I’ve been married to Griffin for like three minutes, and he’s already surpassing every expectation. It’s not hard, considering the only expectation I had was of a swift annulment, but I digress.
I finish the coffee and the pastry and lay my head against the window once more. Seconds later, a warm hoodie that smells exactly like my husband is placed on my lap.
My brow furrows as I take in his bare forearms. I let my gaze travel to his large hands gripping the steering wheel, stopping when I get to the gold band on his ring finger. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, none of this seems real.
“In case you need a pillow,” he says, interrupting my slow perusal.
“Huh?”
He chuckles. “The hoodie. We still have another thirty minutes to go, and that window can’t be comfortable.”
“Oh. Thanks.” I force a smile and ball up the fabric, placing it between me and the glass. Warm, sensual amber envelopes me, and I drift to sleep listening to Griffin humming along to the radio.
I left Oak Ridge as Angelina Rossi, and I’m returning much the same, despite Griffin’s claim to the contrary. Yet I can’t shake the feeling that my life will never be the same.
Chapter 4
Up In Smoke
? I Sit In Parks - Kelsea Ballerini
Angelina
Everything is gone.
Tyler’s shoes are missing from the welcome mat, and half the walk-in closet has been cleared out. Even his dog, Luna, who’d normally greet me at the door, is nowhere to be found. It’s like she never existed.
The emptiness only grows as I travel farther into the house.
The office we’d planned to convert into a nursery is the final straw that breaks me. I press my back to the wall beside the door and sink to the floor, burying my face in my hands. I let reality sweep me out with the tide.
Movement in the hallway draws my attention, and it’s followed by a voice. “Angel? You in here? You forgot your”—he pauses in the doorway—“dress.”
Griffin drops the garment bag containing mywedding gown onto the floor and sinks to his knees. “What’s wrong? Are you—laughing?”
A tear cascades down my cheek between heaving breaths. “I’m sorry. This is just so ridiculous.” I choke out the words through uncontrollable laughter. “He’s just—poof—gone. Like he was never here at all. And you—you’re here. You’re here, and you’re my husband.”
“Take a deep breath, darlin’. I think you’re losing it.”
“It’s just so… stupid.”
Griffin slides beside me and drapes his arm around my shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. My expression sobers as I glance up at him. There’s something so earnest in his eyes.
“You’re allowed to be sad, you know.”
Scanning the room, I swallow against the tightness gripping my throat. “I thought I had it all figured out. The house, the job, the husband. We even started trying for a baby.”
Griffin tenses at my side, but he doesn’t speak.
I chew on the inside of my cheek, pointing to the side of the room opposite the picture windows. “That’s where the crib was going to go. And over there, a matching rocking chair in the corner for late-night feedings. I even started knitting a baby blanket. I’m not very good at it, but I figured I had time to learn.”
He pulls me tighter against him, running his fingers through my hair in soothing strokes. My instincts are screaming at me to push him away, but it feels too good—right—being held like this.
“You can still have all of it,” he murmurs.
I shake my head, tugging my sleeves over my hands. “I don’t think it’s in the cards for me.”
It’s not like I’m going to magically meet someone and fall in love overnight. It takes time to grow that kind of connection, and by then, it’ll be too late. I’m a ticking time bomb.Perimenopause is a very real threat at my age, though I’d like to think I still have a few years before that happens.
