“Would it even work, though? You guys are still legally married, right?”
“Legally separated. So, legally, I can do whatever the hell I want.”
I shook my head, though. “Why can’t you do something else legally, then, to force him to sign the papers? Doesn’t the divorce get filed anyway, even if someone refuses to sign?”
“It does, yes. But he won’t leave me alone. Even if I do find a way to get him to sign, he’ll hunt me down until I cave. He’ll keep showing up, inserting himself into my life, and begging me to come back and play whatever part he sees for me in his future. Because that’s the thing: it’s not our future, it’s his.”
I leaned heavily against the back of the couch. “Have you tried getting a restraining order to keep him from coming to see you?”
“It’s not that simple, Caleb. If it were, I would’ve already done it. He’s got connections everywhere. I had to have an hour and a half talk with my lawyer last night because after he left here? The first person he called was him, and that man was ready to drop me as a client for good.”
That perked up my ears. “What did Blake say to him?”
I shrugged. “Probably threatened him, I don’t know the details. All I know was that I had to practically grovel before my lawyer doubled my fees to justify ‘the heartache it will bring all of us.’ His words, not mine.”
“Jesus,” I said breathlessly.
“Finding a lawyer to go up against him in court in the first place was bad enough. And now, I’m stuck paying double what I was originally quoted just to keep the man on retainer. It’s going to be an uphill battle, and he’ll drain me of all my money, and if that’s the route I have to take? Then, so be it. But I’m hoping that you’ll help so I don’t have to do that.”
“This is fucking crazy, Rose. Do you even hear yourself? We haven’t spoken in seven years, and now we’re supposed to be engaged? How is that going to fly?”
“Caleb, I just—”
I shot up from the couch. “You cut me out, Rose. One day, I was calling my best friend because I needed her, and she started shooting me to voicemail.”
Her eyes lined with tears. “I know it’s not fair. I know I haven’t had a backbone when it comes to Blake. I know he’s a shithead, and I know I did some shitty things because of how I let him manipulate me. But I can’t let him do this to me anymore. I have to be done with him. If anything, my relationship with you is exactly why I have to do this.”
Anger bubbled in my chest. “You cutting me off was one of the hardest things to get over. It took me years, Rose. Years to accept that you were no longer a part of my life. I never knew why you did it, either. You never even gave me an explanation.”
Tears slid down her cheeks as she stared at the floor. “It’s not an actual engagement, Caleb. I don’t think you’re hearing me on that. It’s just pretend. It’s just fake until I can get him out of my life for good. Just to get him to back off me, for fuck’s sake.”
I didn’t know what to say. I honestly didn’t know how in the hell to answer her. So, I did the only thing that was truthful. The only thing that I knew to do.
“I need to think about this first,” I said as I made my way to the front door.
“Caleb?” she asked.
I whipped her front door open. “Lock this behind me. Open it for no one unless they announce themselves first.”
“Caleb, please. I’ll get on my knees and beg you if that’s what—”
I whipped around as anger pounded in my ears. “Don’t you fucking dare get on your god damn knees for anyone, you hear me?”
Even I heard how angry my growl was, and the panic on her face shattered my heart.
“You’re better than that,” I glowered. “Stop debasing yourself just so you won’t be alone.”
I resisted the urge to slam the door behind me and it took everything I had not to backtrack the second I heard her crying. I stormed down to my bike, grumbling beneath my breath as my own footsteps echoed off the parking garage cement walls. I drew in deep breaths, trying to ignore the trembling in my clenched fists as they swung at my sides.
The soft pitter-patter of footsteps echoed behind me, and I didn’t even get my leg swung over my bike before her hardened voice hit my ears.
“I know this isn’t fair to you. None of this has been.”
I white-knuckled the bars of my bike. “It’s a shit idea, Rose.”
“It’s the only one I’ve got at this point. The only one that gets me from Point A to Point B with my own future still intact.”
I stepped right off my bike and turned to face her. “The least you could’ve done is told me why.”
