When Love Comes Back Around

By Kelly Anne Setzer

Los Angeles, California

Best friends Charlie DiRisio and Cameron Phillips find themselves in their mid- thirties and in the unique position of being torn between the men in their pasts or the ones in their present.

Charlie DiRisio, the good girl, is happily engaged to Oklahoma boy, Luke. But their long distance relationship is put to the test when she has an unexpected run-in with her devilishly handsome ex-husband, Dominic Mavros. She knows that marrying Luke is the safest option for her, but can she resist the undeniable sexual attraction she has with Dominic?

Cameron Phillips is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed bombshell fashion designer with celebrity connections and a feisty attitude. Her life revolves around her career and her weekend escapades at celebrity parties and night clubs. But when she finds herself inheriting a newborn baby, she has to re-evaluate her priorities, and in turn, her love life. Should she re-ignite an old flame or redefine a purely sexual relationship?

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781491761601

Kelly Anne Setzer

Kelly Anne Setzer lives just south of Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and little girl. She loves to travel in her spare time and enjoys spending time outdoors with her family.

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WHEN LOVE COMES BACK AROUND

Copyright © 2015 Kelly Anne Setzer.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-6159-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-6160-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015902904

iUniverse rev. date: 02/26/2015

Contents

Prologue

Part 1

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Part 2

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Epilogue

Prologue

March 2009

O kay Charlie, one more push and we’ll have him out. On three; one, two, three.

Charlie DiRisio Mavros beared down and gave the final push that would separate her and her son forever. As soon as she released that last breath, the tears fell uncontrollably, and her body convulsed with the sobs breaking from her body.

Shhh. It’s okay baby. Just let it out. I’m right here with you. Dominic Mavros held his wife as the doctor and nurses went about their business.

The room was separated from the rest of the delivery rooms and painted a warm beige color; unlike the happy pinks and blues down the hall. There was a yellow bow on the door signifying that there was to be no celebration or congratulations inside; for although the baby entering the world for the first time in that room was a male, he held no life inside of him. The only cries coming from the room with the yellow bow would be from the mother who carried a child for thirty-six weeks and would go home empty-handed.

A nurse approached the bed a few minutes later and held the small bundle wrapped in a blanket out to Dominic. Would you like to see him?

He looked down at his wife who had calmed some thanks to the sedative added to her IV when she wasn’t looking. Do you want to hold him now, baby?

Charlie wiped her face with a tissue and looked in the direction of the bundle, afraid that what she was about to see might give her nightmares. Does he look okay? I mean, is he…

Normal? He’s quite normal, Mrs. Mavros. In fact, he’s beautiful; like a sleeping angel.

Dominic ran his hand over his wife’s hair and kissed her on the forehead; holding back his own tears for her sake. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.

Charlie shook her head. I want to see him.

The nurse walked slowly over to the mother and placed her bundle gently into his mother’s arms. Here we go.

Fresh tears fell as she saw his little face for the first time. Oh, Nick, look at him. He’s got your mouth and nose. She smiled up at her husband of three years.

Nick Mavros smiled back at her, trying to keep his composure when the fact was that he wanted to cry as well; and hit something. It wasn’t fair that his son never got to live outside of his mother’s womb; never got to crawl, walk or run. He’d never get married and have children of his own. He’s got a good Greek nose, huh?

She laughed through the tears. Yeah; a good strong nose, and a beautiful mouth. He’s perfect.

May 2009

Has she left the nursery at all today? Marilynn DiRisio asked her son-in-law.

No. She slept the morning away; again. I finally got her to take a shower at least.

Is she still crying herself to sleep?

Sometimes, yeah. Of course she still sleeps in the nursery every night. Last week I went to check on her around two a.m. and she wasn’t in there. I found her in the back yard lying on the grass, looking up at the sky.

Marilynn shook her head and put her hand over her heart. What are we going to do, Nick? She’s got to snap out of this or we may have to have her committed.

Nick Mavros put his hands in the pockets of his slacks. With all due respect, Mrs. D, she’s my wife and I’ll stay home with her every day if I have to but she’s not going to any nut house. I can’t do that to her.

What about Cameron? Has she been coming to see her a lot?

Nick sighed. Yeah, she comes, but she’s–I don’t know. She just cuddles up in the bed with her and hardly says a word. Sometimes she’ll brush her hair and braid it, or make her change her clothes or something, but I don’t understand why she’s not trying to get her up and out of the bed, you know; take her shopping or something.

