Page 45 of An Alaskan Wedding (Alaskan Grooms 1)

“So, you didn’t come here looking for love?” Boone’s voice cracked with emotion.

Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to cry. She’d done this. Every bit of it. And if nothing else, she needed to own it. “No, Boone. I didn’t come to Alaska looking for love.” But I found it anyway. With you. The words stuck in her throat.

Upon making her stark confession, Grace felt as if the ground underneath her was shifting. Suddenly, her world was tilting wildly on its axis. She needed fresh air, because at the moment she couldn’t seem to catch a breath. The pain she felt was a thousand times worse than anything she’d ever known. Boone grasped her by the arm and pulled her to the front door of the Moose Café, moving past the throng of townsfolk. Once they were outside he released her arm and moved a few steps away from her, as if he didn’t even want to be near her.

He shoved his hand through his hair. With eyes flashing fire, he locked gazes with her. “One question. Did you write those words?” he asked.

Grace nodded. For a person who’d always had an ability with words, right now she had none at her disposal. She looked down, unable to meet Boone’s unforgiving stare.

“There’s nothing real about you. You’re a sham. An absolute and utter fake.” He ground the words out as if they were poison.

“The way I feel about you is one-hundred percent real,” she said in a quiet voice.

Boone scoffed. “If you think I believe that, Grace Corbett, I have a cannery to sell you.”

“Can we sit down somewhere quiet and talk this over? Maybe if we—” she said.

“There is no we. Not after what I just read. Not after what you just admitted. To tell you the honest truth, I never want to see you again.” With one last, scathing look, Boone turned on his heel and began walking away from her.

Grace watched Boone walk away from her without making a single attempt at convincing him to stay. There had been something in his tone and the look in his eyes that spoke volumes. It was over. All her hopes and dreams for building something lasting with Boone had crashed and burned. Just when she’d had everything she’d ever wanted in the palm of her hand, it had all blown up in her face. And she couldn’t help but think she deserved every ounce of Boone’s scorn.

* * *

Walking back into the Moose Café was one of the most difficult things she’d ever done in her life. Strangely enough, it was way worse than explaining to a church full of guests that her wedding had been called off. Shame coursed through her as she pushed the door open and crossed the threshold. A roomful of people stared at her with censure in their eyes. She scanned the room looking for Jasper. Kind, sweet Jasper, who’d taught her so much about pluck and grit in the past few weeks. He was standing with Hazel at the sit-down counter. He shook his head at her in disbelief, his eyes filled with pain. Hazel simply stared at her, her expression shuttered. Cameron crossed his arms across his chest and studied her from across the room. Sophie sent her an encouraging smile.

She walked toward the front of the room and stood in the same spot she’d been standing when she’d addressed the crowd earlier about Hazel’s boots. This time there was no question about her trembling limbs. She felt as if she was facing a firing squad. Nervously, she cleared her throat. “I’m not here to make excuses. Frankly, there aren’t any. I came to Love under false pretenses. I came here to write about Operation Love and the people in this town.” Tears were streaming down her face now and she didn’t bother to wipe them away. Her heart had shattered into a million pieces. She had nothing left to lose. “I wrote a bunch of articles. Only one of them was nasty. I wrote it because I was upset with Boone and I lashed out in the only way I knew how. Right afterward I withdrew it, and my editor promised not to publish it. That’s the truth.

“For a long time now my job as a journalist has been everything to me. It was my identity. So when the opportunity came up to write a series about Love, I jumped at it. I never imagined that I would fall for this town. I had no idea I’d be torn between going back to New York City and staying here. By lying to everyone in town, I abused the trust you placed in me. You let me into your lives...and your hearts. I betrayed your belief in me. I can’t tell you how sorry I am about that. Because I love this town. You’ve shown me more grace and acceptance than my own family ever has. And I’ll never forget any of you. Truly, I won’t.”

She swung her gaze toward Jasper and Hazel. “Jasper. Please forgive me. Your loyalty to this town is a thing of beauty. You’ve inspired me in every way possible. And Hazel, you’ve opened up your home to me and been my friend. Please don’t let my actions take away from the town’s plans for your boots. They are brilliant.” She turned toward Cameron. “Thanks for hiring me, Cameron. Working at the

Moose Café made me feel like I belonged in this town. I’ve never felt that sense of belonging before. Because of all of you I’d made the decision to stay here in Love, even though I know now I can’t.”

And it hurt so badly to know she no longer had a place here, because she’d never had a home before. Not even in New York City or at the Tribune. Of course that knowledge would sweep over her just as she was being run out of town on a rail. Before she completely broke down she looked over at Sophie, who was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. “Thanks for your friendship, Sophie. It breaks my heart that I let you down.”

“What about the sheriff?” someone called out.

“He hates me,” she choked out. “And I don’t blame him one single bit.”

Grace stumbled through the crowd in a haze of tears until she wound up outside in the bitter cold. She deeply inhaled the Alaskan air, savoring the crisp, pristine feel of it as it seared her lungs. This time tomorrow Alaska would be nothing more than a memory. She would try with all her might to remember every little detail of this charming town. She pressed her eyes closed in an attempt to capture all of Love’s unique aspects in her mind’s eye. However, all she could see was Boone’s ruggedly handsome face and the look of utter devastation on it when he’d discovered the truth.

Chapter Thirteen

The following morning, Boone dragged himself over to the Moose Café for breakfast. There were about a dozen customers already sitting at tables. Some studiously avoided his gaze while others went out of their way to come over to his table to greet him. Cameron had called him late the night before to tell him that Grace had quit her barista job, so he knew he wasn’t going to be running into her at the Moose Café. Although every instinct had urged him to stay at home today and wallow in his misery, he was determined to prove a point. Grace’s betrayal hadn’t broken him. He was still standing. And he wanted everyone in the café to see it and pass it on to whomever they came across in their travels. No doubt everyone in town would be comparing this incident to the day he’d found out about Diana’s betrayal with another man.

There was really no comparison. What he felt for Grace was ten times as powerful as what he’d felt for his ex-girlfriend. Being made a laughingstock by Grace was a wound he didn’t think he would recover from. Not in this lifetime.

He was in love with Grace. Deeply, profoundly in love with her. Which is why he was sitting at this table at her former place of employment, toying with the idea of forgiving her and begging her to stay. The very idea of it made him feel like a major league sucker.

Neanderthals masquerading as modern-day men.

Each and every time he thought about forgiving Grace, the words from the article came into sharp focus. Town sheriffs who spend their time on coffee breaks instead of keeping law and order in their town.

“What are you doing? Drowning your sorrows in cappuccino?” Declan’s voice intruded on his thoughts.

Boone had an urge to swing his feet up on the empty chair and deny his best friend a seat. He had the feeling Declan had come to the Moose Café armed with words of wisdom. Before he could act on his impulse, Declan slid into the seat, placed his elbows on the table and stared him down.

Boone lowered his gaze to his steaming mug and took a sip. “What makes you think I’m hurting?”

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