Page 34 of Beyond Reach

“Um, hello. She’s had a reason ever since I came back—me. I’m the one in the way.”

“All the more reason for them not to get married.”

“I won’t interfere.”

“You mean you’ll run. Again.”

She choked on his words.

Once again he pulled to the side of the road. “Stay and see where it goes.”

“I don’t want to be the other woman.”

“You are the other woman, the one who stayed in his heart all this time. As I said, Garner is loyal. He belonged to you from the day you met. When you came back, he returned to your side.”

“You didn’t even know him back then.”

“He told me about you.”

&nb

sp; She wanted to ask if he meant Garner told him straight out that he couldn’t get her our of his heart. While Garner was sweet and considerate, she couldn’t picture him baring his soul to his buddy in that way. Maybe Steven was reading into whatever Garner did share with him.

“You make him sound like a Golden Retriever.”

He grinned. “Silver Retriever, if there was one.”

She sighed and rubbed her face. “No. I’m sorry. At this point, I have one thing in mind—to apologize to Marcella and get out of here. And don’t try to convince me otherwise. I’ve had more than enough aggravation today. Please take me back to the hotel, and don’t try another proposal either.”

To her surprise, he didn’t argue. After he tried one last time back at the hotel to convince her to go after Garner, he let her be. She returned to her room, finished packing, and loaded everything in the car. Once she was done, she headed out to her cousin’s apartment. She owed it to Marcella to apologize to her face.

Marcella likely would yell and fuss, but Chanda intended to take it all. She would apologize again and head straight for the airport. One way or another, she would be on a flight out of town by that evening.

A short while later, she pulled into the lot at Marcella’s apartment. Her cousin’s car was parked outside, which she was glad to see. She had avoided calling ahead in case Marcella either didn’t answer the phone or disconnected on her.

I might be doing this to make myself feel better, but whatever. Get your butt in there, Chanda.

She stepped into the building and paused when she heard voices. One of them was raised in a shrill tone, and Chanda recognized her cousin.

“It wasn’t supposed to go like this,” Marcella complained. “She was supposed to eat her heart out while I walk with him down the aisle.”

Chanda froze. She knew in an instant what Marcella was talking about. What floored her was the clear dislike she heard in her cousin’s tone. They weren’t exactly best friends since they were kids, but this? What did Chanda ever do to her?

“I know. We talked about it for weeks, how she was going to cry and beg Garner to change his mind and take her back. But he was going to say ‘sorry, Chanda, I love Marcella.’” Lanae cackled like she’d said something clever. “Want me to go kick her tail for you?”

“No, that won’t work. Garner’s such a goody-goody. He’d feel sorry for her. I don’t know what to do. Should I punish him for being with her?”

Anger rose in Chanda. Did Marcella love Garner or not? From the sound of things she only went after him to spite Chanda. She should have known her cousin wasn’t the woman she tried to pretend to be. Like father like daughter—Chanda should have seen the truth long before today. Maybe she didn’t want to.

“Let’s get inside,” Marcella was saying as Chanda seethed. “My neighbors are nosy.”

Chanda charged up the stairs, taking them two at a time. “Marcella! Hold up.”

Both Lanae and Marcella turned in surprise. Marcella looked like she tried to remember what she’d just said out loud and whether her true nature had leaked out. Chanda wouldn’t allow her to wonder long.

“So you got with Garner just to hurt me?” Chanda growled. “What in the world do you think I did to turn you against me?”

Marcella swelled in outrage. “You cheat with my fiancé and then come here to get in my face and accuse me of doing what you did? You’ve got some nerve.”

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