Page 17 of Substitute Bride

He turned to look at her, surprised by the gentle question. “Of course.”

“It’s never happened to me, of course, but I understand that a broken engagement is kind of hard to go through.”

“Yeah, I guess. But I mostly just feel relieved.”

“That’s good then.”

There was an odd note to her tone, but when he checked her expression, he saw nothing revealing. He’d probably just misheard.

They sat in the dimly lit room for a few more minutes, and James wondered why it was so easy to sit with Rose like this, not even talking. It was comfortable and comforting both.

Finally he asked, “Why haven’t you been engaged before?”

Her eyes widened. “What makes you think I haven’t been?”

He suddenly felt like an idiot for the hundredth time that day. “Oh. Sorry.”

She chuckled softly. “I haven’t actually.”

“Why not?”

“No one has ever asked me.”

“Why not?”

“What kind of question is that? I have no idea why no one has wanted to marry me. I thought I was close once, but…”

When she trailed off, James’s curiosity was piqued. “When was that?”

“I was twenty-one. I’d been dating a guy named Richard for almost a year. I thought for sure he was about to ask me to marry him.”

“What happened?”

She sighed. “He dumped me.”

He stiffened, realizing she was sharing something that had been really hard for her at the time. “Why?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know really. He just said I wasn’t what he wanted. I was so surprised and devastated. I...” She shuddered. “I didn’t take it well.”

“I can’t believe you did anything unreasonable.”

“I don’t know.” She cringed slightly. “I really humiliated myself. I practically begged him to tell me what I’d done wrong and to give me a second chance. I can’t believe I was so… so desperate. I really believed it was my last chance to find a man, and if he didn’t want me, then no one would.”

He frowned. “That’s ridiculous. You were only twenty-one.”

“I know. But he was my first boyfriend. My only real boyfriend. Guys had never been interested in me, and I wasn’t sure anyone else ever would be. It was… embarrassing.” She gave him a little smile. “I’m never going to be that way again.”

He thought about what she’d said, trying to imagine what she’d been like back then. She seemed so quietly confident now. He couldn’t imagine her that insecure. “Well, you were young. We all do stupid things when we’re young. Look at me—well over thirty and still doing a stupid thing.”

“You figured it out,” Rose said as if trying to defend him from himself.

“Yeah.” He gave a wry chuckle. “Good for me.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then he asked without thinking it through. “So Richard was the only boyfriend you’ve ever had?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s unusual.”