Page 5 of The Lake House

“Of course, I do…” She has no idea how lonely I’ve been since Todd left me.

“Then, come on. We need to find you a date.”

It’s comical; I almost want to laugh. I can’t believe she’s turning this into a thing. “No.”

“No? No? How can you be so calm about this?” Now she’s sitting at the edge of her seat as if she’s watching a series finale of her favorite show.

I chuckle quietly to myself, take a breath, and explain to her where my head is at right now. “Because. I really don’t feel like going down that road again. I don’t think my heart can take being cheated on again.”

She nods, finally understanding, or at least, I hope. “Yeah, Giules, I get all that. But you have to understand that not all guys are cheaters. Not all men like to mess up something good when they have it. Todd was just a dumbass.”

I sigh, nodding.

She takes a swig of her water before saying, “A dickwad. Plus, you’re only thirty-six-years-old. You’re so young with your whole life ahead of you. You’re not meant to be alone. And trust me, it’s not time to shut down the pet shop.”

I furrow my brows, not knowing what she’s referring to. “What pet shop?”

She chuckles, and immediately I know it’s something completely inappropriate. “You know, the pet shop…” She points down to her center and makes air circles. “Your kitty.”

I throw my hands up in defeat. “Oh my god, Liv!”

She laughs harder. I should have known it was something like that. Well, I sort of did by her chuckle before.

Once she catches her breath, she says, “No, but seriously, you deserve to find someone who treats you right.”

I shrug again. “I thought I had.”

“We all did. No one would have thought Todd could have done what he did to you.”

“Yeah. Neither did I.”

“I’m sorry, Giules,” Liv says with a small frown.

“It’s okay. I’m over what he did to me. I just don’t feel like I’m ready to date. To put in all that effort again, starting from scratch, just to possibly have someone break my heart all over again? I don’t know, Liv. I’m just not ready for that chance.”

“Okay, I can respect that. Just promise me one thing,” she says.

“What’s that?”

“That you’ll live your life to the fullest, and that if an opportunity comes around, you won’t be so quick to shut it down…”

“Well, I–”

“Promise me!” she roars.

I giggle. “Okay, okay. I promise.”

She gets up from her seat and puts a hand out to help me up. “Good, because we have lots of work to finish up here, so by tomorrow night, you can come with me down to the fair.” She flashes me a smile from ear-to-ear. I should have known she was up to no good.

ChapterThree

GIULIANA

The following morning, I wake up to the sound of the birds chirping and the bright early summer sun shining right through my windows. I should probably get some type of blinds or something; the sheer white curtains sure as hell won’t help me get any sleep once the sun rises. The bedroom faces the back of the house and the lake, and each morning, the sun shines this way.

Before I hop out of bed, I grab my cell phone off the nightstand and check my notifications. Some had come through from Instagram, but nothing really important.

Or no one.

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