Page 42 of Passionate Hearts

“River, I’ve made a lot of mistakes. It took losing you for me to see what I had all along. No one will ever be able to match me the way that you do. You’ve been the perfect partner. I should have made more of an effort when you were hurt, I know that now. I never should have cheated on you. But you have to know that I would never do that again. You’re everything I need. You have to know that Brianna can’t give you the life that you want. But I can. We’re both intelligent and ambitious women. We match one another. Please say you’ll marry me?”

River heard a gasp and turned towards the doorway. Brianna stood with a bouquet of flowers in hand. River watchedas Brianna took in the scene in front of her. The flowers fell from her hands.

“I’m going to go,” Brianna said, her voice barely above a whisper.

River reached out her hand instinctively.

“Brianna, stay,” River called. But it was too late. Brianna had already turned to run.

Fuck.How much of the proposal had Brianna heard? Tiff didn’t have the good grace to seem ashamed. River couldn’t believe she’d ever been in love with the woman.

“Now that that’s over. Let’s get back to…”

“Get up,” River demanded, her words cut Tiff off before she had a chance to finish her thought.

Tiff sighed and rose to her feet. She met River’s eyes and smiled.

“I meant what I said. I want to marry you,” Tiff said.

“No, you don’t,” River sighed in exasperation.

“You don’t want to lose me. You like to win, and you can’t handle that I broke things off with you before you were ready. You don’t feel bad. There’s not an ounce of guilt in you. Tiff, you said that I was the perfect partner for you. Well, Brianna is theperfect partner for me. Not you. You want all of the perks in a relationship without any of the expectations. You want to show up when you want and how you want, without any regard for what might be best for me. You see me as someone who is here to take care of you and your needs. But if I have a need, I won’t ever be able to count on you.”

Tiff blinked at her slowly. It was clear that she was surprised by everything that River had expressed. Not just surprised but mildly insulted.

“You know what, maybe this isn’t the best match for me after all. I could have given you everything.”

“There’s more to life than having a successful career,” River groaned.

“For what it’s worth, if Brianna is who you want to be with then I hope you’re happy together. But I still think you’re not seeing the whole picture of what we could be together.”

Tiff spared her one last glance before taking her flowers and heading out the door. River was so mad she wanted to scream. She picked up the flowers that Brianna had dropped and gave them a sniff. What was she going to do? River had to find Brianna and explain that this was one big misunderstanding. She lay the flowers on the countertop in the kitchen and pressed her head against the wall. The wall was cool to the touch. She should have handled things with Tiff weeks ago instead of ignoring her. Now she had to find Brianna and explain that thiswas a huge misunderstanding. River stood upright and grabbed her keys. She was almost certain she knew exactly where Brianna was headed. Now more than ever she realized exactly how important Brianna was to her.

Chapter 18

With the way Brianna’s day was going there was only one person she wanted to talk to. She was in luck since this was Mel’s day off. Brianna called Mel from her car. She offered to swing by and pick Mel up. It was clear from her tone that Mel was aware that Brianna was having a rough day.

Mel was waiting on her front porch for Brianna. She met Brianna with a wide smile. Brianna wished she could reciprocate, but her mouth refused to turn upward. Mel gave her a concerned glance and reached over to squeeze Brianna’s knee.

“Buddy, what happened?” Mel asked.

“I honestly don’t even know how to answer that question.”

Brianna absolutely meant every word she was saying. How had she gone from the best day ever, to the worst in a matter of moments? She pulled into the coffee shop but stayed put. Her hands didn’t want to reach for her seat belt or the door handle. Mel noticed her reluctance and smiled.

“Why don’t we have a car talk?” Mel asked. She patted Brianna on the shoulder.

“Thanks, buddy. I think I’ve had enough coffee today anyway.”

Mel gave a sympathetic nod of her head and waited for Brianna to continue.

“Do you know that thing I do? You know when things are going really well, so I convince myself that something bad is going to happen at any moment.”

Brianna glanced over at Mel expectantly. Mel offered her a sweet smile.

“Yes, I am familiar with that cycle in your life,” Mel said in the most diplomatic tone Brianna had ever heard her friend use.

“I have been having that feeling with River. Things have been so good, how could they not go wrong?”

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