Page 80 of Just Act Natural

Her apartment is a brick-walled studio with high windows facing Maple Street. She’s got a small outdated kitchenette, a cozy gray sofa, and several bookshelves. Her bed is plush with pillows and a hunter green throw blanket.

The insane thought that her blanket exactly matches the color of Irwin Outdoors’ employee vests rattles through my brain. Is that kismet or some kind of cosmic torture?

“Look at you.” She shuts the door behind her and moves to face me. “See? Your outfit options turned out great.”

I run my hands over my shirt as if I can iron it with their clamminess. “Yeah. Thanks.”

A little crease mars her forehead. “Is everything okay?”

Yes. Everything except I’m having severe déjà vu from my worst nightmare.

“Not entirely. I need to talk with you.”

She sobers instantly. Maybe she has a collection of dreads of her own. “Okay. Do you want to sit down?”

We move to the sofa, where I’m entirely too close to her, but I can’t very well get back up and loom over her while I stand.

“Do you remember our conversation when we were stargazing in the woods?”

Pink washes over her cheeks. “Yes. We talked about our breakups.”

“We did. But I wasn’t entirely honest with you about mine.”

She goes stiff, and I can tell I’m messing this up already. I need to just dive into the deep end.

“The relationship that blindsided me? We were engaged, too. But she didn’t end things until the day of the wedding.”

“Oh, Grant.” Lila wraps a hand around mine. “I’m so sorry.”

I don’t talk about this. Mostly, because everyone in Magnolia Ridge already knows. There’s nothing for me to explain. Even with my brothers, it’s not a thing we discuss.They lived through it with me, they know the ins and outs. It’s hard to know where to start.

“Kelsey and I had friends in common and similar interests. It’d seemed…natural that we would wind up together. But both of us were just ignoring the truth.” In a word, I’d been Rhett’s favorite thing: stupid. Avoiding arguments doesn’t mean a relationship is working. And feeling like youshouldbe with someone isn’t the same as having a bone deepneedto. “I’d bought us a house, everything was ready…and then Kelsey never showed up to the church.”

I can’t even remember how I felt getting ready that day. Joy? Anticipation? It’s all been blurred out by the sick, sinking sensation when one of the bridesmaids took me aside to break the news.

Lila wraps an arm around my shoulders, her hand on mine tightening almost painfully. It’s oddly comforting.

“Grant. I had no idea.”

“I don’t like bringing it up.” People in Magnolia Ridge haveblessed my heartso many times, I should be invincible.

She rubs her hand over my back. “Did she ever apologize to you?”

“Not quite. Eventually, she got in touch. Admitted she realized she wasn’t in love with me and couldn’t go through with it.” The worst part might have been when she told me I wasn’t really in love with her, either. It’d felt like a parting shot, but now I know she was right.

“Grant. That was so wrong of her. You deserve better than that.” She gets quiet. “Is that why you don’t like your house? Because it was for the two of you?”

“It reminds me of my mistakes.”

“They weren’t your mistakes. They were hers.”

I’d like to indulge that belief, but I shake my head. “We bothscrewed up. She could have had better timing, but we’re better off this way.”

“She should have been honest with you, face to face, and dealt with the fallout. That’s a horribly selfish thing to do.”

I flip my hand over to hold hers tight. “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry this Kelsey treated you that way. She’s unbearably stupid for letting you go.”

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