Page 36 of The Wedding Hoax

I closed my eyes tight and tried to force myself to sleep.

But nothing was happening, no matter how many sheep I counted.

Maybe I just need some fresh air?

I looked over at the door that led to an outdoor patio from my room. There was moonlight spilling across the floor, making it look like a set from a stage play of Romeo and Juliet.

Before I knew it, I was standing on the balcony, with fresh night air blowing across my skin.

“Yep. This was exactly what I needed,” I said, resting my hands on the balcony ledge. “I just needed some peace and quiet—”

“Are you on the phone with someone?” Harry’s voice immediately interrupted my newfound peace and quiet.

And I moved back from the ledge, startled by his presence. When I looked over, I saw that Harry was standing out on his own balcony. Of course, his was a lot bigger than mine, with expensive-looking stone decorating its sides.

“Nope. Just talking to myself,” I admitted. “Sorry if that’s weird.”

“Not weird. Especially since you probably thought you were alone.”

“So, I’m guessing you couldn’t sleep, either?”

“Not really. No.” Harry let out a sigh before his eyes met mine. “Just have a lot on my mind, I guess.”

“Me too.”

There was silence between us then, but Harry never took his eyes off me.

“Simone?”

“Yeah?”

“Who’s Jace?”

“Jace?” I blinked a few times at the question. “How do you know about Jace?”

“You mentioned him tonight. When you were talking to your mom,” he said. “You brought him up when your mom was talking about having something real.”

“Oh. Right.” I nodded before I went on. “Well, Jace is—was—”

I struggled to speak, as the memories came back to me like a flood. “Jace was the man that I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with. We were together for three years. We made all these plans. Talked about having a family. I really thought he was the one. I was more sure about Jace than anything else. Ever.”

“What happened?”

“I couldn’t have kids. That’s what happened.” I let out a hollow laugh. “It turns out, without kids, Jace wasn’t interested in the rest. We tried to make it work for a little bit after we found out, but I could tell he was already gone mentally. And then, one day, he really was.”

“Fuck. I’m sorry, Simone. That must’ve been so hard.”

“Oh, it was awful. But you know what they say.”

“What?”

“What doesn’t kill you makes you wish you were dead.”

Harry laughed as he shook his head. “Damn, Simone. That’s pretty dark.”

I laughed, too. “Sorry. Making jokes about it helps sometimes.” I smiled as I turned the questioning on him. “And? What about you?”

“What about me?”

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