“Excellent choice, Your Majesty.” He saluted and turned to the counter.
I slipped my phone from my pocket to check the time—and saw the text.
Brian
I need to swap next weekend. A new commitment came up. That works for you, right?
Polite. To the point. No greeting or asking how I was. Just dismissive brevity, as if our entire custody schedule was a puzzle piece he needed to work into his important schedule. In hindsight it was obvious to see that our relationship had always been like that—polite and little more. It was further proof that emotion mattered little to the man who’d once stood in front of our families and pledged his love and devotion.
I scoffed under my breath as my stomach twisted. Turns out, I got neither of those things during the course of our brief marriage.
Austin was still at the counter, paying for the cookie and a coffee I hadn’t asked for but knew he’d hand me anyway. He shotme a cheeky grin over his shoulder, and I forced my lips into a faint smile that didn’t quite land.
Fear crawled across my skin.
It wasn’t Austin’s charm, his ease in my life, or even the way he had seamlessly folded himself into our small-town rhythms. It was how fast he could make me forget that I had to keep my guard up.
Brian’s text was a sharp, unexpected reminder that whatever this was with Austin—it wasn’t built to last. I’d made the mistake of trusting someone else with my heart, and it had nearly cost me everything.
I thumbed out a terse reply.
Me
I’ll see if I can adjust.
The screen felt heavy in my palm.
“Selene?” Austin’s voice was a gentle nudge that pulled me back to the present. He was standing in front of me now, holding out a cup piled high with whipped cream. “It’s a mocha-chip fratboy something,” he said playfully. “Thought you could use the caffeine.”
“Mmm,frappe. Yum.” I took it automatically, my fingers brushing his, but the warmth from his hand didn’t reach me. “Thanks,” I murmured with a half smile.
His eyes narrowed, reading me like he always seemed to do. “You okay?”
I swallowed hard. “Yeah. Just life stuff. It’s nothing.”
The white lie sat bitter on my tongue.
Austin didn’t push, but his thumb swept lightly over my knuckles as he handed Winnie her massive cookie. “Well, if life stuff needs punching, you know where to find me.”
My laugh came out quicker than I intended. In hand-to-hand combat Brian wouldn’t stand a chance against Austin. It was the one thing that made me feel the most shame: I had given myself completely to a man who never fought for anything, least of all me.
I glanced at Winnie and my shoulders relaxed. If I focused on her, everything else would fall into place.
Deep down I knew that Austin deserved more than this—more than my half smiles and subtle deflections, but he didn’t know what it was like to carry the weight of a child’s stability. It was exhausting to field every curveball life hurled at you alone. Too many times I had been left holding all the pieces when someone else decided they were done trying.
I took a deep breath and painted on a sunny smile for him and Winnie.
This is my mess, not his.
And I wasn’t about to let him drown in it.
The house had settledinto its evening hush, that weighty quiet that came only after Winnie was tucked in and the dishwasher hummed low in the background. I sat on the edge of my bed, scrolling mindlessly through my phone without actually seeing anything.
Austin hadn’t stayed after dropping us off. He had walked us to the door, squeezed my hand—I think he knew I wasn’t ready to kiss in front of Winnie—and said he had to check on something at his place.
It wasn’t unusual. He still had his own life, his own space just a few feet across the porch, but for the first time I feltthe absence of him like a cold draft slipping through a cracked window.
Maybe that was the problem. I wasn’t supposed to notice.
