Page 80 of Highland Hearts Holiday Bookshop

“Aye?” I answered, letting my head drop back against the wood, my eyes trained on the line where the slate-blue water met the misty gray sky.

“Alexander. Hello, how are you?” Tara asked.

I felt nothing when I heard her voice now. This woman, who I used to spend hours agonizing over pleasing, now elicited very little response from me. It was a good confirmation, even if it was a small win in the big scheme of things, but the last time we’d spoken over a year ago, I’d still held anger toward her.

Now I was just disinterested.

“I’m just fine. What do you need, Tara?”

“You don’t have to be so short with me,” Tara grumbled into the phone.

I sighed, rolling my eyes, and Tattie, seeming to understand I was frustrated, abandoned his toy to hop over to me. This time he pecked at my trousers, and I grinned at him, amused at his antics.

“You don’t get my time anymore,” I said, knowing that simple and direct was always best with her.

“Ugh, why do you make this so difficult? I was calling to apologize and I’m not sure I even want to anymore.”

At one time, I’d wanted an apology from her, but now it didn’t seem to much matter. It was amazing how time and some good self-help books had changed my perspective on things.

“Okay,” I said.

Tara let out a wee keening note of frustration.

“You make things so hard. You don’t have to be so black and white all the time,” Tara seethed.

Was I black and white all the time? I guess I was. That was just how my brain worked. It was what made me a good engineer.

But maybe the rest of the world didn’t work that way.

It would explain why I often bumped up against miscommunications or awkwardness in social situations.

“Fine, whatever.” Tara blew out a breath, continuing on. “I’m in therapy now. And my therapist suggested that maybe I needed to apologize to you before I moved forward. So, I’msorry.”

“For what, specifically?” I asked, wondering if she really understood how outlandish her behavior had been.

“For lying to you. For cheating on you. For not appreciating what I had.”

She’d appreciated me? That was new information.

“Thank you,” I said, not sure what else to say. None of this mattered anymore.

“Don’t you want to see me?”

“I thought you were dating someone else.” Ah, it was making more sense why she’d called now. Tara had never been good with being alone. She was looking for a quick fix, someone to get her off, before she moved on to her next target.

“We broke up.” Tara waited and when I didn’t say anything else, because frankly, I didn’t really care, she sighed heavily into the speaker.

“Don’t you have something to say to me?” Tara demanded.

“You want an apology from me?” I asked, incredulous. Tattie pecked extra hard at my leg as though he agreed with me.

“Or forgiveness would work too, you know.” Tara huffed on the other end of the line.

“Tara. I don’t owe you anything anymore. Not an apology, not forgiveness, nor frankly, even my time.” With that, I hung up and pocketed my phone, ignoring when it buzzed in my pocket again. Tattie looked up at me, and I smiled down at him and held my hand flat on the ground.

Whenhe hopped in it, my heart lifted.

“It’s just us, mate. But I’ll take care of you. I promise.”

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