Page 69 of Love Letter Lost
“But I’m recovering from a broken heart.” I let sadness leak into my tone, hoping for sympathy, yet the words made my heart twinge, and tears sting my eyes. I thought I’d gotten a handle on my emotions, but apparently not.
“Oh, honey.” Audrey set the cookie sheet on a cooling rack and moved to my side, wrapping me in a hug, oven mitts and all.
“I thought I was over this part. I had last night to cry,” I blubbered.
“You can’t expect to heal from a broken heart overnight.” Audrey soothed.
I felt another set of arms surround me as Chloe joined our hug.
“But we only spent a week together.” And yet, I already missed Ridge’s presence on my couch.
“You knew each other for years before that,” Audrey reasoned.
“Not to mention, you loved him before this week,” Chloe added.
We stood in a huddle for a moment longer, and I let my tears fall as I soaked in the love and support of my friends. I finally straightened and released them, grabbing a paper towel from the counter to dab at my eyes.
“I’m an emotional wreck.” I laughed self-consciously and then grinned at Audrey. “So, does that qualify me for a cookie before game night?”
She laughed, pulling off one of her over mitts and throwing it at me. “Only if you help me get these baked before game night starts.”
We spent the next hour baking cookies. The task got my mind off Ridge and let me embrace the moment. I also took the opportunity to sneak several cookies when Audrey wasn’t looking.
When it was time to leave for game night, I decided to attend. Chloe and Audrey promised to leave whenever I was ready, and I didn’t want to spend the evening home alone on the couch, stewing. Between games of Uno and Nertz, I laughed and forgot, for a moment, that my heart was in shreds.
After a few hours of games, my roommates and I decided to head home. Audrey used Ruby as an excuse to bow out early, and I was happy to tag along.
“What should we do now?” Chloe asked as we walked into the apartment.
“Go to bed.” I glanced at the clock, noticing that it was after 11:00.
“I second that.” Audrey hooked Ruby’s leash to her collar and made her way to the door. “I have work tomorrow.”
“And I have a bunch of painting to do,” I added, a thrill shooting through me as I realized that all my hard work wouldn’t be wasted after all. I was improvingmyapartment.
“You guys are no fun.” Chloe flopped onto the couch and grabbed the remote.
“Welcome to adulthood,” I quipped, walking into my room. “Where you can stay up late whenever you like but still have to be functioning in the morning.”
“Uh, Mallory,” Audrey’s hesitant voice called from the front door. “There’s someone here to see you.”
Puzzled, I left my bedroom, curious to see who was visiting this late at night. My heart froze in my chest as I took in who stood in the doorway: Ridge, his lips tipped into a hesitant smile, my faded notebook clutched in his hands.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SEVEN
I blinked several times,certain I must be dreaming. When Ridge didn’t disappear, I folded my arms and discretely pinched myself, hard. The pain shocked my system and convinced me he was real.
“Where did you get that?” I asked, dazed. “Also, what are you doing here?”
“Hello to you, too,” Ridge said.
I didn’t respond, just continued to stare at him.
He gave a shrug before ducking his head and responding. “I needed to see you, to talk and find out if this is true.” He waved the notebook in front of me, and it took everything I had not to snatch it back and run into the apartment. I’d said some pretty harsh things in there over the last week and my most recent entry…My mouth went dry at the words I knew filled the last page.
“You didn’t answer my first question.” I continued to hug myself as I looked down, away from his gaze.
“Livvy gave it to me.”
