Free Elena Undone by Nicole Conn

competitive as Tyler was generous. While Tyler’s eyes beamed warmth, hers seared with an intensity born of the need to win.
    Equally baffling for both Elena and Barry was that Lily did not want children. Tyler’s only other obsession in life was to have a child. Since Nash’s birth it had been the one other constant that Tyler had spoken about, until Lily informed them all at Nash’s two-year birthday celebration that she planned to consider Nash the son she’d never have. It had been well after all the other guests had left, Nash had been tucked into bed, and the four of them were finishing champagne that Lily informed Tyler, as if presenting a board report: “I have no intention of ever ruining my figure with childbearing. Besides I have no time for squalling infants. I deal with them all day long at the office.”
    color="black">Barry and Elena left that night terrified Lily would “claw out his heart,” as Barry put it, but whatever was in their union, it brought out the best of them both. Sure she was as tough as a street boxer when negotiating contracts, but whenever she was around Tyler she softened to the point that she appeared to be an altogether different person. And Lily brought out of Tyler an insanely “unquenchable love” as he described it—“My need to be with Lily supersedes anything I’ve ever known. Go figure.”
    Elena never could fully believe in Tyler’s Soulemetry. As Barry put it, it was a bit too “out there love-child hippy dippy.” And had it been anyone but her dearest friend, she probably would have thought it was just so much hooey. But she found herself always mystified by the transformation in her when she sat within Tyler’s sanctuary. Her feeling of exaltation probably rivaled what most people would refer to as a religious experience, and she certainly felt more spiritual in the Soulemetry Gardens than she did in Barry’s church.
    That always held almost too much irony for her, but she had long since given up trying to figure out what precisely it was, or why it was. Perhaps she would never understand it. But like Tyler, she accepted these warm and very inviting feelings as a gift and accepted Tyler and his trappings at face value. It was utterly mystifying to her that the two most important men in her life were both preachers of a kind, but at such opposite ends of the holy spectrum.
    “Beautiful woman,” Tyler said, taking her hand, “I am so sorry.”
    She glanced up at him, trying not to cry.
    “I know how painful this is for you.”
    “Tyler, you know—I just feel like…I feel like...” Elena blew her nose. “I’ve got to be doing something wrong—”
    “Now stop that!” Tyler shook his head, furious. “This isn’t your fault.”
    He stopped, breathed in deeply, exhaled. “I think I may have said this a time or two before—but, maybe—just maybe—it’s a sign.”
    Elena smiled ruefully. “Well, that is the reason we’ve decided to pursue adopting. But don’t worry, Tyler. We’ll keep trying.”
    He looked at her, smiled wistfully, then shook his head. “Please, don’t think you have to.”
    “But, of course we will. Just...you know, just in case,” she said, her tone resigned, “whatever it takes.”
    “Well, you know, my love, I’m always at your disposal.” Tyler smiled sweetly, then leaned in to give her a gentle hug. When they parted she could see he was getting emotional. “Look, I want what’s best for you, my exquisite angel.”
    “Thank you.”
    They sat in silence for a moment, both reflecting on their own wishes for the future, until Tyler snapped, Iyler sn them both out of it.
    “I know better than anyone, yes?” He looked deeply into her eyes. “Everything you’ve been through...My Lord, between your unforgiving parents and Barry’s crusades du jour—”
    Elena shot Tyler a sharp look. He put up his hands— “Okay— won’t go there.
    “I swear to God, though, Elena, it’s a testament to your strength—or