Page 1 of Our Promise
Chapter
One
Furthest Thing from Perfect
Ican’t do this.
The thought hit Bernard “Benny” Collins like a ton of bricks as he sat across from his ex-girlfriend, Tara Vaughn.
“You haven’t touched your dinner,” she said, concerningly.
In an attempt to give their relationship a second chance, they had been slowly spending more time with each other. He agreed she could cook him dinner tonight, but that had been a mistake. Coming home to her wasn’t like it was before.
Benny’s eyes lifted from his plate to Tara’s beautiful face. “Can I be honest with you?”
For weeks he had been convincing himself he could overlook her infidelity, but too much damage had been done. He wasn’t the same man he was six months ago before he found out she had cheated. Forgiving her was easy, compared to moving on and trying to rebuild. It was hard figuring out where to go from there.
It all seemed so simple after they made up, but he learned it was far from simple. Everything had changed and would neverbe the same. He realized in the past few weeks that love just wasn’t enough.
“I wouldn’t expect anything more from you. What other way have you been?” She released a nervous chuckle.
“You’re right, but I don’t want to hurt your feelings.”
They were in such a fragile state, but it was her fault. She had done the damage, and he appreciated her trying to repair them, but it wasn’t working for him.
Tara lowered her utensils to her plate. “Just say it.” She placed her elbows on the table, lacing her fingers.
“I can’t do this. This is not going to work.”
He watched her transform. Her body slouched. Her face contoured into a deep frown. “Benny, you said you would try.”
He did. He promised he had tried, but coming home to her was like being doused with ice water. Shock and almost disgust. He was mature but not mature enough to get over her cheating. It was a nagging thought that no matter how much he tried to put it out of his mind, it slipped to the forefront.
He wondered if she cooked for the other man like she did for him. Had she made love to him like she did to Benny? It was torture that he wouldn’t put himself through any longer.
“How many times do I have to say I’m sorry?” Tara asked with pure desperation.
Actually, he was tired of her apologies. The man she was longing for, the one she was craving to have back, was long gone.
He hated to admit it, but she had made him bitter. For months after, he was hostile, tearing into anyone who looked at him wrong. It wasn’t until he had a talk with his father two months ago did he come back to the Benny they all knew and loved.
The chime of his phone broke the silence in the room. He looked down at it to see it was a text from his brother.
Brother G: Can you pick up Jo and Elle?
Benny said, “I have to go.” He stood from the table, placing his napkin on his plate.
“Benny, we’re talking.” Tara stood, following behind him as he made his way to his bedroom. “What is it? Work or family?”
She had been with him on and off for four years, so she knew with success came responsibilities. His family’s brand and business, Cup of Jo, was his responsibility. Now his family, they were more important than his business. He would go running every single time they called.
“Either one always came before me,” Tara accused. “You want me to tell you something that will hurt your feelings?”
That stopped Benny in his tracks. He turned to her with a thick brow lifted.
He was curious about what she might say, then he realized whatever she could say wouldn’t affect him. She couldn’t hurt him any more than she already had, and he had healed from that pain, so there wasn’t any more she could say.
This whole interaction was another reason Benny knew they wouldn’t prevail this second time around.
