Page 51 of All I've Waited For

“Oui.” Claire sighed. “He’d heard I was getting married. Told me how sorry he was for leaving me, that it was the biggest mistake of his life. That he still loved me.” The words seemed to get stuck in Claire’s throat. She coughed. “Of course, I told him he was too late, that love could not possibly be reborn after so much heartache.”

See? Claire had been loyal to him. Why hadn’t he done her the same courtesy? “Was it painful to see him?”

“Yes. More than I thought it would be.” She worried her lip. “And now that I see you, loving Ashley still, even after all this time, after all the heartache she brought you, I wonder if maybe I was too hasty in my reply to him. Maybe loveisreal. Maybe itcanlast, with a little forgiveness and a lot of grace.”

Stepping back, Claire squeezed Derek’s arm. “Maybe we were both wrong about love.”

He cast his eyes downward, their gazes connecting. What was she saying? “Some things are more important than being happy. Isn’t that what we’ve said?”

“Non. I never said my life with you wouldn’t be happy. But if that is how you have always felt, I could never allow you to bind our lives together. It would be a prison for you.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh, I know you do not mean to be callous.” And then a smile teased her lips. How could the woman beam like that right now? “It was different when we were two people choosing the same path together. But your heart has chosen differently. And, I think, mine has as well. At the very least, it wants to, for the first time in a long time.”

Whoa. Derek turned and slumped against the wall beside the window. “So where does that leave us?”

“I’m sorry to say I cannot marry you.”

“But what about the vineyards? Our businesses?” He glanced at her.

Claire’s small nose scrunched. “I do not know how my grandfather will react to this news about our broken engagement. He may choose to disinherit me because he cannot trust me. I pray that is not the case, but …”

“Blame it on me, then. It’s my fault, after all.”

“Non, this is my decision too. We will both face our futures with heads held high.” She lifted her hand to his cheek, thumb stroking his beard, clear affection written all over her face. “They may not hold what we thought they would, but maybe, with love, we can really conquer all.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “Listen to you, sounding like a romance novel.”

She stuck out her tongue in a most un-Claire-like way. “I do not know what is happening to me. I feel like a fool, and yet, a happy one. Do you?”

His heart thumped harder at the question. Because, wait. What did this mean?

If he and Claire were no longer engaged, there was nothing stopping him from pursuing Ashley. True, he didn’t have a way to save the vineyard, but the only option he’d had was off the table. That was a problem for another day.

“A fool?” Shaking his head, he leaned in and gave Claire a soft kiss on the cheek. “That about sums it up.”

Yeah, he’d be a fool for love.

Pretty sure he’d do anything for Ashley Baker.

Chapter 14

Five more days and her agony would be over.

Ashley gripped the railing on the upper deck of the Iridescent Inn, raking her eyes across the waves as they crashed against the shore just beyond. A few guests lounged in the chairs to Ashley’s far right, chatting and sipping lemonade. An older couple walked the courtyard, their pace slow, their smiles visible even from her spot above them.

Any moment now, Derek and Claire would show up for a final walk-through of the venue—well, Claire’s first walk-through. Supposedly, she’d returned to town yesterday, though Ashley hadn’t heard a word from her. After a long day of travel, she’d probably been asleep the moment she climbed into bed.

As for Ashley, her sleep over the last week had only totaled twenty hours, maybe thirty.

Today the weather had the decency to agree with her emotions. Wind whipped her hair across her shoulders and dark clouds marred the blue on the horizon. A storm was brewing.

Maybe it would bypass Walker Beach altogether—but that was likely wishful thinking.

“Ben told me I could find you here.”

Briefly, Ashley closed her eyes, pinching her nose between her thumb and forefinger. She could do this. She’d simply pretend Derek was any other groom—not the only one she’d ever begged to leave the bride soshecould have him instead.

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