I quietly make my way to my room, the sounds of Syd crying playing on repeat.
I should go down there and tell her that we can move past this, but that would be a lie. I really don’t think we can.
I flop back onto my bed and cover my face with my pillow.
My heart isn’t stable enough to find out where we stand.
Everyone says karma’s a bitch.
They were right.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Sydney
I curl onto my side and pull the comforter higher as my shoulder shakes.
The tears just won’t stop.
Everything was so perfect—and then it wasn’t.
And I’m the one who did that.
I hear Mark’s truck roar to life outside, and by the time I reach the window, I barely make out his taillights at the end of the street.
I really messed up.
A small woman catches my eye as she waves at me from the driveway. She points to my front door and heads that way.
I glance at the clock. It’s six in the morning. This must be Ms. Coraline.
I grab a sweater and pull it on, then swipe the tears away.
I’d ignore her, but she saw me, and she means a lot to Mark, so I can’t do that no matter how much I want to be alone right now.
With a deep breath, I open the door.
“Hi. You must be Ms. Coraline.” I force a smile.
A beaming one of her own stares back at me, only to fade on the spot. The bag in her hand that I didn’t notice before, the gold and white one with Mr. and Mrs. on the side, drops at her side.
“He didn’t do it?”
The most normal thing to do here would probably be to question how she knows so much and then make some comment about how she should wait until Mark is back, but none of that happens.
Instead, I break into a sob.
“Oh, now, now,” she says, shuffling inside and closing the door. “Everything is going to be fine. I had a feeling something wasn’t right when Mark’s truck drove off and he didn’t show up for coffee. He knew I returned home yesterday. That’s how I knew he was proposing.”
She nudges me toward the couch and sits next to me.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks. “I’m a great listener.”
I shake my head. “I don’t even know what’s happening anymore.”
“Well, let’s figure it out.”
“I should be talking it over with Mark,” I say through a blubber.
