Page 54 of The Fate of Us

I freeze when I see a box that looks suspiciously like a ring box.

He must see my hesitation. “Don’t worry, baby, it’s not a ring. If I was going to propose, I would have made sure it happened.” I smile at him as he hands the box to me. “I just thought you might want this. Need that feeling back.”

I look at him curiously as I pop the box open to find a piece of raw stone on a silver chain.

“You still reach for that necklace around your neck. I thought I could replace it with something better. Especially since I know you are going to get nervous when you’re in Nashville.” He takes the necklace out of my hand and clasps it around my neck. “It’s aquamarine. It’s the stone of the ocean. I thought it would remind you of being at the cottage.”

A tear crests my eye as I stare at the beautiful aqua blue stone. “I—I don’t—thank you Noah. I love it.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I wrap my arms around his neck, dropping the box behind him as he slides into me, showing our love over and over.

* * *

By the timewe finally make it out of bed, it’s after two in the afternoon. With Noah getting promoted to detective, he has the weekends off except for the one weekend a month where he is on-call.

We head into the kitchen and start making chicken and waffles. Breakfast and lunch in one. Brutus is on our toes waiting for us to drop something when the doorbell rings.

“I’ll get it,” I tell Noah since his hands are covered in egg and flour. I kiss him on the cheek and head to the door.

Brutus is already up on the window seat, barking at whoever is at the door. He jumps down and I hold him back as I put my hand on the door handle.

“Brutus, sit.” He does a horrible job at listening. I open the door and step outside, closing the door and Brutus behind me.

Standing on the porch is a woman I have never seen before. She is petite but tall, strawberry-blond hair falling in perfect waves over her shoulders. She is dressed in what looks like designer clothes with oversized sunglasses covering her eyes.

“Can I help you?” I ask.

Even though I can’t see her eyes, I can tell she is assessing me by the way her head drops slightly to take me in. That’s when I remember I never put pants on when we came downstairs. I am just wearing one of Noah’s Asheville Police Department shirts.

I watch her pink lips move as she speaks. “I’m sorry, maybe I have the wrong house. I was looking for Noah Taylor. But he doesn’t have a dog.”

My heart starts to beat rapidly in my chest as I put pieces of information together. I think of all the conversations Noah and I have had. It hits me hard in the chest. I’m almost afraid to ask. “No, this is Noah’s house. I’m sorry but who are you?”

She takes off her sunglasses and stretches out a hand to me, her dark brown eyes seem as if they are looking right through me. “I’m Claire, his wife.”

18

Noah

I wash my hands off,wondering who the hell Anna is talking to outside. Brutus is going crazy, barking up a storm.

I dry my hands and walk to the door, yelling at Brutus to lay down. I open the door and my heart drops to my stomach just as I hear Claire say, “His wife.”

Anna backs into my chest and I wrap an arm around her before she can run. “I—I’m sorry, his what?” she stutters.

“His wife.”

I hold on to Anna tightly, knowing her gut reaction is to hightail it out of here as fast as possible.

“You’re not my wife anymore, Claire.”

She smirks as she pulls a stack of papers out of her purse. “According to these, I still am.”

I freeze when I see her pull divorce papers out of her purse. Divorce papers that I never got back when Carson found her and sent them out. Carson informed me that I could still file without her consent. And considering the circumstances of our divorce, of her disappearing with nothing but a note, the judge granted the divorce. Legally we are divorced. She just doesn’t know it.

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