Oh…right. She lost a little bit of her happiness. “Yes.”
Michael handed her phone back. “You got tickets again?”
“Yes.” She closed the picture.
He sat down across from her, a ‘v’ forming between his brows. “You didn’t tell me,” he said quietly.
“I didn’t mean not to tell you. I was trying to find a charity to donate them to and Claudia hinted that she’d like to go, so I gave her the tickets.” She smiled and shrugged. “Looks like it was a good call.”
He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms. “I can’t say that it doesn’t bother me that you never send them back.”
She leaned forward and threaded her fingers into the hand that rested on top of his arms. “The first time I received tickets, I was going to burn them and send back the ashes.”
“But you didn’t.”
She shook her head. “A classmate volunteered for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and mentioned there was a little boy whose wish was to go to a Luke Stone concert, but they were having a hard time reaching anyone on his management team to see if they could get tickets for him and his mom. I gave her the tickets.”
“That was a coincidence.”
“Kismet.” She wanted to make sure he understood she wasn’t holding onto the tickets for any sentimental value. “I’ve donated the tickets ever since. Someone should enjoy them.”
“How does he know where to send them?” he asked.
“I’ve lived in this apartment since I moved to Colorado and I sent him my address when I first got here,” she explained. “I thought maybe…”
“You’d get back together,” Michael finished.
She shrugged and let go of his hand. Leaning back in her seat, she dropped her gaze to the table. “It was foolish, but I still loved him. He didn’t feel the same and I eventually moved on.” She raised her eyes. “A couple of years later, I met you. Things don’t always work out the way you think they will when we’re young, but they work out the way they’re supposed to.”
“What about after we get married? What are you going to do with them then?”
“What do you want me to do?”
He stared at her for several loaded seconds before uncrossing his arms and taking her hand in his. “Selfishly, I don’t want you to take them but they go to a good cause.”
She squeezed his hand. “It’s okay to be selfish. I doubt I’ll get any more after this anyway and if I do, I’ll send them back.”
He leaned forward and kissed her gently. “I’m beat and I have to go in for a few hours tomorrow. I’m going to bed.”
“I’m going to finish the dishes and watch a show. I’ll be in there in a bit.”
“Okay.” He kissed her again, then retreated to the bedroom, leaving the door open a crack.
Rowan picked up her phone and opened the picture. He looked good. In jeans and a worn t-shirt with a little bit of scruff on his face, he was the poster child for bad boy country singer. He was in his element and enjoying every minute of it.
She clicked theeditlink, cropped the picture so only Maria and Claudia were visible, and saved it to her phone.