Cam’s just trying to let Charlie grieve in her own way. They’ve always been close like that. When Cam had her emergency hysterectomy as a teenager, Charlie stayed with her for days and slept in the bed with her at the hospital. They’re closer than sisters. You’d think they shared a womb together or something.

He nodded. Well, I feel like I’m bitching at her more than anything lately and it makes me feel like a jerk, but Zach’s death is hard on me too, you know, but I still have a restaurant to run and bills to pay and groceries to buy and stuff. And you know, Marilynn, she doesn’t even like for me to touch her anymore. It’s like she blames me for Zach’s death.

Why would she do that? He strangled on his umbilical cord for goodness sake. How can that be your fault, Nick, seriously?

He ran his fingers through his hair and wondered if he should confess to his mother-in-law what he’d suspected for a while. We had sex the night before the last ultrasound. Then the next morning he didn’t have a heartbeat. The last time she felt him kick was before we had sex, so…

Oh that’s nonsense, Nick. It’s perfectly normal to have sex right up until the delivery. The fact of the matter is that if God had wanted Zach to live, he’d still be here with us. You have no control over life and death. And as far as the resentment you’re feeling towards her goes, it’s normal and you’re just frustrated, tired and lonely. You miss your wife and you’ve been grieving on your own and I’m sorry about that. She put her arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze.

Nick’s broad shoulders slumped. It doesn’t stop me from feeling like a failure, Mrs. D. She should’ve snapped out of this by now and she won’t even let me near her to try and help.

Let me try again today and see if I can get her to leave the house for a bit while you’re at work. It’s been two months and enough’s enough, you know?

Yeah. Believe me, I do.

Cameron and Rocky stopped by with pizzas later that evening and the three of them sat in the living room drinking sodas and eating.

Why don’t you go with me to New York next week, Charlie? It sure would help me out a lot and you could see some of the sights and maybe see a show or two while we’re there. Besides, you know how flying makes me nervous and I always end up drinking too much on the plane. You can hold my hand and make sure I don’t get into too much trouble while I’m there. She took another bite of her cheese pizza. Do it for my mother if nothing else. You know how she gets her panties in a twist when I do something stupid and it ends up in the papers. Remember when I got into that slapping fight with Charlie Sheen’s girlfriend and the whole thing was videotaped and put on TV? I still haven’t quite lived that down yet.

Charlie nodded her head; how could she ever forget that incident? I appreciate the offer, but I’m just not up to it right now. She picked at the toppings on her pizza, eating a bell pepper slowly, but not tasting it.

Shoot, I’m not either, but unfortunately I have got to go to push this new line out and make sure that photo shoot goes okay. Come on, honey, we’d have plenty of girl time too and we can go shopping and get you some new clothes. It’ll be a blast; just like old times when we took road trips as teenagers; except this time we’ll have money–lots and lots of money. She smiled and laid her head on her friend’s shoulder. Please, Chucky. Do it for me.

Rocky put his hand on his sister’s arm. I think it would do you some good to get out of town for a while, Charlie. You need this, so don’t over-analyze this like you do everything else; just do it.

Yeah, listen to Saint Rocky. He always knows best. She winked at the man and he rolled his eyes in return.

Charlie looked at her brother, prepared to say, ‘no’, but found the word ‘okay’ coming out of her mouth instead.

Looking out over the streets of Manhattan, she had to admit that it was nice to be out of Los Angeles; even if it was just for two weeks. Nick had been wary, even upset at first, but Rocky talked him into accepting the mini-vacation. It’ll do the both of you some good, he’d said. Nick still wasn’t so sure about the idea, but he knew it was definitely worth a try. Anything that would bring his wife back to life was worth a try.

Everything was so different in New York, and because Cameron was somewhat of a celebrity in the fashion world, they got treated like royalty. A limo was available to take them anywhere they wanted to go, but a couple of times they’d gone off on foot, just exploring.

You gonna miss it? Charlie was surprised that Cameron was out of the shower so quick.

She shrugged her shoulders. Maybe a little. It’s been nice to have a change of scenery I guess. And I like it that nobody knows me here and doesn’t expect me to be all smiles and stuff, you know? She looked down at all of the well-dressed people and wondered at their destinations as they scurried about like they had some kind of purpose in their lives. I’m just a peon here.

Her friend tucked the towel in around her bosom and grabbed her for a side hug. We can stay longer if you’d like. I don’t have to be back just yet and I’d love to explore some of the fabric shops a few blocks from here. And you’re not a peon.

Charlie smiled. You know, I don’t even know what day it is. I barely know what month it is, and I just don’t really care. Is that weird?

