Page 32 of Chloé

“You sound like me the first time I found out.”

“Gobsmacked?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. I was fifteen.”

“Fifteen?”

“Mhmm. Imagine finding out your first crush was one of the richest people in the country.”

“I… I can’t even.”

“Exactly.”

* * *

ZAYNE PLACED THE photo of Edward Holt back on the shelf and took Chloé’s hand.

“Check this out.” He entwined their fingers and tugged her over to the window that overlooked the beautiful magnolia. “Did he show you this photo?”

She shook her head as Zayne picked up the frame on the desk and handed it to her. Chloé took it with such care that it was like he was handing her the finest china. But the second her eyes locked on the image, her breath caught and her hand flew to her mouth.

He understood the reaction, because he’d had the exact same one when he first saw the photo of Ethan’s parents—especially his father.

“Oh my God.” She glanced up at him, and Zayne nodded.

“Wild, isn’t it?”

Her eyes fell back to the moment that had been caught so perfectly in time, just outside this window, in front of the lake.

Ethan stood between his parents, his father had his arm wrapped around his wife, and they each had a hand on their little boy’s shoulders.

Zayne remembered the first time he’d seen that photo and how confused he’d been by the way it made him feel so…sad. A deep sadness not only for the little boy in the photo but for himself. He’d never known a love like that, something so pure, something so freely given, and seeing it firsthand had made him realize what he didn’t have. What neither of them had anymore.

“The resemblance is uncanny.” She drew her fingers across Ethan’s father’s cheek. “It must be so hard,” she whispered. “Always looking at—”

“A ghost?”

She nodded, her eyes glistening. “That’s so sad.”

“It is. It’s something he struggles with a lot. Can I give you some advice?”

“Please.”

“Wait for him.”

Chloé frowned, and Zayne reached out to smooth his thumb across the creases of her brow.

“I know you’re probably trying to remember what happened to his parents right now. That you must’ve heard it somewhere along the way, with their being so famous. But let him tell you. It’s his story, and now you’re a part of that. Don’t read someone else’s version.”

Chloé looked back to the family she held in her hands. “Is that what you did?”

“Yeah. I was pushy and impatient. I rushed him.”

“You were fifteen.”

“I know.” Zayne stepped around her and walked over to the window to stare out at the lake. Then he shut his eyes and remembered the first time he ever stood there…

“ETHAN?” ZAYNE BANGED on Ethan’s dorm room door for the third time in a matter of minutes, his frustration level mounting as he stood in the empty corridor. “I know you’re in there, so stop ignoring me.”

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