Page 75 of More Than Words
“Does it?”she snapped.“Because from where I’m standing, it looks like it was all smoke and mirrors while you buttered me up and made it nice and easy for you to push your own agenda.”
She stepped back and looked away as if she couldn’t stand to be so close to me.
“No.”I shook my head.This was all wrong.“It wasn’t?—”
“You know what the worst part is?”she said quietly.“I let myself believe that you were different.That you weren’t going to destroy me.”
“Delaney.Please?—”
“Good night, Ethan.”She turned and closed the distance to her car.
I followed behind her because I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
She didn’t yell or slam the door.Worse, she got in and started the engine as if it were just another quiet ending to an evening.
Only it wasn’t.
I took a step back to avoid being hit as she pulled out, her headlights sweeping across the lot that had started to fill with others leaving the meeting.I stood on the edge of the pavement and took two steps after her car as she turned onto the street, as if I could stop her, knowing there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
Instead, I stood there like a complete idiot who’d realized just a little too late that I’d gotten everything I wanted.And in the process, lost everything I needed.
ChapterNineteen
Delaney
“You know, you’re my first Christmas arrangement?”Charli, the owner of Alpenglow, smiled at me as she artfully arranged a pine bough with a sprig of holly in the oversized galvanized bucket outside my shop.“You’re pretty smart for getting your order in early.I’ll be busier than I can handle in a few weeks.”
I smiled and rubbed my gloved hands together.“It has nothing to do with being smart,” I told her.“I just happen to love Christmas and start my decorating earlier than mostnormalpeople.In fact, I think I showed great constraint waiting as long as I did.”
“Your shop looks great,” Charli said.“I don’t know how it’s going to go with a tree this year now that Poppy has started to get into everything.”She chuckled.“It should be interesting.”
Charli and her husband, Symon, were the proud parents of the cutest little girl I’d ever seen.Best friends who turned into more, theirs was one of the sweetest love stories in town.
Not that I had any interest in love stories of any kind at the moment.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a great holiday,” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could.If she noticed my mood, she was kind enough not to point it out.A small mercy I was grateful for.
The last few days since I’d discovered what Ethan had been up to behind my back had been awful.It was a physical pain in my chest to know that after all this time, and after coming so far, I’d fallen for a smooth talker who broke my heart once again.
It almost felt worse this time than it had with my ex.Maybe because with Ken, the signs had been there almost from the beginning, and I’d always sort of known how it was going to end.But with Ethan, I really and truly thought he was different.Worse, I’d let myself believe what we had was real.
I’d believed it with all my heart.
And now…
“Delaney?”
I shook my head, pulling myself from my thoughts when Charli waved a sprig of holly in my direction.“Sorry.I just…”
“You looked like you were about to cry,” Charli said kindly.“Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine,” I lied.“I think maybe I’m just hungry.”It was a terrible lie, and we both knew it.“Maybe I should leave you to it and go grab something from the Bean Bag for lunch.Do you want anything?”
“I’m good, thanks.But don’t let me stop you.”
I was halfway across the plaza to the coffee shop when I saw them.
Quinn and Ethan, walking hand in hand, headed straight toward me.
