Page 30 of We Wish You a Happily Ever After

Dammit, he was a fool.

He’d made small talk with Roy for a few more minutes, but Jeremy didn’t even remember what they’d spoken about except for a brief conversation about how he’d pick the older man up and take him to the firehall for the Christmas Eve dinner the next night. With Bella gone, he’d need a ride and…

“Dammit, Bella.” He spoke to his empty apartment and kicked at a shoe that he hadn’t bothered to put away.

He’d texted her twice and left two voice messages. His pride wouldn’t let him leave any more.

If she wanted to leave without so much as a word to him, well, that was all he needed to know about how she felt. Obviously he’d been wrong about her. Wrong about what they shared and the connection they had. Very wrong.

He should have known something like this would happen. He’d been burned by women before. He should know better than to open up his heart.

But even as he let himself think those things, he couldn’t make himself believe them. Bella was different. He just knew it. What he had with her…it was different.

It didn’t matter that it hadn’t been long. Time didn’t matter. He just needed to…what?

Jeremy looked down at the shoe he’d just kicked across the floor.

He needed to go for a run.

After a quick change, Jeremy laced up his shoes, took one last look at his cell phone, and hit the road. It was a clear night and with no cloud cover, it was cold, not that it bothered Jeremy. He pushed his body hard on the icy roads, only vaguely registering that he should be careful. Breaking a leg the day before Christmas wouldn’t benefit anyone.

The colorful lights on almost every house and tree cast bright shadows on the snow under his feet as he pressed on, trying to ignore the fact that he’d be celebrating the holiday without Bella.

He ran until he couldn’t think anymore. Until all thoughts of Bella, their time together, and her leaving were erased from his brain, replaced only by the basic thoughts of putting one foot in front of the other, inhaling and exhaling as he pushed through the quiet streets of Glacier Falls.

It wasn’t until over an hour later when, exhausted, he crawled into bed and closed his eyes that thoughts of Bella once more filled his brain.

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