“The prince and I know each other.”
“Yes, that much is obvious.I mentioned your name earlier, and he?—”
“What?”It’s the most eager I’ve seen him.
“He pretended he didn’t know you, but I could tell he was lying.”
Everything that was open in his expression shutters closed.There’s no sadness in the fall of his shoulders, only resignation.
“I knew him in Chance.We were … close.I had a choice, and I chose duty over him.”
So, that’s why …
Oh, Sterling.Oh, Lucky.
“That is why I cannot accompany you.It’s simply too painful.”
Everything makes sense now.“I’m sorry.”
Sterling shakes his head.“Thank you, but it is I who should apologize.”
“Perhaps there is another way.You could tell him how you feel, and we could speak with Louis?—”
“No, it’s too late for that.Even if the wedding were called off, he wouldn’t want anything to do with me.”
A familiar voice stops my heart.“Are you talking about me, or is there another man whose heart you broke beyond repair?”
I didn’t even hear the door open, but it must have because there Lucky is, openly staring at Sterling with pain clear on his face.
“I was a coward,” Sterling says, not yet facing him.“You deserved better.”
I dare not interrupt, but there is noise in the hallway, and my gut is telling me that if we are found, any hope these two have of talking will evaporate.Fortunately, Lucky blinks out of his stunned stupor, quietly closing the door.
“Yes, you were, and I did.So did you.”He looks uneasy in the space, his gaze darting around at his trunk, the bed, the floor.Me.Landing on Sterling in between each item, as though he must check he’s still here.“You knew I was here, in Ferntree.”
Sterling nods.
A breath rushes out of Lucky.“Right.”
He walks over to the fireplace, leaning a hand on the mantel, looking like a man ready to crumple under the slightest weight.It’s awful and so far from the man I met earlier that I hate to see it.
“I wanted to talk to you.I wrote you a hundred times, but no words ever seemed like enough.Sorry never seemed enough.”
“Better to make me think you were ignoring me or dead.Did it mean anything to you?”Bitterness laces Lucky’s tone.
“It meant everything to me.”
There has to be a way to fix this.To save them from themselves.
Because if anything is obvious to me now, it’s that they are too stubborn for their own good.I could call off the wedding.Louis would be disappointed, but he’d get over it.It would be the right thing to do, to get out of the way.
Except look at them.Steps apart, clearly drawn to each other, but they can’t even look at each other.If I call this wedding off, all that will happen is that Lucky will sail back home, and the two of them will continue this miserable dance until one or both of them are dead.
I refuse to let them.
I walk to the door, my steps trampling over my own feelings in the process, but they’re not important right now.I’ll have plenty of time to rest my wounded heart in Chance—afterI’ve righted this wrong.
“I’m going to find my brother, let him know I’m not well.The wedding will continue tomorrow, but there will be three of us traveling back to Chance, not two.”
