Chapter Ten
Tori’s heartwas pounding a mile a minute. The last thing she wanted to do right now was talk to her ex—the rat-bastard who left her nearly at the altar just a few days earlier.
The hurt woman inside her wanted to call Stephen all sorts of terrible names. Asshole. Jerkface.
But on the other hand, she was a grown-up who would need to disentangle her life from the guy at some point, and the sooner the better. While shock was still protecting her a bit.
And while she still had Logan around the corner to give her a hug when this awkwardness was done with.
It helped that Stephen sounded awkward and unsure on the other end of the line. “How are you doing?”
She closed her eyes. “I don’t know how to answer that.”I kissed Logan. That distracted me nicely.“I’m still in shock.”
“I’m sorry I waited so long.” Not sorry he broke up with her. Just that it took him a while to work up the courage. “I should have been more honest with you. I’d like to be clear that there isn’t anyone else. It’s…it really wasn’t you. You are lovely. But deep down, I was trying to make myself want something for the wrong reasons.”
“You sound like a self-help book.”
He barked a laugh. “Yeah. I guess. I’ll probably be reading a lot of those in the next while. I…I saw your picture. I’m glad you went on the—” He stuttered overhoneymoon, cutting himself off. “Trip.”
“Me too.”
“Did you—are you alone?”
Frowning, she thought about how to answer that. And why it gave her a weird, angsty feeling in her chest.He dumped you. It doesn’t matter.“Logan had a week off, so he came with me. He’s been a champ about my rollercoaster feelings.”
There was a long pause before he made a single syllable response. “Ah.”
Well, if he didn’t like the answer… That better not be why he called. “Was there anything else?”
“Uh, yes. Right. I wanted to tell you that I’ve settled the bill with the hotel. Out of my own funds.”
Ten grand down the drain, on top of the deposit. What a waste. “Good.”
“And about the ring—”
She made a face. “I don’t want to keep it. I left it with my sisters to give you.”
“Elspeth said that.”
“You talked to her?”
“Not exactly. She texted me. Twenty-three times.”
Tori snorted, pleasantly surprised. “I didn’t see that coming.”
“Neither did I.”
“I want to say that I’m sorry for the avalanche of Elspeth, but I’m not?”
“No, that’s fair. I deserve some sister-anger. I told her to give you the ring back when you return. I won’t be using it again, and if you can sell it to recoup some of the money…”
“I’ll think about it. But it was a token of something—” She hoped it had been, anyway, and if it hadn’t, maybe she didn’t want to hear that right now. “It’s not just a ring. It represents something. It would be crass to sell it.”
“I understand. In time, I hope that changes. I hope to make this up to you.”
Easier said than done. And just like that, her heart ached. For the lie she fell for, for the thing that would never be. For a figment of her imagination. “I need to get going.”
“Take care of yourself, Victoria.”
