The bell chimed again, and the last person Mathew wanted to see walked in.
Victoria’s focus locked on him at once, and she headed straight for him.
He groaned and moved deeper into the shop. He didn’t have time to dodge her, not if River was already on her way. “I don’t want to talk to you, Victoria.”
“Please, Mathew. Give me one day. One chance to prove I’ve changed. I want to try again.”
He turned sharply, grateful the low hum of conversation around them would cover his voice. “What aren’t you understanding? I divorced you because we weren’t good for each other. I gave you everything you asked for, and I moved here to start over… without you around.”
She scoffed. “You can’t just erase feelings like that. Somewhere inside, I know you still feel something for me.”
Mathew let out a hard breath. “Whatever I felt for you once doesn’t come close to what I feel for someone else now.”
The temperature between them seemed to drop. Victoria stared at him, and for the first time he thought maybe she really had believed she could talk him into this.
“I’m in love with someone else,” he said, more firmly now. “She means everything to me, and I’m not walking away from her.”
Victoria’s lip curled. “I haven’t seen you spending time with anyone else. You’re not exactly together. If you’re talking about that woman?—”
“That woman needed some space because of my mistakes,” he said. “I’m giving it to her until she’s ready to let me back in.”
“You don’t even know if she will.”
Mathew shrugged. “That has nothing to do with you. I’m not interested. You need to go home. There’s nothing for you here.”
As he said it, his mind flashed back to what Aiden had implied. Warning Victoria away from his friend wouldn’t do anyone any good—not now. He could only hope she’d finally do what was best for herself and leave.
Movement in his peripheral vision snagged his attention.
He looked up and found River standing near a rustic bookshelf lined with eclectic frames. Her eyes shone with emotion, but he couldn’t tell if she was happy or sad.
Panic hit hard when she turned and strode away.
“River, wait!”
He pushed past Victoria, shrugging her off when she caught at his arm. “Go home, Victoria.”
The bell over the door jingled as River hurried outside. Through the shop windows he caught a glimpse of her moving down the sidewalk. Ignoring the looks thrown his way, he went after her and stepped into her path.
“River, please talk to me.”
This didn’t feel anything like their accidental run-ins in town. Something in his chest told him this moment mattered more.
She brushed at a tear with the side of her hand, and his heart sank.
“Hey,” he said softly, tipping her chin up so he could see her face. “What’s wrong?”
He ran back over every word he’d said to Victoria and couldn’t come up with anything that should have hurt River. He hadn’t said the wrong thing. He hadn’t?—
“Did you mean it?” she asked, voice shaky.
His brows drew together. “Mean what?”
She swallowed, then got a soft expression on her face. “What you said in there. About being in love.”
Everything in him went still.
So this was it. The moment he’d been hoping for and dreading in equal measure.
