Page 47 of Coffee Break with the Billionaire

Trapped?“So you’re saying I wasn’t the right guy for her.”

“That’s obvious.” She glances over at me. “You probably don’t want to hear this, but I think she made the right decision to leave. She wanted a different kind of life, and if she’d stayed—and I’m sure that was the easier decision because you’re amazing—if she’d stayed, she’d have ended up resenting you. I don’t believe in regretting things, but in my opinion, she’d have ended up regretting not leaving. And if you had a marriage and kids, that just gets messy.”

Messy. Isn’t that what Mia told me—she wanted a clean break?

“Sorry if I hit a nerve,” she addssoftly.

“I think all my nerves about this were cauterized years ago,” I tell her ruefully.

“Ew. That sounds painful.”

“It was. But not so much anymore.”

I’ve spent years hiding my feelings and telling everyone I was fine. Mia leaving did mess me up—not only was it the ending of a real, serious relationship but I lost my best friend.

I wasn’t what Mia wanted, and for years, I’ve thought it was my fault. That I was lacking.

But maybe it wasn’t all me. Maybe she was missing something. Maybe she wouldn’t have been able to give me what she wanted and leaving really was the best for us both.

Maybe. The word looms ahead of me like the empty road, opening up so many possibilities.

“Turn left after the next curve,” I instruct Fenella.

“Ah. You do have a plan,” she says as she slows down for the curve—not enough, but at least we don’t take the turn on two wheels.

“Not really, but I have ideas,” I admit.

“Ideas are always good.”

“Sometimes. So you think I’m amazing, do you?”

Chapter seventeen

Fenella

Idon’t answer that.

I laugh, but I don’t admit that I think he’s amazing. That the more time I spend with Silas Bell, the more I want to know about him. What makes him so decent and kind? What are his favourite things, and how can I make sure he gets them?

And why in the world hasn’t some woman snatched him up?

What kind of woman would he want to snatch him up?

“Where are you taking me?” I ask instead as I turn onto a road that’s even more deserted than the one we were following.

“There’s, uh, sort of a park along the water. Just here. Pull over here.”

I do as he asks, pulling the car to the side of the road and tucking it under the trees. The spot doesn’t seem like any sort of park that I’ve ever visited. There’s a clearing near the water, but nothing is there but a bench. Like the area near the lighthouse, the ground is made up of huge rocks jutting over the ocean.

“This is a sort of park?” I ask as I idle the engine.

“Sort of. It’s a bench.” He huffs in indecision. “There was an older couple who used to live around here, and they would come here to look at the stars. When she died, he built a bench here.”

“Is this older couple your grandparents?” I wonder.

“Great-aunt and uncle. He’s the one who taught me about the stars,” Silas confesses.

And he brought me to this spot that is obviously special for him. Warmth floods me as I turn off the car. “It’s a perfect spot for our picnic.” I reach into the back for the thermos. “Or for eating the chowder.”

---