A visitor.
The rest of the day.
The day that was supposed to belong to me.
Good to know I’m so easily traded out, I guess.
I try not to storm away but mustn’t pull it off because Hart’s arm flies out in front of me. “Hey, don’t mind him. She’s Mrs. …” He trails off, thinking, “Nine hundred and seventieth The One.” He rolls his eyes like that’s supposed to make me feel better.
“Yeah, he gets like this,” Hudson adds. “Meets someone, then for a week or so, it’s all about them, until they dump him and he’s a mess over it.” He snorts. “So much for not dating.”
I’m not sure if this is supposed to be comfort or rubbing it in that Kennedy had me as an option but chose not to take it.
“Should stock up on the gin now,” Hart drones.
Hudson sighs, crossing his arms to lean against the wall. “Maybe this could be it? I wasn’t expecting Wilde. Maybe Kennedy will find?—”
“No.” Hart already sounds bored. “He’s not finding the love of his life up here. This will end the way they always do.”
“True …”
It’s like they’ve forgotten I’m still here, so I make it easy for them and leave. I jump off the open back of the house, cross the short distance to the tree line, and start the walk home.
He’s not going to find the love of his life up here.
Kennedy didn’t want me waiting for him.
So I won’t.
He knows where I live.
Let’s see how long it takes him to remember I exist.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
KENNEDY
Ireally, really don’t like this. I’m walking along with Caroline, but everything inside of me is screaming to go back to the house. I should have checked in with Ziggy. I should have told him I wouldn’t be long.
But my brothers were pushing me to go with her, and Caroline was looking at me with all this expectation after driving two hours to get here.Two hours.
I’m still spinning over the complete one-eighty the day has done so quickly. How was I supposed to tell her that I already had plans—which I didn’t—after she made the effort to come all this way?
At least I told my brothers to apologize to Ziggy for me. As long as he knows that I’m not blowing him off, that’s the main thing.
Now I have to figure out how to blow off Caroline without being rude.
“I can’t believe you’re restoring this entire town. That must be so much work.”
“It is.” I glance back at the towering houses, happy with the progress we’ve made. “We’re at the stage now where nothing feels like it’s progressing forward, and it’s hard work but a lot of patience too.”
“I could imagine.” She reaches over, playfully giving my shoulder a squeeze. “Feel how tense you are. That can’t be good for your body.”
I subtly step out of her hold and don’t have the heart to tell her that I’m tense because she caught me off guard. It’s mean to tell someone who’s obviously interested in you that you’d rather be with someone else.
Maybe her coming here was the distraction I needed though.
