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I kept searching my messages, and there, buried in the list of texts from a dozen other people, was the last text Bradley had sent me. At 8 P.M. Three hours after our wedding was to have happened. It was a picture of him in his tux looking wasted, his arm groping a girl’s breast in a bar while she was laughing.
Without even thinking about it, I hurled my cellphone into the woods with all the strength I had. It went sailing through the air and landed with a soft thump in the brush.
My stomach clenched. What, had I expected Bradley to cry? To feel sorry for himself?
Right now he was probably having sex with the girl in the picture.
And I had had sex with Christian.
It should have felt like the perfect revenge. Instead it felt like a new beginning.
The door to the cabin opened with a creak and Christian came out onto the porch, scratching his chest and looking sleepy and sexy. “You okay?” he asked, his voice gravelly.
“Yes. I’m fine.” I actually was. Just sad. Disappointed. “I’m sorry if I woke you up.”
The moonlight was cutting through the trees and I could see his expression, though I couldn’t really read it. “I got worried when you weren’t in bed.” He was completely naked as he came down the steps and moved toward me.
With a sigh he sat down heavily in the chair next to me, looking adorable and bleary-eyed. His hair was sticking up in the front.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
His hand snaked over and he laced his fingers through mine. “Is there anything I can do?”
He really was sweet. “You’re already doing it.”
“Are you sure? Because I’m kind of looking at you draped in your wedding dress and I’m a little worried you may be going off the deep end.” His voice was easy, calm. He didn’t actually sound worried about my mental health.
“I was cold.” I squeezed his hand lightly to let him know I really was okay.
“Maybe a blanket would be better.” He stood up and went back into the cabin. He returned wearing his boxer briefs and carrying the plaid blanket from the bed. “Give me the dress.”
For a minute I debated tussling with him to retain possession of my wedding gown, but then I realized he was right. A blanket would warm me up. The dress just left me feeling cold and numb. He hooked the gown over his arm and dropped the blanket over me. He disappeared inside again while I snuggled under the blanket. He returned with some newspaper and a lighter.
“What are you doing?”
“Starting a bonfire.”
And he did, with the efficiency of a Boy Scout. Or more like someone who had lived in Maine his whole life. “Isn’t it kind of late for a fire?”
“Are you going back to sleep anytime soon?” he asked, glancing at me over his shoulder. The muscles in his back rippled as he rolled newspaper and laid it in the fire pit.
“No.” I was wide awake. “Shouldn’t you put shoes on? Or pants?” Starting a fire in underwear seemed a little risky.
“Don’t worry, I won’t set my junk on fire.”
That was a terrifying thought. “Good to know.” I watched him and thought about his son and that horrible girl who was Camp’s mother. “Were you in love with Ali?” I asked. Maybe he had been heartbroken too, like me. Deceived into believing someone was a better person than they were.
Christian snorted. He went to the porch and pulled some logs off the woodpile stacked there. “No. I had a crush on Ali growing up. I just wanted to win her over, if that makes sense. It was fucking stupid.”
“But you got Camp out of it.”
He nodded. “Yep. He makes all of the bullshit worth it. I love that little guy with everything inside me.”
That warmed my heart. I could see how much he loved his son. “You’re a good father.”
“I try. I need to pick him up in the morning. I don’t like to go too long without seeing him.”
He wasn’t looking at me, just creating his wood pyre. Christian was hard to read. He didn’t display a huge amount of emotion. But I believed everything he said was the truth. He didn’t play games, even when he was flirting. He had so far always flat-out told me the way it was going to be. I appreciated that. “That’s fine. Do you want me to stay here so you can spend some time with him by yourself?”
