She hated this.
She didn’t want to cry. Didn’t want to infect her new life with all of this sadness from her old life, but the problem was there was just no space between the two things.
How was she supposed to be okay?
She couldn’t be, not just yet.
She wanted to call Aiden so that she could tell him the mostunbelievable thing had happened to her. That her husband had abruptly ended their marriage and admitted he was having an affair.
Except,hewas the husband, so what was she supposed to do?
Then she wanted to call him and yell at him.
To demand explanations, but when she really thought about that, she realized there was no amount of explaining that was ever going to make this feel okay. There was noamount of explanation that could ever possibly make her feel like she wasn’t losing her mind, like she hadn’t been blindsided, and like what he had done had any kind of justification.
The trouble was, it didn’t matter why. And the other problem was he was probably never going to feel bad about it.
Because he was the one who had decided their relationship couldn’t go further. He was the one who had made his peace with the fact that they weren’t together and wouldn’t be together. He was the one who had pulled the trigger, and the murderer might have consequences, but he was always going to be better off than the victim. That might be dramatic, but she felt a little bit dramatic.
What she needed to do was get her head on straight so that she could have a coherent meeting with Cody later. Just thinking about that made her whole body shiver with anticipation.
A meeting with Cody.
The thought made her warm all over.
While she was crying about her husband.
Sweet.
Everything was so normal.
She walked through the lobby and took the elevator upstairs back to her apartment. Then she dug around in her bag and found a notebook. She decided to take it downstairs. The lobby really was gorgeous, with massive floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the same beautiful view she had from her room.
Right now, the hotel was empty, and it felt so serene to be here.
The calm before a storm that needed to be intense. Because it wasn’t a good thing to have an empty hotel.
She started making notes about the kinds of things that she needed to ask Cody. Because she needed to know what he expected, so that she could make plans. Obviously, she hadopinions about what it took to run a hotel, her degree was in hospitality, but she hadn’t worked in a place this size.
So her opinions were just opinions, and not formed from experience. She had a feeling that Cody didn’t really have experience either. He didn’t give off a luxury hotelier vibe, which was stereotyping, perhaps. Or just observational skills.
Cara had texted her and asked if she needed her to come with the car for any reason, but Marlowe couldn’t see leaving the ranch today. And as much as she loved her sister-in-law and was eager to see her new house, she had also just spent the last few days with her. It had been off-putting and terrible to be alone, and it was definitely what had started the emotional upheaval.
But it was necessary.
As much as she hated all of it, it was necessary. Because she had to accept that she wasn’t with Aiden anymore.
She got a text letting her know that Cody was five minutes away.
I was thinking that we could meet at my place. My brother and sister will be there too, and we can all get on the same page.
She had liked the message, and then she ended up pacing by the lobby doors, anticipation making her lungs tight.
When his truck rolled in, her heart almost tumbled out of her mouth.
She took a sharp breath and didn’t wait for him to get out. Instead, she walked outside and went directly to the passenger side. If she had to stand in front of him again, she was going to lose it. He was so tall, and she didn’t need to be reminded of that.
Because there was something about the extreme… quantity of man that really did something to her.
