Page 154 of Forever To Me

How is it even remotely possible that the man I love—the man I trusted, the one person who made me believe in something good again, was married to her? The same woman who stole my music, my career, my future? The same woman who took everything from me and left me with nothing? And now, here she is, waltzing back into both of our lives like some twistedghost, smiling like she hasn’t already burned the world down around her.

The wind rustles through the fields, the horses graze lazily in the paddock, and there’s the warm scent of hay and fresh earth in the air. It’s the kind of place that should bring me peace. Should make me feel grounded. Should remind me that life goes on, even when it hurts.

Instead, I sit on the back porch, nursing a glass of wine, while Poppy stands on a rickety old chair, trying to string lights up over the beams.

“If I fall and break something,” she grumbles, “you will lie to the paramedics and say it was something cooler than ‘she fell hanging string lights like an idiot.’”

Cami, lounging back in her chair, boots propped up on the railing, takes a slow sip of her beer. “What about ‘she fell while fighting off a mountain lion’?”

Poppy considers it. “Acceptable.”

Maggie, who just walked outside with a fresh basket of biscuits Cami had in the oven, snorts. “I’ll tell ‘em she wasrunningfrom a mountain lion.”

Poppy glares. “Wow. Betrayal.”

Mack, curled up in the chair beside me, laughs around a mouthful of mashed potatoes as she tells Poppy. “If you die, I get your antique truck, right?”

Poppy narrows her eyes. “If I die, Ihauntyou. And that truck is not antique! It's vintage."

“Fine. But it’s older than dirt.”

I shake my head, smiling despite the heaviness still lodged in my chest. Because they are the only thing keeping me from completely unraveling right now. I was relieved to see Mack and Maggie show up earlier to spend some time with me. Everything feels horrible right now.

Walker should be here.

But he’s not.

Because he’s off figuring out his crap, and I refuse to sit around waiting for him to decide whether or not I’m worth fighting for.

I check my phone. Still nothing.

Cami nudges my leg with her boot. “You still thinking about him?”

I exhale, setting my wine down. “I’m thinking about how he made me feel when he accused me of knowing who Stella was.”

The weight of his words still lingers in my chest. It wasn’t just that he was angry, it was that he doubted me. Where he could have trusted me, he hesitated. I’ve been here before. I’ve watched people I love walk away from me like I don't matter, watching them decide I wasn’t worth believing in. And I told myself I would never let it happen again. Never let myself be put in the position of proving my worth to someone who should already know it. But here I am, doing it again. And it stings. I thought things were different with him. Maybe not.

My throat tightens, but I push forward. “I get it, okay? I do. He’s been burned before, bad. And the person who did it just showed up to do it again.”

Poppy groans. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean he gets to throw you under the bus just because his trust issues got set on fire.”

Maggie, ever the diplomat, sighs. “Walker’s a good man, honey.”

I nod. “I know.” And that's the hard part. It makes me feel like I'm not the good one.

“But he’s also a damn idiot,” she adds.

I snort, and Mack grins. “Finally, someone says it.”

Cami shakes her head. “It’s just dumb. All of it. Stella is evil. Walker should know you had nothing to do with this.”

I swallow hard. “I told him. But he didn’t believe me.”

Mack says, "Anyone want more potatoes? I'm getting more." We shake our heads, and she heads inside.

And that’s the part I can’t let go of.The part that hurts. The part that makes me feel like it's happening all over again, watching someone I love walk away because they decidedI wasn’t worth it.

Cami sighs. “That woman is a plague.”

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