“It’s nothing. It’s nothing, Izzy,” I tell her, trying to keep her from going any closer to the door.
She pauses, brows slamming together, and I swear in that instant, she knows. She knows exactly what I’m shielding her from without ever having to see a thing.
“No,” she whispers, shaking her head. “No, no, no.”
She shoves past me, and this time I let her. I hate myself a little for the fact that I let her, but it’s a necessary evil.
Then I hear her choked sob, and my heart breaks right along with hers.
I knew it. I knew this was going to happen. I mean, not Craig cheating on Izzy, because I thought he loved her. I thought that they were forever. They ... they gave me hope.
Hope.
Ugh. It’s such a terrible thing. An awful, rotten, no-good thing.
I can’t believe I let myself buy into this. Let myself get caught up in this wedding and think for one second the curse wasn’t going to come back and bite me or someone I love in the ass. I can’t believe I let myselfdream of a future. Let myself believe I wanted one. Or that maybe the curse was broken.
I can’t believe I’ve let myself fall for Noah.
And I have fallen for him—big-time.
But this? Seeing Craig break Izzy’s heart like this? I don’t have hope anymore.
All I have is fucking heartache. For my best friend. For my business. And for myself.
I don’t have time to think about that now. I need to be there for Izzy.
I turn around just as Craig finishes pulling up his pants.
“Craig ...” Her voice is scratchy and laced with pain. “How ... how could you?”
“Isabelle,” he says, crossing the room toward us.
I step in front of her, blocking him from getting any closer.
“Really, Odette?” He sneers at me.
“Yes, really. You aren’t going anywhere near her.”
“I never liked you, you know.”
“The feeling’s mutual,” I toss back.
But that’s not true. Ididlike Craig, which makes this even harder. I thought he loved Izzy. He’s never shown any signs of not being head over heels for her.
Or maybe he has, and maybe I just ignored all the signs. Maybe Izzy has ignored them too.
“How could you?” Izzy repeats to him. “And how couldyou, Tara? I was in your shop just last week buying candles.”
Tara.That’s right. She co-owns the candle shop with her mother.
“I-I-I’m so sorry,” she says, her eyes wide with surprise. “I ... I had no idea.”
“No idea? We’re getting married.Tomorrow.”
“Izzy, I swear. Craig said you broke up. I ran into him at the bar last week, and he told me the wedding was off. We’ve been texting ever since, and today he invited me over—”
“Shut up!” Craig screams at her, and she flinches at his outburst.
