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“Yeah.” I swallow dryly.
“Honestly, I used to hate that word,” she admits with a shrug. “It’s like destiny and fate. I always thought those types of whimsical words carried too much weight to them. Like, we’re expected to believe that some divine force has a hand in everything we do, completely disregarding our own free will. It was as if there were no way to outrun it, no matter how much we plan or strategize in shaping our lives the way we always envisioned. That, somehow, the same silent and unseen force knows better than we do about what we want in our lives,” she states, laughing softly in one minute—as if the whole idea were completely preposterous for her to even conceive—and turning serious the next.
“But now? I’m not so sure. Maybe it was fate that made you ask for my help when Nate needed it most. Any other way, I don’t think we would have ever met. And I can’t see my life without him in it. It’s like we were always meant to find each other, even if the universe had to pull some strings to make it happen.”
“I’m more of a feet-to-the-ground kind of girl. That sounds a bit too unrealistic for me.”
“Well, I also think hope plays a big part in it too. If you don’t hope for the best that life has to offer, then you’re always stuck preparing for the worst. Sound familiar?” She gives me a nudge.
Painstakingly familiar.
From my peripheral, I can tell she wants to try and persuade me to join Love Moore again just so she can’t get a crack at finding theone, utterly unaware that the one has already foundme.
Luckily, we arrive at Cooper’s apartment building at that very moment, distracting her from my love life and back to hers. We rush upstairs, fearing Cooper might have already beat us here, but we are immediately relieved to see he hasn’t. We find the apartment exactly as Lottie had left it before going to Cape Cod.
After we pack a couple of suitcases with Lottie’s most prized possessions and clothes, I swiftly drive her back to Nathan’s so she can get the happily-ever-after moment she always dreamed of.
“This is it.” She smiles at me. “Wish me good luck.”
“Good luck,” I reply, but before Lottie gets out of the car, something makes me hold onto her arm, preventing her from leaving.
“What?” she asks
“What if you’re wrong?”
“About what? Breaking this off with Cooper?”
“No, not that.” I shake my head. “The rat bastard deserves everything that’s coming to him. I mean this,” I try to explain by pointing to Nathan’s front door.
“What about it?” she retorts, still unsure of what I’m getting at.
I chew on my bottom lip and push the words out.
“Aren’t you scared?”
“Of Nate?” She arches a brow. “No. Never. Nate would never hurt me. He loves me.”
“Even love can hurt sometimes. I mean, aren’t you scared you can get your heart broken?”
“I know what you’re trying to do, Piper.” She smiles warmly. “But you don’t have to worry about me. I’m a big girl. I know what I’m doing. You don’t need to protect me.”
“So, you’re not scared? Not even a little bit?” I choke out.
“Are you kidding? I’m terrified!” She laughs like it’s no big thing. “But I’m more scared of not knocking on his door than of him opening it. I would rather risk my heart for one moment in his arms than waste it on being afraid. Life is just too short for us to squander it on fear. I’d rather have love in my life instead.” She then presses a kiss on my cheek, grabs her suitcases from the trunk, and walks towards Nathan’s door with fearless determination.
I sit in my car, watching the snow fall on Lottie’s raven head as she rings his doorbell. Not a few seconds pass before Nathan opens the door for her. Moments later, he has her cocooned in his arms, kissing her like a man in love, ready to spend his life with his soulmate.
I lay my head on the headrest, rubbing my hand on my chest, craving to end this ache that doesn’t seem to go away.
But I know it will never go away.
Not until I see Trent and make up for all the shit I’ve put him through.
Maybe all I needed to see was Lottie’s bravery to gain a bit of it for myself.
The next hour goes by in a total haze as I drive like a mad woman over to Trent’s apartment building first, thinking about all the things I’m going to say to him. But when I find that he’s not home, the pit of my stomach falls.
I call and send him text after text, to no avail since it’s blatantly apparent that he’s switched it off.
