Page 119 of Fall for You
If anyone had told him a few months ago that he could watch his heart run away, he wouldn’t have believed them. But that was how it felt as he watched Willow disappear into the woods.
She was heading back the way she’d come.
He wanted to call after her. Tell her he’d give her a ride back. But she wouldn’t listen. Why should she?
He’d betrayed her trust.
And the second she’d arrived in such a state, he hated himself. Because he knew she’d had no intention of using the box against him.
No, only he could come up with something that cold and calculated. Only he could enact it.
Because he couldn’t let his father down.
Because he needed this job too much, he’d ruined whatever there was between him and the sweetest girl he’d ever met.
His wood sprite. His sunshine.
But never really his.
He bowed his head, brushing a hand down the back of his hair as he turned for the lobby. Walking through the palatialreception area, he couldn’t even raise his head to acknowledge his staff or smile at the guests he was passing.
This was what he’d done it for, right? So he could hold on to this?
Strange how suddenly this land and the property itself had never felt colder.
As he trekked back to his office, he told himself he’d done what had to be done.
They couldn’t have continued down this path indefinitely. At some point, one of them was bound to cave. Or forced to cave.
Willow was a romantic and a fool if she thought they could make this work.
But the fairy-tale notion that maybe, just maybe, they could have did nothing to warm him as he closed his office door. He used to say his style was sparse, elegant.
Right now it just felt sterile.
And lonely.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and focused on his breathing.
There hadn’t been any other way. His father was on the warpath, and if Eric hadn’t ended things this way, then who knew how ugly the battle would have gotten.
He was sparing everyone.
But much as he told himself this, his stomach still churned.
Every time he pictured Willow’s big eyes filled with such hurt, so much pain…
His gut heaved and his blood ran cold.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Ronnie settled in front of the mirror and let the stylist do her thing.
Despite the ruckus taking place throughout the rest of the inn, the small rooms off the barn designated for the bride and her crew were really quite calm.
Probably because Bailey and her team had been thoughtful enough to keep it well stocked with tea, candles, and fluffy robes. Ronnie had spent more time in PT than spas, but she suspected this was as close as one got to an elite spa experience in Paradise Springs. If you didn’t count Blue Sky Lodge, of course.
And she’d never count that place.
