Brad and I were together for seven years. When I left him, I didn’t feel like this. Like my heart was ripped from my chest.
All these years after the divorce, I was coasting. Simon brought me back. I did everything for everyone else. Never taking my own wants or needs into account. Being what everyone wanted me to be. The perfect lady with perfect morals who always colored within the lines. And in doing so, I fed exactly into what this town wanted me to be. Going back to the person who bent for everyone else.
But that’s not me. I’m not perfect—never have been.
Life is messy and lines get blurred.
Like the one between Simon and me.
This was supposed to be temporary. A means to an end. A way to keep my shop and grow my business. Simon would leave and no one would be any the wiser. We’d quietly end the engagement after a few months.
But Simon walking away from me? I don’t think I can handle that. Seeing him at the back of the field, behind all the wedding guests, it feels like a river is between us that I don’t know how to cross.
Simon’s eyes meet mine, so full of turmoil that it nearly cracks my heart.
How can I ever be done with someone like him? Someone who made me feel safe. Someone who let me be the real me when it was just the two of us. He saw my strengths and my vulnerabilities. With him, I was my most authentic self.
There’s no way I can let him go back to London without telling him.
Without telling him—showing him—what he means to me.
Because I don’t want to live without Simon.
Gramps’s words bring me back to the present.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. Blake,”—Gramps nods to him—“you may kiss your bride.”
The smile on Blake’s face could be seen from space as he sweeps Gemma into his arms, giving her thesweetest kiss in front of their family and friends. Cheers and whoops sound out from the crowd.
I wipe the tears from my eyes as she turns back to me, a blush covering her face, as she reaches for her flowers.
“Congratulations, Mrs. Travers.” I wrap Gemma in a quick hug before she links arms with Blake and walks back down the aisle, stopping for another kiss at the end.
Taking the best man’s arm, I follow her. My eyes go back to where Simon was standing, but he’s not there.
What the hell?
Frenzied nerves course through me. Where could Simon have gone? As soon as we reach the end of the aisle, guests start standing, grabbing champagne from the waiting servers. I grab a glass, needing something to calm my nerves.
If he left…
Simon is standing with Pierce and Charlotte, their little ones running around at their feet. That momentary feeling of panic mixes with the longing in my chest. Swallowing down the rest of my champagne, I stalk over to him.
“We need to talk.”
“Now’s not really the best time.”
“Ouch. That was cold, bro.” Pierce slaps him on the shoulder.
This would be easier without them standing right here, but I don’t care. I don’t want him to leave without hearing what I have to say.
“Five minutes. You can at least give me that.”
“In front of everyone?” The guests have left their seats and are mingling around the barn, waiting for the doors to open.
“I don’t care!” I shout, louder than necessary. It draws the eyes of people around me. Pierce and Charlotte grab their kids and give us some space. “I am so sick and tired of caring what people in this town think of me, that if I want to tell you I love you, I’m going to!”
Simon looks taken aback. “What’s this now?”
