Darren was digging a hole so deep, it was about to cave in on him.
He clearly didn’t know—or care—how dedicated she was to her students, whether they be her regulars or the resort’s guests.
“Why are you here, Darren? Other than to insult me all over again.”
“I...It’s...”
Hope lifted a palm to stop his sputtering and pushed off the kitchen counter where she’d been leaning. “By the way, you left a couple of boxes behind. I’ll get them for you.”
“No need. I’ll just be bringing them back when I move back in.”
Hope’s head jerked back from his audacity. “I said I’d give you a chance to speak. I let you speak. Now it’s my turn. You won’t be moving back in, Darren. You not only disrespected me by trying to dictate where I could work, but you disrespected everyone—guests and employees alike—at the Double D by calling them perverts and worse. I’m done. Truthfully, I’m much happier without you. I want to keep it that way.”
“Ouch.”
“Funny, I felt the same way when you insisted that teaching yoga wasn’t a real job.”
“I didn’t mean it.”
“It came out of your mouth,” she reminded him.
“I was worried about you teaching there. Anyone who goes to a place like that has no morals.”
“Then you’re also saying thatIhave no morals.”
“Hope, we were good together. We were happy together.”
“I thought so, too, until you showed your true colors. But once you left, I realized I wasn’t as happy as I thought.” She wasn’t going to unnecessarily get into the boring sex.
“You just need to give me a chance.”
“No, I don’t. You had your chance and you blew it.”
“This is my house, too.”
“It was your house until you left me with the mortgage payments.”
“There’s equity in this house that belongs to me.”
She tipped her head to the side. “Is there? Have you seen the mortgage statement recently? Do you know how much was paid down on the principal? And I made the down payment, not you. So, it’s my house, not ours. If you want to take over the monthly payments and all the expenses, you are free to buy me out. Take the house and I’ll move out.”
She really didn’t want to do that, but she didn’t doubtthat Darren wouldn’t want to take over the payments on his own.
“Now, you had your say. I’m going to grab the boxes you forgot.” Without waiting for a response, she headed over to the coat closet and pulled out the two small boxes.
She returned to the kitchen and shoved the stacked boxes at him. “Here you go and please don’t come back. I’m loving my life right now with you not in it.”
She ignored his muttered curse and as soon as he had a good grip on the boxes, she went to the junk drawer and pulled out the card she had written one night.
“And don’t forget this.” She placed the envelope on top of the boxes he was holding. “I would’ve mailed it but you never left your forwarding address.”
His eyes dropped to it. “What is it?”
“A thank you card.”
His brow furrowed. “For what?”
“For leaving and letting me find the two men who love and accept me as I am.”
