Done. He’d already fallen in love with a local girl.
“I...” She paused, looking flustered.
She very rarely got flustered. Had she read his mind? Or maybe the idea of him falling in love with a local girl had bothered her for some reason?
Let that be it.Hope multiplied inside of him.
Britt flipped a lock of hair over her shoulder. “In fact, while you’re finishing your tour, I promise to keep an eye out so that I’ll have some good dating prospects waiting for you when you return home.”
Zander’s spirits took a sharp, sharp turn south.
“Like I said, time is of the essence,” Margaret stated. “I’d appreciate it if you’d keep an eye out for a husband for Britt, Zander.”
Not going to happen.
If Britt married anyone other than him he’d have to move to Iceland and live in a hut without Wi-Fi. “Excuse me.” He moved toward the kitchen’s sliding door. “I want to see what Willow and Corbin have done with the yard.”
He couldn’t care less about the yard. He needed a minute to adjust to the uppercut punch of disappointment he’d just taken.
He walked beyond the view of the kitchen and kept going, inhaling the cool air.
“I’ll have some gooddating prospects waiting for you,”she’d said.
As far as he was concerned, dating was a cuss word.
Britt delighted in discussing the subject. He hated it.
God knows he didn’t want to hear about the guy she’d met at a party, or about their first date, or about her concerns over his neediness. Almost as bad? Their discussions about his dating life.
Britt had often tried to play the role of matchmaker for him. Truth be told, she wasn’t terrible at it. She knew him, and she knew what type of woman would suit him. Most of the time, he’d side-stepped her attempts to set him up. But occasionally, he’d gone out with the women she’d recommended.
When his dating attempts failed, Britt would kindly suggest that he might be too picky.
He’d never argued. Hewastoo picky.
Because he only wanted her. There wasn’t enough real estate in his heart for anyone else.
Britt didn’t want to own that particular piece of real estate, anda lot of the time, he didn’t want her to own it, either. The situation he’d locked himself into was stupidly painful.
So he’d repeatedly forced himself to give dating a shot. A handful of times, he’d dated a woman for a month or more. In those instances, he’d told himself to give it time. Why was he demanding so much? Relationships shouldn’t be rushed. He’d get to know the woman gradually, treat her as well as he possibly could, and maybe the feelings would come.
Once, he’d lectured himself into going out with Bailey Benton for three whole months. Bailey had been in law school. Her personality had been quick. Her laughter genuine. Her hair red.
But the feelings had never come.
They hadn’t come because of one simple truth: He was in love with someone else.
When Bailey had looked at him with melting softness, he’d felt like a jerk for two reasons.
One, because he’d known he was stringing her along and wasting her time. Bailey had deserved to be with someone who wasn’t constantly thinking to himself that dating her was a counterfeit version of what he really wanted.
Two, because he hadn’t been able to shake the notion that he was cheating on Britt. Britt, who regularly had boyfriends of her own. He’d finally come to the conclusion that it wasn’t Britt he was betraying, exactly. Each time he went out with someone else, it was his love for Britt he was betraying.
It had been a relief to take a break from dating while overseas. For eighteen months, he hadn’t had to hear the woman who was perfect for him tell him she’d found someone perfect for him who wasn’t her.
The Easter-themed tablescape Willow had created was, as Britt had expected it to be, a bona fide work of art.
Pink and white peonies flowed from squat vases onto varying sizes of moss-covered spheres. Nestled within the delta of flowersperched tiny terra-cotta pots sprouting real grass and silvery votive candles twinkling with light. Britt found her china plate by locating the pale pink egg stenciled with aBsitting atop a sea-foam green linen napkin.
