He opened the door and looked at me but didn’t invite meinside.
“It’s freezing out here. Can I come in?” I stepped forward, not giving him a chance to say no. “I know you’re planning on leaving, butdon’t.”
He shut the front door. “Whynot?”
“Because your family and friends are here. Trust me, you don’t want to be alone when you can be with the people youlove.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I tried that already. It didn’t work out so well. The woman, despite all my promises and time we spent together so that I thought we were growing closer, decided to marry anotherman.”
“No, Ididn’t.”
He dropped his arms to his side and marched past me toward the kitchen. “I saw you and thering.”
“I’m mailing it back to him. Edward isn’t the man I thought he was, or I failed at making him into the perfect man. The perfect man doesn’texist.”
Kevin went to the fireplace and picked up the poker. “Sorry to hear you couldn’t find your perfectman.”
“That’s not what I meant.” My lungs tightened, and my heart pounded in my chest. “Listen, when I saw that acceptance letter in your truck, I panicked. You’d said you wouldn’tleave.”
“I wasn’t going to. I’d only applied to the program to get Joe and Kaley off my back. They’ve been trying to push me out of this town because they think I’m punishing myself, but they have it wrong. I love Magnolia Corners, and I wanted to raise my own familyhere.”
“I didn’t know,” I said, moving closer tohim.
“You could’ve asked. Listen, you had your say, but it doesn’t change anything. I said I’d stay, and you didn’t believe me. You ran off before I couldexplain.”
I lifted my hand, longing to connect with him again, but he backed away. “I know you did,but—”
He set the poker back and faced me. “I think you should go. I’ve got work todo.”
“Please,Kevin.”
He held up one hand. “It would never work. You should go back to college and figure out what you really want in life.” Without another word, he went to the front door and held it open for me. My legs felt like they were going to collapse before I reached the front steps. The way he looked at me, cold and distant, ripped a hole in my chest, leaving me feeling fatallywounded.
I managed to drive home, crawl into bed, and there I remained for two days. On the third, I knew I couldn’t let my sisters down during the busiest season of the year, so I worked alongside them and Ashton for the rest of the week. It was so busy, we had to set up a stand outside in the cold to expedite package pickup. I think I volunteered just so I could feel something, even if it was frostbite. At the end of the shift, I crawled into bed and swore I’ d never leave my roomagain.
“Zoey, you need to get up.” Avery came in with a cup of coffee inhand.
I tossed the covers over my head. “Why?”
“Because it’s ChristmasEve.”
“So?”
She sat on the corner of the bed, which dipped and sent me rolling into her. “So, you have the party to throw at the rehab center,remember?”
I peered around the corner of the covers. “That’stoday?”
“Yep.”
I threw off the covers and bolted from bed. “Why didn’t you say so? Oh my goodness, there’s so much todo.”
“Don’t worry. Remember, the bakery’s closed for Christmas holidays. The last of the deliveries went out last night. Speaking of, did you get feeling back in yourtoes?”
“My toes, yes. The rest of me is still numb, but I don’t think it’s frozen from thecold.”
Avery pulled me into a hug and then handed me coffee. “I still loveyou.”
“Iknow.”
