She cleared her throat before starting. “So . . . I feel like I owe you an explanation—about Flint and my history with him.”
“You don’t owe me anything. But you’re welcome to tell me whatever you’d like. No pressure on my end.”
“I appreciate that.” She nodded slowly, still gathering courage to share her hurt and humiliation. “The truth is that Flint and I dated for a while after college. We met at Virginia Tech, and we were friends first. He’d always planned to come back to the mountains, and I had always planned to move to the city. We were trying to make it work long distance.”
Wyatt watched her with steady attention.
She drew in a shaky breath as she continued. “Then . . . then my parents died. They were in a car accident three years ago. Flint and I had been dating about a year when it happened. Mackenzie took it hard. Harder than I did—or differently, at least. I buckled down. She fell apart.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been.”
Kori picked up her water glass but didn’t take a sip. “She almost became like a different person. I tried to help her, but I could only do so much. When she moved to Blue Ridge Hollow, I thought the change would be good for her. I thought the slower pace and the smaller community could be just what she needed.”
She paused and took a sip of her water before continuing.
“About a year after my parents died, I came back here to visit Mackenzie one weekend. I wanted to surprise her. But I was theone who got the surprise. I showed up at her apartment and found Mackenzie and Flint inside together. They were kissing.”
Wyatt’s eyes widened. “Ouch.”
“Yes, ouch. It totally blindsided me.” She rubbed her throat as emotion clogged her airways. “I left. They both ran after me and tried to explain how they ‘never meant for it to happen.’ None of their excuses meant anything to me. I broke it off with Flint and pretty much told my sister I never wanted to speak to her again.”
“They both betrayed you. I can see why you said that.”
“I should have forgiven her . . .” Her voice cracked.
Wyatt reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Forgiveness is hard, and it’s necessary. But you had no way of knowing all this would happen.”
“I didn’t. But now I only have regrets. If I don’t find Mackenzie . . . if something’s happened to her . . .” Tears threatened to push from her eyes.
“We’re going to find her,” Wyatt said. “We will.”
Kori hoped his words were true. Because how would she ever return to her regular life knowing how things had ended between them?
She knew the truth—she couldn’t.
