Brett folds his arms over his chest and pulls in a long inhale, then purses his lips to release his breath. "Can you calm down, please?" he asks, sounding detached from the situation.
"Calm down?" I shout. "How? I don’t know what is going on right now,but you need to tell me what the two of you discussed in the back room. This isn’t fair."
Brett closes his eyes and leans his head back, taking a moment to pause before responding. "He wants to buy Journey’s share and gift it to you, so you own the entire shop," Brett says.
I take a long second to process his words, but I don’t need long to see right through the lie. "He would gift the share of the shop to me?" I ask. The pessimism written across my face should be more than clear.
"Mel, the guy still loves you. He told me he would move back up here to be with you and get married, give you children; everything you wanted from him but didn’t get. He asked me to back off."
My heart falls to the pit of my stomach while I figure out how to digest this load of crap.
If he had asked me to marry him and wanted a family two years ago, I would have said yes, but not for the right reason. I was twenty-five and felt like I had been wasting precious years, investing myself in a relationship that should lead to marriage and a family. I knew if I started over, it might not happen at all. I haven’t been with Ace for the right reasons since shortly after we moved to South Carolina. It wasn’t like our relationship was toxic or abusive—we are two completelydifferent people with opposite visions of the future.
"I don’t want a life with him," I tell Brett. "Not anymore."
Brett allows his arms to fall by his sides. "Look, Mel, I don’t want to be a factor in any of this between you both. I know you had broken things off before coming back to Vermont, but if I hadn’t stepped in, maybe you wouldn’t feel this way about Ace’s plans."
Would I?
"Maybe I wouldn’t be as confident about my decision if I hadn’t run into you, but honestly, even if I never see you again after today, I know what I had with Ace would never offer me a lifetime of happiness. That has nothing to do with you, Brett.”
I can’t tell if Brett is trying to hide a hint of a smile or if he’s lost in thought with other concerns, but it feels like he’s staring right through me. "I don’t want him buying Journey’s share of the shop, even if he says he will gift it to me."
Brett takes a few hesitant steps toward me, allowing me to see the flush of pink across his cheeks. "I think it’s something the two of you need to discuss." I don’t want to discuss a damn thing with Ace. I want him to leave me alone and go back to South Carolina, where I don’t have to worry about him lurking around the corners. "People go through so many stages of grief after losing a loved one. Hating those who are closest to you can sometimes be part of the process. You might feel something else after the pain settles."
I don’t know what kind of wooing words Ace used on Brett, but I wish he believed me when I said I hadn’t been happy long before I found out about Dad.
"Thanks for the tip," I say, shaking my head.
"Look, I’m not trying to upset you or be too forward, but I have to make sure I’m not getting myself in the middle of anything here. I care about you and I feel so much pain for what you are going through, but I have to be careful, Melody. I just—I can’t pull Parker into a situation that could have a negativeimpact on her."
A situation.
Me.
That’s what he thinks of me.
"Wow.” I gaze past his shoulder because I can’t bear to look him in the eyes. "I have been nothing but honest with you, but I’m sorry for causing you a ‘situation.'"
I know Journey is on her way so I brush past Brett to gather my belongings in the back room so I can leave with her when she arrives. It’s freezing and snowing out, but I’d rather stand outside than have to continue this conversation about my questionable future with Ace.
I send Journey another text so she knows where to find me.
Me:I’m out back, waiting.
Journey:?
Me:Let’s just say guys tend to have another guy’s back in his time of need. And stop responding to me while you’re driving.
Journey:I’m at the stoplight across the street.
It’s about ten minutes of shivering beneath the heavy snowflakes before Journey opens the back door, finding me against the brick edifice. "I told you I was out back. Why did you park out front?" I ask her.
Journey cocks her head to the side and loops our arms, leading us around the building to where she parked her car. "Get in."
She left the car running and I couldn’t be more grateful for the heat roaring at me as I close myself inside her Jeep. "What did you say to Brett?" I ask, knowing it’s the reason she parked out front.
"Nothing he didn’t already know," she says, pulling her gloves off.
