She went into the living room, picked up the remote, and scrolled through the movies, ready to shut out the real world, but she struggled to leave the conversation. He was with that guy Mark at the bar, and he knew the bartender by name, so hewassocial. Just not with her or her friends…
When Blair and Sienna returned, Patrick served their plates in the living room and then slipped out while they were eating. He didn’t even say goodbye.
TEN
At first, given the dark room, Emily thought she’d woken too early, but a check of her phone informed her that it was after eightandWill had tried to call an hour ago. She stretched and peered across the room to the window. The storm clouds that had blanketed the sky last night hadn’t budged. And on top of that, now they were unleashing a torrential downpour.
Last night, she’d silenced her phone to get some sleep, but she didn’t feel rested this morning. Her shoulders ached, and she wasn’t sure if the pain was due to the rain or the subconscious stress about her life. While this trip had succeeded in diverting her attention occasionally, it hadn’t been able to erase the pain completely. And while she was ignoring all the work to be done regarding canceling the wedding until after her vacation, she couldn’t eliminate the stress of it weighing on her.
Pushing the covers off her legs, she climbed out of bed and padded into the bathroom. With a turn of the tap, the water squealed quietly from the spigot. She splashed her face and then lathered with lavender soap. The sweet scent calmed her nerves.
She didn’t want to jump right into a phone call with Will first thing. What did he even want at this early hour? But if it wasabout the house, she’d better call. In the end, getting rid of their joint asset as quickly as possible was in her best interest.
With a deep breath, she rinsed her face and dried it on a fluffy towel. Then she went back into the bedroom, dialed Will’s number, and put her phone on speaker. He picked up right away.
“Morning,” she said. Although, no greeting seemed to fit the conversation anymore. Even “Morning” was friendlier than she wanted.
“I decided to wait until I was sure…” he said.
Will’s dramatic pause annoyed her, but so did everything he did now. She rubbed her temples. All of a sudden he liked to wait for things? The memory of their engagement floated back into her mind.I didn’t want to wait, he’d said as he’d proposed in the middle of the street, even though they’d had dinner reservations in ten minutes’ time. He’d produced an oval diamond set in platinum and slid it onto her finger—a perfect fit. Stunned and overjoyed, she’d wrapped her arms around him and kissed him right there. Cars were honking in celebration, the drivers clapping and hooting out their open windows.
She focused on the grain in the hardwood floor to get the image out of her head.
“I want to buy the house with… We want to buy the house together.” His words seemed unsure, nervous.
Heshouldbe nervous.
His request hit her like a sledgehammer. He wanted to buy the house withher. The house Emilyhad found online? The one they’d gone to look at together right away because it was so “them”?
The agent had left them alone in the house to think it over and Will took her hands and spun her around in the empty living room.
“What do you think?” he’d asked, pulling her close.
She giggled, looking up at his smirk. “I love it.”
“Can you see us here?” He gave her another spin.
He’d said “us.”
“Definitely.”
He pulled her in and nuzzled her neck, sending a fleet of goosebumps racing down her arms and making her laugh.
“Since we both own the house,” Will said, his voice yanking her from the memory, “you’d need to sign a quitclaim deed. We’re going to refinance in my name, which would remove you from any liability, but we can do a cash-out option so you can have a little equity. And I could give you some time to get all your stuff before we move in…”
She’d stopped listening. Will was buying their house with this woman? They were that serious already? Everything she’d worked for in life was being jerked out from under her, and she had no say in the matter. She couldn’t make Will love her, and she couldn’t get back the years she had lost. Her chin wobbled.
“So if we send over the document by email, will you sign it?” he asked.
She grabbed her shoulders and squeezed to release the tension. “We can talk about this later,” was all she could get out.
“Emily—”
Before she lost it completely, she hung up on him. She fell back into bed, buried her face in the pillow, and sobbed. Warm, salty tears puddled on her pillow, her back heaving, all the emotion she’d been holding inside finally breaking free from her stronghold. Why had he done this to her?
After longer than she’d wanted to cry over Will, she got up and went into the bathroom. Flicking on the light revealed her swollen red eyes. Her cheeks looked like the windows of her bedroom right now—streaked and void of color. She unrolled some toilet paper, balled it up, and blew her nose. Then shespent the next few minutes getting herself together before heading downstairs.
“Good grief,” Blair said when Emily got to the kitchen. “What happened to you?”
