What?He hadn’t even responded to the fact that she’d reminded him of her love. Swallowing back the lump in her throat, Larke held tight to the shock and hurt. “I was?”
“Yeah. It wouldn’t have worked out.Wewouldn’t have worked. Things were moving too fast, anyway. We’re still young. No sense in being trapped so soon.”
Trapped? We were in love. I’m still in love.“Oh,” she said, her voice shamefully cracking. “I um...I guess you didn’t appreciate me telling you that I love you awhile ago.” Her eyes began to burn. She hated crying. Wouldn’t cry again. But God, they burned so much from those stupid tears trying to further her humiliation.
“Are you crying?”
She sniffled. “No.” A tear broke free. She couldn’t lie. “Yes. A little.”
He went silent again. Larke heard nothing. Not even the sound of him breathing. For a while, she wondered if the line had gone dead. It hadn’t. His next sentence, however, made her wish he’d taken pity on her and hung up without saying anything else.
“I want you to delete my number. Don’t call me again.”
The phone slipped from her hand as the connection ended. She covered her mouth, holding in the sob while staring at the phone. Larke cried in silence, trembling under her restraint to not allow the violent sob to break free. But the tears flowed. They refused to be contained. She wept for herself, Chase and the future they’d never have together.
He doesn’t want me anymore.She shouldn’t care. She shouldn’t. She’d been the one to send him through the door, claiming she could no longer be with a person like him, but damn it. It hurt. So much, her stomach clenched with pain and nausea threatened to bring her to her knees. Their relationship was over. No more Chase. No more kisses. No more anything with him. She wanted to curl up into a ball and stay there forever or for however long it took to stop the hurt.
There was no going back. No apologies. No changing of mind. She’d said her piece; made her regret known and he didn’t care.Doesn’t want me.And if Chase ever decided to walk away from his hate group, he wouldn’t walk freely into her arms. She wouldn’t be the woman to stand with him and celebrate his freedom. That alone made her wrench her hand from her mouth, allowing the loud, god-awful cry that welled and bubbled at her throat to rip free. Uninhibited.
* * *
It tookan entire month before Larke returned to life the way it was. Before she’d fallen in love and had her heart broken. Writing was going as well as could be and she’d even been invited to another book reading from a librarian who’d heard good things about her first reading. On the second go around, there were significantly less butterflies flitting around inside her stomach than the first time. Watching the smile on the faces of the children also helped to lighten her mood and provide a sense of peace.
Larke had yet to begin reading before a familiar face popped up beside her. It was the man who’d asked her out after her first reading session.
She smiled. “Did you and your daughter return to hear me read?”
The dark-haired man laughed. “No. My daughter’s at her mother’s house. I saw the announcement and made it a point to get here.” He pulled out a copy of her book. “We forgot to ask you for an autograph the last time, do you mind?”
“No. I’d love to. What’s your daughter’s name?”
“Ariadne.” He spelled it out.
Larke carefully signed her name then returned the book to him. “It was nice seeing you again. I appreciate—”
He interrupted. “I know I’m about to be shot down again, but would you like to go out for coffee?”
She sighed. “I told you I was in a relationship.”
“That was then. What about now?”
She wanted to turn him down. Everything about this man was off. He wasn’t the one she’d had her heart set on. He wasn’t Chase.
Maybe that’s a good thing, a voice inside her head countered. Larke hesitated and gave it some thought. Relenting, she found herself agreeing to the coffee date. Shewouldput effort into forgetting Chase. Just like he’d forgotten her.
After the reading ended, they rounded a corner to a coffee shop nearby. The mid-day date was awkward at first, but after a while, Larke began to warm to him. Raymond was an architect, with a good sense of humor and they’d both grown up in the same area. It also turned out they’d even graduated from the same high school, he a few years ahead of her. That had led to some interesting conversation and jokes. But... Something was missing. There was no spark. No rush of excitement of any kind. Larke wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or filled with despair.
“Tell me, how does a young lady like yourself end up writing children’s books?”
She smiled. This was a safe topic. “Because I had to focus my weird imagination into
something useful.”
He nodded. “Of course you know I have to ask next if your boyfriend is out of the picture?”
The smile fell. Larke stared down at her cup of coffee. “Yes, he is.”
“Doesn’t sound like you’re happy about that. It wasn’t a mutual breakup?”