Cam shook her head. I guess not; especially since you quit your job. It’s May twenty-ninth, by the way. Don’t forget your parents’ anniversary is next week. We should get them something while we’re here; something marvelous.

Oh yeah. Charlie fingered her new bracelet Cam had bought her at Tiffany’s the day before.

Cameron smiled and gave her a squeeze. "Shopping is my favorite past time. It’s what I was born for; a ‘calling’ if you like. Wouldn’t you agree, my love?"

Charlie laid her head on her best friend’s shoulder and smiled. Sure.

The pair spent the whole next day shopping; a new wardrobe for Charlie along with new luggage to carry it in, plus gifts for all of the family back home.

Charlie was walking through Bloomingdales when something caught her eye. It was a white gold necklace with a cross on it. She went over to the counter and asked to see it; fingering its rough surface as if in a trance. I’ll take it, she said and immediately put it around her neck.

Charlie, honey, that’s a man’s necklace.

I know; it’s for Nick. See how rough it is on top, like real wood? Don’t you imagine the cross Jesus wore on his back was rough wood like this?

Cam smiled at her friend and pushed her hair back out of the way so she could see the necklace better. It’s beautiful. Just like you.

Later that evening as they ate Chinese take-out on the California King bed, Cam decided to broach the subject of Zach and Nick. Can I ask you a question?

Charlie paused in her eating and wiped her mouth, dreading what the question might be. Okay.

Cam sat up on the bed, sitting Indian style in front of her friend. Why are you mad at Nick?

Charlie set her food aside and took a sip of her tea. Who said I’m mad at him?

He did; because of Zach’s death.

Charlie was not happy that her husband was sharing his feelings with her best friend. Oh, well, he needs to talk to me about that, don’t you think?

Cam knew she was on thin ice at the moment. Would you hear him if he did?

Charlie jumped up off of the bed. Maybe not, but he has no business running to my friends and family about this. It’s between us and nobody else. She pulled the heavy curtain back and scanned the street below. Cam’s silence made her feel guilty. She’d rather the girl cuss her out than give her the silent treatment; it was disturbing.

Okay, so I’m not mad at him, okay? I’m just pissed off. He has no clue what I’m going through right now. None at all.

Really, Charlie? So Zach was your kid and not his; is that it?

Charlie turned on her. "I carried him. I felt him kicking. I fed him and kept him safe for all that time and then Nick had needs. He’s the one who wanted sex that night; not me. I was tired and bloated and miserable, but NO, somebody wanted sex one more time before the baby came. Well that ‘one more time’ killed my baby, Cam. We killed him; and God, it’s so not fair! So, yeah, maybe I do hate him a little."

Cam crossed the room quietly and wrapped her arms around her friend. Do you remember when I was in that hospital bed and your mom came in and held my hand and prayed with us?

Charlie thought back to Cam’s emergency hysterectomy years before. Yeah.

Do you remember what she said in that prayer? Cam stroked Charlie’s long brown hair.

Not specifically. Her mother was always praying about something or other.

She said, ‘God never promised it would be easy. He just promised He’d always be with us.’ I’ve never forgotten that. Even though I live like a heathen and chase the things of this world like fame and fortune, I’ve never forgotten those words she spoke that night. She walked Charlie over to the bed and sat her down. Now, there’s a reason that He took Zach away from you so soon, baby, but I promise you you’re life’s not over. You’ve got to pick yourself up and get back to living again kiddo, because we all need you. Nick needs you. Rocky needs you. And God help me, I need you. Cameron studied her face as the other girl stared into space. Charlie?

Tears flowed steadily down her face. I just don’t know how anymore. I mean, every morning that I wake up, I close my eyes and try to go back to sleep again. This sucks, Cam. It just sucks.

Yeah, it does, Charlie, but damn it you had a baby. Maybe you only had him for a while, but you had him. And you can have another one tomorrow if you want, but I can’t. I will never, ever have a child inside me and I deal with it every day. Every time I see a baby, I feel the loss. When I shopped for baby stuff with you and threw you the baby shower, it was hard on me. Yeah, I smiled my way through it, but you don’t know how it feels to have no hope whatsoever of having a child of your own. So, get your ass off that pity train and walk it off already. Pop a pill or open a bottle or whatever you have to do, but you’ve got to snap out of this funk because you’re taking me down with you.

It had been so long since Cam’s hysterectomy that Charlie hardly thought about it anymore. How could she not have seen her best friend’s pain? How could she have been so selfish? Of course Cam had never been one to complain or throw herself a pity party. It was always about money and men to Cam. She was always upbeat and excited about some trip she was about to go on or something she was about to buy. I’m so sorry, Cam. I get what you’re saying. I did have Zach for a while. She put her hands on her belly. I had a son and I held him right here inside me.

