“You can’t live your life according to the what ifs.” His touch was gentle as he pulled me closer. “You’ll go mad considering all the possibilities. There’s only the what is. Your mum is home. The doctor seemed really pleased with her progress. She’s made a textbook recovery.” Fingers stroked through my hair. “If all you focus on is what could happen, you miss what is actually happening.”
“Like making good coffee.” I smiled as I pulled away. “But not the Australian kind. That will send Mom right back to hospital.”
“I thought you Americans were supposed to be tough,” he said with a grin. “OK, you make your weak brew and I’ll get the bags.”
Focussing on the first step, then the next, helped me to get out of my own head. The sound of the microwave whirring as I heated the water was almost enough to muffle the sounds of someone shouting. Not quite though, so I walked out of the kitchen with a frown, only to discover we had a visitor.
Apparently, Sandra had told Alex we were coming home today.
The sight of my ex standing just inside the front gate, a massive bouquet in his hands, would’ve been so welcome months ago. I’d dreamed of just this scenario as I watched yet another Hallmark movie, but now it was actually happening, I just grit my teeth and walked over.
“Call off your guard dog,” he told me, not even realising how imperious he sounded. “Mackenzie, I just wanted a chance to apologise.”
“For what?” Cocking my hip, my arms crossed as I stared Alex down. “Wasting some poor florists hard work buying me yet more flowers, when we both know what that means.” Mom had told me at some point I’d look at Alex and wonder what I saw in him. That moment was now.
“Can’t we talk about this inside?” The face of the boy who’d been my best friend and my lover stared at me, but my memory of our history was forever tainted. “Mackenzie, I made a mistake and?—”
“Damn right, you did.” Troy’s rough growl was exactly what I needed to hear. “You had this girl ready to walk down the aisle with you, ready to become your wife and you what? Said you couldn’t do this? You’re a bloody idiot, mate. If I…” His hand thrust into his pocket, closing around something, but he shook his head as he looked back at me. “If a woman like Mackenzieagreed to marry me, I wouldn’t be able to get to a chapel fast enough, because I’d be locking down that shit fast.”
“Really?”
Alex was forgotten in that moment, his flowers not even an afterthought. All I could see was Troy standing there. His colour was up, his eyes shining as his breath came fast. Those clenched fists made clear why. But he let his fingers release, then came to stand before me.
“Of course. A man only gets one chance with a woman like you. Love…” His smile was as gentle as his touch. “Maybe I’m not endgame for you, but you deserve more than a dickhead like this.”
And I did. It was something I was well aware of academically, but right then, it finally seemed to sink in. That certainty allowed me to turn around and face Alex.
“We settled for each other.”
“No, Mackenzie?—”
“I was always there and so were you. Our families always talked about how cute it would be if we got together and we just… did. I didn’t choose you.” Alex jerked back as if slapped. “And you never chose me.” My eyes dropped to Mom’s flowerbeds as I shook my head slowly. “That’s what had you breaking up with me months before the wedding. Inertia can only take you so far.”
A heavy hand landed on my shoulder and I was glad then it wasn’t Alex’s. Troy kept me grounded. His strength felt like it flowed down his fingers and into me. But it was actually my own that I felt in this moment.
“I chose myself when I went to Australia, for the first time in my adult life. I chose me and now…” Smiling up at Troy was a welcome thing, because it was now I felt all the pain and stress of everything that happened when I got back to the US just fade away. “I choose Troy.”
His smile was brighter than the sun shining behind his head, creating a kind of halo.
“So what? You’re just going to toss aside our future for some Crocodile Dundee wannabe?” Alex snapped.
“No, I’m going to go and make my mother a coffee with my Australian boyfriend, and if you’re not gone by the time I get inside, I’m calling the cops,” I said.
That look. I used to tie myself in knots, hoping to prevent Alex from staring at me like that, but it never worked. Seeing those hard eyes, his lips thin down, it did nothing for me now other than prompt a realisation. Troy could be an asshole, but he never did this. Glare at me like a disapproving teacher dealing with an unruly student.
“You’ll regret this,” Alex snapped before turning on his heel.
“No, she won’t.” When Troy’s arms went around me, when he held me against his chest, I could finally relax. A kiss pressed to the top of my head and he clarified why. “Because unlike you, dickhead, I’ll make it my life’s mission to make sure every damn day is better than the next. So piss off back to your fancy car and leave my girl the fuck alone, because next time this conversation won’t be anywhere near as civil.”
“Did you just offer to beat down my ex for me?” I asked as Alex’s car roared off.
“That wasn’t an offer,” he said, staring down at me. “That was a promise. Any guy that treats you like that doesn’t get to breathe the same air as you, Mackenzie.”
“Ooh… possessive.” I couldn’t help but smile. “I kinda like this side of you.”
“Yeah?” He spun me around and guided me back into the house. “Well, have I got some things to show you.”
“Who was that?” Mom asked, walking carefully towards the couch.
