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The posts of his niece and nephew also caught my eye and my heart. His sister had a five-year-old girl and three-year-old boy. They were adorable, with curly red hair. Their daddy was a redhead, so it made sense. Kane had shown me pictures of them yesterday at lunch, but it was fun to see all his posts of how proud he was to be an uncle. Did he ever look good with a baby in his arms? I hadn’t thought he could be any more attractive, yet there he went proving me wrong again.
As I scrolled and scrolled, the ache in my chest grew. I hated that I had missed out on so much of his life. I found myself mentally inserting myself into his pictures and posts. I imagined posts like, Scarlett and I spent the weekend with our favorite kiddos, or Anniversary trip to Cancún—didn’t leave the room once. Those were Kane’s words, not mine, but they sounded perfect. Then I began to imagine what he’d missed out on in my life and what he would have said. So proud of Scarlett—a cap and gown never looked so good, or She said yes! I pictured me beaming, holding up my hand, showing off my engagement ring. I saw myself in front of his house with him holding up the keys to our new home. Our first house. Bring on the babies. His red brick home with a deep porch and a large front yard that needed some work looked, quite honestly, perfect. I could see why Kane had bought it.
I was so overwhelmed by emotion, I stopped scrolling. That was, until I had a notification pop up. Kane had tagged me in some photos. Was he idly waiting for me to unblock him? I clicked on the notifications, and the first photo he’d tagged me in was the one taken at the drive-in. The second one I had never seen—never even knew he had taken it. There I sat on a rock in the middle of a river, in my old red swimsuit, my hair tumbling down in wild waves. I was holding my legs and resting my head on my knees. Tears began to flood my eyes as I remembered the pain of that moment long ago. I had been trying desperately to hold back the tears that day. Kane had just told me he was leaving, and I wanted to be anywhere he wasn’t. The last thing I had wanted to do was get in the car with him and go home, so I had run to the river. Not sure what I’d thought that would accomplish.
Raw heartache leaped off the screen. Yet, there was beauty. I don’t know how Kane did it, but I looked like a model posing for a magazine spread. Honestly, I hardly recognized myself. I realized, though, that’s how Kane saw me then and now.
I braved reading his caption, written long ago.
Last stop this summer, Edge of the World. Fitting, since this woman rocked my world. I’ve never seen a smile as beautiful as hers, or eyes that run so deep and mysterious that all I want to do is get lost in them. Never have I touched skin so soft or heard laughter that sounded like music. Because of her, my world will never be the same again.
That was it. I blinked several times, my eyes blurry from the tears. I smiled, detecting a hint of Christopher Cross in his last line. Maybe it was a good thing I hadn’t read that post until today. I’m not sure what it would have done to me eight years ago—probably wrecked me and given me more questions than answers. Even now, it took my breath away. Kane had changed my world, too. I wondered if our worlds were meant to collide again and not in the professional sense.
Did I want to miss out on more memories with him?
So much for taking my mind off him. Kane was either an evil genius or the best ex-boyfriend ever. Maybe both.
My phone buzzed, and I looked to see who had texted.
Good night, Scarlett. Thank you for being my friend.
I sighed and rested the phone on my lap before rubbing my hands over my face. Suddenly, friendship didn’t sound as good as I’d thought it would. But what could I do? If I thought Kane was a distraction now, I knew opening the door to him would be game over for me. I had no time for romance, I was literally out for blood. He had already stolen himself and our missed memories from me. He wasn’t taking Armstrong Labs.
The Experience
I looked down at my notes, not seeing any of the words. My mouth was dry, though I had been drinking water like a fish. That probably wasn’t smart, since I would be getting up soon and presenting to almost a hundred and fifty people, including all the board members. Why I had agreed to this, I would never know. Well, I did know, but I should have known better. I was the girl who almost failed Latin so I wouldn’t have to give a valedictorian speech. I began racking my brain for what I could do now. Faint? Pull the fire alarm? That would look suspicious, considering Kane was about to get up and present. He would think I was sabotaging him.