Yes! And Nick held him right here. She put her hand over her heart. You’ve got to stop blaming him for what happened, Charlie, or you’re going to push him away. He’s a good man and he’s hurting too, honey, but nobody should be expected to live with a zombie forever.

Charlie put her arms around her friend. I don’t know what I’d do without you.

Same here, chic. Now let’s go shopping one more time before we have to get back to reality. And I think it’s time we did something with your hair.

June 2009

Charlie looked at herself in the rear view mirror and put on a fake smile. Oh, who am I kidding? Blah. She turned the mirror back to its original position and got out of the classic Mustang her husband had lovingly restored for her. She slammed the door shut and crossed the street, dodging cars as she went. Dominic’s Greek and Italian Restaurant was in the heart of downtown Los Angeles and parking was never easy, especially on a Saturday afternoon.

It had been three months since the birth/death of their son and she’d finally had enough grieving. Whether it was the new ‘happy pills’ the doctor had put her on or the fact that she was just tired of sitting in the house when the flowers were blooming and the world was moving on around her, one thing was certain. Something had changed in New York and Cam had helped to open her eyes. Charlie was back.

She passed a young woman pushing a stroller and looked the other way as quickly as she could. "Maybe this is too soon", she thought as her heart rate spiked. She’d yet to look at a baby up close since Zach and wasn’t prepared to see one any time soon. She might be ready to live again, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever be comfortable with seeing other people enjoying their own living, breathing babies. She’d dodge that as long as she could. "How does Cam do this every day?"

Entering the restaurant, she was immediately greeted by the wondrous smells of Dominic’s creations. He’d learned to cook from his Ya-ya, or grandmother, back in Greece as a child. He’d mastered the art of cooking and skipped culinary school altogether so that he could get his business degree and open his own restaurant as quickly as possible. Dominic was a man of many talents and Charlie was hoping to rekindle one of those talents when he got home that night. Three months had been long enough. She’d finally accepted the fact that nothing she or Nick could do would bring their son back; no amount of crying, placing blame or begging God would change the fact that he was gone to them forever.

Maria, the hostess and newly appointed operations manager nodded to her as she walked in but continued talking to the older couple at table seven, so Charlie continued on past the tables and through the kitchen to Nick’s office. Several of the kitchen staff waved to her or said ‘hello’ as she passed through but since it was a busy afternoon, none of them took the time to step away from their stations to see her.

Charlie turned the handle on Nick’s office door but found it locked. She quickly unlocked the door with her key and stepped into his well air-conditioned office, shutting the door behind her.

Oh my God.

Charlie turned around to face Nick’s large desk and the source of the female voice she’d just heard. What she found was a blonde woman straddling her husband’s lap, trying to pull her blouse back together in the front.

Nick? Charlie barely heard her own voice as she stood there staring at the scene before her.

Get up. Nick pushed the blonde woman off of his lap and jumped up, rounding the desk to get to his wife. It’s not what it looks like.

Charlie backed up against the door and put her hands up. Don’t you dare come any closer and don’t you dare tell me it’s not what it looks like, because unless you’re frigging Santa Clause, it is exactly what it looks like.

He stopped just short of his wife and put his hands up. Nothing’s happened okay? Tell her, Leslie.

Leslie looked from Nick to Charlie and back to Nick. What do you want me to say?

Tell her that we weren’t having sex; that this was the first time we’ve ever done anything.

Charlie could feel her blood racing through her veins and wanted to scream, but knew that the humiliation she was feeling at the moment would only triple if everyone outside of that office knew what was going on as well. I don’t know who you are, but you need to leave right now. Get your crap and leave this restaurant and never show your face here again. Do you understand me? Charlie put her right hand in her leather purse and felt for the butt of her pistol. She wasn’t planning to use it exactly, but years in law enforcement had taught her to place her hand on her gun in a stressful situation.

Leslie looked back to Nick. Am I fired?

Nick looked at Charlie and realized what was going on inside of her purse. He’d bought the damned purse for her as a birthday gift. It was genuine leather with a built in holster for her nine millimeter. Um, we’ll discuss that later…on the phone. Or better yet, I’ll draw up the separation notice tomorrow and write you a referral letter and you can get them from Maria tomorrow.

Leslie put her hands on her hips. This is so illegal! You can’t just fire me because your wife caught us kissing. I mean, I have a boyfriend anyway, so it wasn’t like it was going anywhere. Turning to Charlie, she went on. And no, we haven’t had sex, just oral. Right there on the sofa. She turned and threw Nick a devilish grin.

