“Than torture you and tell you when you’re being stupid? Nope.”
He briefly contemplated slitting his throat.
He’d fucked up.
He told Anne this wasn’t about what he wanted, but in his head he’d made everything all about him, making out like Anne wanted the same from him as Britt, a no-strings relationship for as long as she stuck around.
She’d said she loved him. And instead of working with what she gave him, instead of convincing her to stay, he’d said, “No, you don’t.” Dismissing her feelings, acting like she didn’t knowher own mind, with half the fire department and his ex-wife looking on. Because he was too chickenshit to tell her how he really felt, too scared of getting his stupid heart broken again.
“Besides, I can help,” Hailey added.
It was on the tip of his tongue to say,No, you can’t. But he was not making the same mistake with Hailey that he’d made with Anne.
He rinsed the razor in the sink. “Go for it.”
What a loser. Looking for romantic advice from a fourteen-year-old.
“I’ve read all herAnnebooks,” Hailey said. “You just have to be like Gilbert.”
“You want me to be like some guy in a book.”
“Not any guy. Gilbert Blythe. He’s, like, Anne’s perfect book boyfriend. You have to wait for her and support her dreams. Also, it would help if you would grovel.”
He dried his face. “Grovel, huh?”
Hailey looked at him anxiously. “It would help.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
“Of course.” She bumped her shoulder against his. “I love you.”
“Love you, too,” he said gruffly.
It wasn’t so hard to say.
So, apology first. He owed Anne that much. Grovel? Same. And then he had to fucking put himself out there.
—
He knocked onthe front door. The situation seemed to call for it.
Maddie answered, crossing her arms over her chest. “What do you want, Joe?”
He didn’t expect this to be easy. “I was hoping to see Anne. I have something for her.”
Maddie looked past him to the tarp-covered dray stopped at the gate. “Starting another project?”
Heat crawled up the back of his neck. “Is she here?”
“She’s gone.”
The words hit him over the head like a hammer. He stared at her, stunned. Numb.
Maddie huffed. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Joe. She drove down to Chicago to get her things. She’ll be back in a day or two.”
“But…she hates driving.”
“She’s a grown woman. She knows how to get where she’s going.” Maddie gave him a pointed look. “By herself, if she has to.”
