, then Miss South Carolina, then a famous
relationship
expert with a huge heterosexual fan base, and a conservative one at that. What would happen to her world if it turned out she was gay?”

“I can’t even imagine.”

“Exactly. So anyhow, for a long time something was clearly wrong, yet Gary couldn’t figure out what, and she wasn’t talking. But after she came back from the
Today
show, he could tell something had happened, and he thought she’d been with another man. For a while, Wendy denied it, but then she finally broke down and came clean.”

“And he agreed to stay with her?”

“She begged him. She’d just been offered the
Love, Wendy
gig, and she was afraid that getting divorced or even separated would ruin it for her. So he agreed to stick around and keep up the charade for a while, but only under one condition.”

“What was that?”

“That if he met someone else, Wendy wouldn’t get in the way.”

“And then he met you?”

She nodded. “And then he met me.”

“Wow.”

“I know. Crazy, isn’t it?”

“When did he tell you the truth about his situation?”

“The night I met him.”

“No way. He really did?”

“He really did.”

“But wasn’t that jeopardizing Wendy? I mean, what if you’d never seen him again?”

She shook her head. “He didn’t tell me her name or what she did for a living or anything, but he was completely honest with me. He’s an amazing guy, Waverly.”

I slouched in my seat. “Wow, and I was such a bitch to him at the holiday party.”

“It’s OK, he understands. We both know you’ve been in an extremely awkward situation. It’s not like this has been a bowl of ice cream for anyone.”

“I could use a bowl of ice cream right now.”

She looked at her watch. “At eleven thirty in the morning?”

“Hey now, it’s never too early for ice cream. So, you’re sure you don’t hate me?”

She laughed. “Of course not.”

“And Gary doesn’t hate me either?”

“Definitely not. How were you
supposed
to act toward him? You thought he was cheating on your boss
and
screwing over a good friend of yours. Why wouldn’t you be a little rude to him?”

I smiled weakly. “So you still consider me a good friend?”

“Of course I do, Waverly. A very good friend.”

I felt a few tears welling up. “When I got your message, I thought you hated me. I thought I’d totally blown it.”

“I know. I’m sorry. When he told me you’d seen him at your holiday party, I didn’t know what to say to you. So I just sort of retreated, which is how I tend to deal with things when they get uncomfortable.”

I smiled. “Join the club.” I looked around the office, then back at her. “So since you don’t hate me, does that mean you’re not quitting? This whole operation would fall apart without you.”

She didn’t reply.

“Please tell me you’re staying.”

She still didn’t reply.

“Paige?”

She took a deep breath, and I held mine.

“The thing is…”

I stared at her.

“The thing is…” she started again.

“The thing is
what
?”

She looked at me. “I’m pregnant, Waverly.”

“
What
? You’re pregnant?”

She nodded. “Six weeks.”

“Oh my God, Paige, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to keep it.”

“Really? So this is…good news?”

She finally broke into a smile. “It’s not ideal, but I’m happy.”

“So what’s going to happen with Gary?”

She smiled wider. “Well…I
thought
I was going to end up moving to Nashville, but we’ve been talking about it, and he’s moving to New York.”

“No way. For real?”

She nodded. “For real.”

“What about his kids?”

“The youngest graduates from high school in May, so as soon as he’s off to college, Gary’s going to pack things up and move here.”

“And Wendy?”

“She’s keeping her own apartment in the West Village. She’s basically been living there all this time anyway, traveling back and forth to Nashville every other weekend or so.”

“Are they getting divorced?”

She nodded. “He filed yesterday.”

“On New Year’s Eve?”

“He told me he wanted to start the year fresh, so he could focus on me and the baby.”

“Are they going to make the divorce public?”

“Not yet, but soon. Wendy’s worried about the news leaking, but she knows she can’t keep up a front forever.”

“You mean the news about the divorce or the reason behind it?”

“Both, but mostly the latter. Gary says she’s terrified of coming out. She thinks her fans are going to turn on her.”

“Maybe she’ll be the next Ellen.
Everyone
loves Ellen, right?”

“That’s what Gary keeps telling her. He still cares for her, you know, and he doesn’t want to see her get hurt. But they both know it’s time to accept reality.”

It was no wonder Wendy had ended up turning to the bottle with the false facade she’d insisted on presenting to the world
. Maybe coming clean with the public will liberate her from
that,
as well,
I thought.

“I still can’t believe all of this,” I said.

“I know. It’s a lot to swallow at once, isn’t it?”

I took a drink of my water and nodded. “I’m so happy for you, Paige. I mean, I know this probably isn’t the way you imagined it would all happen for you, but you seem really happy.”

She smiled. “That’s the way I look at it. It’s definitely
not
your ideal ‘how we met’ story, but it certainly makes for interesting dinner-party discussion, or at least it will once everything blows over.”

“You can say that again.”

She stood up and looked around the bare room. “So anyhow, now that it’s all out in the open, I guess you and Waverly’s Honey Shop are stuck with me.”

“Thank God for that.”

She put her hands on her stomach. “Although it will be a little tricky down the road. I’ll need to figure out a part-time schedule or something after I have the baby.”

I smiled. “
Honey
, I’ll take you any way I can have you.”

We spent the next half hour talking shop, and I was so engrossed in all the expansion plans that for a brief window I stopped thinking about what was happening later that day. But that changed the moment Paige asked a question.

“So hey, with all this talk about Gary and Wendy, I completely forgot to ask you. How was it meeting Jake’s family over Christmas?”

My stomach dropped. I ran to my purse and pulled my phone out to check the time. It was nearly two o’clock. There was also a missed call from Jake, plus a text message saying he was in a cab on his way to my apartment.

“Oh my God, I need to run. He’s going to be at my apartment any minute!”

She laughed. “I’m glad I asked.”

“I can’t believe I almost missed him.”

“Just goes to show how dedicated you are to your
own
baby,” she said.

“My own baby?”

She gestured around the room. “Waverly’s Honey Shop. You created all of this.”

Suddenly, I felt like I was going to cry.

“Hey, are you OK?” she asked.

I walked over and hugged her. “Thanks for everything, Paige. None of this would have happened without you.”

“Waverly, are you sure you’re OK?”

I nodded and fought back the tears. “I will be. Listen, I really need to run. Will you lock up?”

“Sure thing. Scoot.”

I put my coat and gloves on and grabbed my purse. “Thanks, Paige. I’m so glad you’re not breaking up with me.”

She laughed. “Breaking up with you?”

“You know what I mean. And congratulations on the baby. And, um, please tell Gary I said hi.”

She nodded. “Will do.”

I turned and bolted out the door.

I ran all the way home. By the time I was a block away from my apartment, I was totally out of breath.
This is pathetic
, I thought as I rounded the corner.
I really need to join a gym.

I was leaning on the front door of my building, trying to catch my breath, when I heard a car pull up alongside the curb.

Oh, no.

Please don’t let that be Jake’s taxi.

I turned around.

It was Jake’s taxi.

Are you kidding me? I don’t even have time to brush my hair?

Still a bit out of breath, I forced a smile as he got out and shut the door.

“Hey, you,” I said. “Fancy meeting you here.”

He set his carry-on bag down on the sidewalk as the taxi drove away. “Happy New Year, Miss Bryson.”

I ran toward him and hugged him tightly. “Happy New Year, Jake.”

Please don’t break my heart please don’t break my heart please don’t break my heart.

• • •

Ten minutes later, we were sitting on the couch in my apartment, mugs of hot chocolate in hand. I was trying my best to act
normal and had just finished telling Jake about Paige and Gary and Wendy.