Nick balled up his fists. Just leave. Please.

Charlie stood in front of the door as Leslie stomped towards it, forcing the younger woman to stop in front of her. I’m trying to leave, if you don’t mind. Geez.

Charlie ground her teeth together and unsnapped her holster. "I tell you what. You can keep your precious job if you want, and the boss man too for all I care, but if you ever find yourself in my line of sight again, you’d better run the other way sister, because I’ve got seventeen hollow points in my right hand and I’m probably just crazy enough to use them."

Leslie looked at her with bug eyes. Are you for real?

Charlie pulled her Beretta out of her purse and cocked it. You tell me if I’m for real.

Charlie, no. She’s leaving. Leslie get the hell out of here. Nick started to move towards his wife.

Charlie stepped to the side, allowing the other woman to exit, but drew her gun up towards Nick’s chest. Back off. I’m putting it up. She re-holstered her gun and closed her purse.

What the hell, Charlie?

She put a hand up to stop him from coming any closer. "Do not come near me. I know what I saw here, Nick and I believe what she said. You were about to have sex with her today and you did nasty on the sofa once already. And what is she, eighteen, nineteen?"

Nick ran his fingers through his thick brown hair and licked his lips. She’s twenty-one. And I wouldn’t have gone through with it; I just had a moment of weakness, you know. She’s been coming on to me for months and I’ve been so stressed out here and at home and worried about you and everything and it just happened. I could never have sex with someone else and what happened on the sofa… well, it wasn’t sex exactly.

Wow. Okay, well that makes me feel better. And it is sex, by the way, Mr. Clinton.

I don’t know how I even let anything happen. I don’t even like her like that; or any other woman for that matter. I love you, baby, and you’re the only one I want to be with.

Charlie laughed. You two deserve each other; the skank and the scoundrel.

Hear me out, please. We can work this out. I mean look at you, you’re out of the house and you drove all the way over here today and that’s amazing. I finally have my wife back and things are going to be different, you know, like they used to be before…

Charlie put her hand on the door knob, prepared to leave if he said his name. Don’t say it.

He’d been about to bring up their son. Okay, look, we’re both hurt and confused right now. Let’s get some marriage counseling or something, or go to church. Whatever you want, we’ll do it. Just please don’t leave.

Charlie gripped the door knob so hard she thought she might break it, and then released it. The anger she’d felt a moment ago had eased away and turned into something else. Sadness maybe. Or defeat. Life wasn’t fair. She’d lost her only child and her husband in the same year. No, life was certainly not fair. Goodbye, Nick.

Part 1

Chapter One

D ang it Andrew! You said it wasn’t supposed to rain until tomorrow. Her neighbor, KJBQ weather man, Andrew Knight, was wrong again. Andrew had promised her that the rain wasn’t coming in until the wee hours of morning. Well, he was off by a few hours. Not a surprise.

Swell. Just swell. Now I can’t see crap. Why couldn’t you pick a better night to cheat on your wife? And of all the places in Los Angeles, you take your mistress to my ex’s restaurant. She picked up her high powered camera and let down her window a few inches, snapping a quick picture before the couple got into the car.

Not very incriminating, but at least Mrs. Davis will have a face to put with the lady who’s doing her husband. She began rolling up the window of the pinto she was sitting in. Darn manual windows. The thing was nearly impossible to turn on the way back up and she was afraid it might not go up at all.

What are you doing?

Charlie’s heart jumped in her chest. Nick, you scared the crap out of me. Get lost, she said as she continued to roll up her window.

Nick went around the car and opened up the passenger side door, getting in out of the rain.

Go away, Nick. I’m working.

Nick shut the car door and looked at her. You’re spying on one of my best customers sweetheart. He just went through two of my most expensive bottles of champagne.

I don’t care if he drank your toilet water.

Nick laughed, making her more aggravated.

What? He’s cheating on his wife with that woman, you know.

Have you seen his wife? Face like a prune; all drawn up like she sucked a lemon.

Nick! She’s been a devoted wife to that man for 26 years. She helped him build his fortune and he repays her by blowing it on other women.

He ran his hand through his wet hair. She’ll be alright, Charlie.

Charlie thought back to their divorce two years ago. She’ll be alright; in a few years, maybe.

Nick decided to change the subject. So, you done following this guy? Cuz they’re pulling out now.

She looked back towards where the couple had been a moment ago. Yeah, I’m done.

Good.

You can go now. She gave him