Page 11 of Burning Your Lies

I don’t dignify him with a response. I turn on my heels and walk out of the club. When I pick Elise up from daycare, she’s already fussy and fidgeting. I try to soothe her, but it doesn’t work. When she lets out a cry for the third time, I almost drop her back to daycare. “What’s wrong? Why won’t you juststop?”

Her doe eyes just stare back at me and offer no explanation.

I can’t do this.I need someone to mother this child because I’ve had enough. The first three months were bliss, or maybe I was feeding off my victory. But it’s been a year since Savannah went away and it’s only got harder. Elise walks now so there’s no eluding her. Everywhere I go, she’s waddling behind me. Shedoesn’t let me work in peace. She doesn’t let me eat in peace. And I am fucking sick and tired of dirty nappies.

“Sorry!” The red-haired woman flinches when I turn around. “I wasn’t watching where I was walking and…” Her voice tapers off. Her round eyes are puffy and red. The same tinge covers the tip of her nose. She sniffles before trying again. “I’m really sorry.”

I can’t look away from her blue eyes. They’re pale, almost as if there wasn’t enough pigment to make them a true blue. Her full lips are set into a frown, but I can bet she has a beautiful smile. And then there is her hair; long, soft and flowing in the breeze.

I smile at her. “Are you okay?”

She looks startled by my question. “Yeah, I’m…” She waves me off. “Fine.” The confidence she’s aiming for fails miserably.

“You don’t look fine.”

She dabs at her under her eyes. “Well, I just found out my boyfriend is cheating on me.”

“Oh.”

“If that wasn’t bad enough, I just moved back from Australia because he said he couldn’t do the long-distance thing anymore. So now I’ve lost my home and my boyfriend.” She steps away from me. “Okay. I’m totally over sharing with a stranger. I’m sorry.” She goes to turn away but comes back. “For bumping into you and … yeah. I’m just…” She walks away without completing her sentence.

“It’s his loss!” I shout out after her. She stops walking. “He’s a fool to give up a woman as beautiful as you.”

And my god, she is beautiful.

She turns around and closes the short distance between us. “Thank you, but I feel like the fool. Why do you men do that? Why cheat? Just end things if you’re unhappy.”

“I can’t speak for all men, but I am certainly not a cheat. I despise cheaters.”

“Well, your wife is a lucky woman.”

Wife?

“Not married. Widow.” I hold up my empty ring finger.

Her eyes soften. “Sorry, I just saw your daughter and assumed. I’m sorry to hear that.”

I can’t help but smile. “You sure apologise a lot.”

When she smiles, it feels like the air has been knocked out of me. I haven’t been this intrigued by someone since Savannah. “Force of habit.”

Overstepping boundaries, I tuck her hair behind her ear and marvel at how soft it really is. “You should stop doing that.”

Her chest rises and falls as her eyes lock on my face. And then like a pin to a bubble, the soft aura around us bursts. She steps away. “I’m sorry, I need to go.”

“Can I interest you in a coffee sometime?”

When she smiles again, it’s got a sadness to it. “You seem really nice and all. And your daughter is adorable.” She shakes her head. “But I’vejustcome out of a long-term relationship. My heart is absolutely broken. I just don’t have it in me to…”

I should let it go, but there’s something calling me to the stranger. Perhaps it’s her beauty or the rare freedom from Savannah occupying my thoughts. “It hasn’t been long since I lost my wife. I’m still learning to be a single dad. I’m not exactly looking for a relationship right now, either. But how about a friendship?”

She hesitates. “My mum always told me to never trust a stranger.”

“Let’s rectify that.” I offer her a handshake. “Xavier Rivers.”

Her eyes land on me again and I realise why I’m so in love with them. They remind me of a diamond when the light hits it at the perfect angle. She reluctantly places her hand in mine. “Brynn Jones.”

“And how am I spelling that?”

---