“I know the last two months have been hard. I’ve been difficult. You’ve tried to talk to me and I either ignored you or told you it had to wait.”
She leaned back and looked up at him. “And let me guess, you’re late, so we’ll have to finish this later, too.” She sounded so dejected.
He took the verbal slap. It was nothing less than what he deserved. “What? No.”
Her eyes filled with skepticism. “Aren’t you supposed to be down at the stables helping Charlie this morning? That’s why I came so early.”
Right. With the blow she’d dealt him, he’d completely forgotten about helping Charlie and never questioned why she was here, in his room, when they never stayed here.
“Charlie can wait. We need to resolve this.” He glanced at the clock and figured he could spare half an hour. He’d been letting things between him and Kristi move along without his really thinking beyond the fact that they were expecting a child and the wedding needed to get done.
“Cody,” she said softly. “I understand you’re upset I didn’t tell you right away. The truth is, things between us were rocky at best at the time, and I was afraid I’d lose you. Things are better now. I knew we’d find our way back to each other and we have. But I also thought you might need some time once I told you about the baby, so I didn’t send out the invitations. In fact, I moved the wedding date altogether. Again.”
What?“You did?” He read the sincerity in her eyes.
She was sorry things had gotten so crazy in their lives, and she hadn’t told him sooner.
And she was right, there was more between them than just the baby they’d lost.
“I had the engraver change the date on the wedding invitations to the third weekend in June. I booked the church for that weekend and changed the caterers and the band and everything else.” She took him by the arms and looked him right in the eyes. “I really want this, Cody. I hope you do, too. I know it isn’t how we might have done things originally, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it at all.”
He understood what she wasn’t saying. She wanted him to take the next few months to make sure she was really who he wanted to marry. He appreciated the fact that she understoodsomething had happened before Christmas with Brooke, but she didn’t ask about it. She didn’t put it front and center and in between them.
Probably because if she did, it would hang there forever.
With Brooke away at school, Kristi had given him the time he needed to put it behind him and try to make a life with her.
“I know your first instinct is to run to Brooke because that’s what you’ve always done. But she cut you out of her life because of our relationship. That’s not a friend.”
Ouch!
It’s not like Kristi made an effort with Brooke.
“Please consider that I’m here, while she’s away at school, living her life with a future she’s just starting to plan. By this summer, she’ll have her degree. After, she’ll build a career. It will be a fresh start for her with a world of possibilities in front of her.”
This was as close as she’d come to saying outright that she knew he wanted a relationship with Brooke.
Kristi tapped her fingers on his arms to get his attention back. “You and me, we run in the same circles and have so much in common. We’re the same age, which makes it easy for us to relate to each other. I have my own career. I’m ready to settle down and have a family with you. That’s whereweare inourlife together.”
All true. She made a good case.
Where did he fit in Brooke’s life?
He couldn’t very well give everything up here and go and be with her in San Antonio. How would they repair their broken friendship with a long-distance relationship?
How would they be together when they lived such separate lives?
He didn’t even know if he could get her to talk to him.
What if she’d already moved on and found someone new?
What if they tried and things didn’t work out between them and he lost her again?
He didn’t know if he could live through that kind of pain a second time.
You’ll never know unless you try.
This is your chance to have everything you really want. Take it!
