Page 1 of Spending Forever With You

PROLOGUE

Iglanced over my copy of the ten-page document with glossy eyes as I quickly flipped through it, double checking the two sets of initials on each page. I took in a sharp breath as I came upon our full names signed with different dates. Surprisingly, my husband Luke’s was stamped the same day I knew he received the decree.

Well damn, I guess he didn’t hesitate to end us.

This is what you wanted, ’member, Holli? This is what’s best for both of y’all.

It was, but it didn’t lessen the sting that came from seeing Luke’s name next to mine without even a last chance phone call or even a couple of weeks gap.

I swiped the tear that had somehow escaped before I aggressively flipped the document shut and slammed it on the coffee table. I reached for the gummy I’d purchased today for this reason alone.

I requested that my lawyer send Luke the papers first, blank without my signature, since I was still hoping on a prayer that he would call and argue me down about leaving him.

Sitting here with the document signed and no phone call was all I needed to fully accept this was the end. And since he nor I put up a fight on the topic at hand, they assured me that things would go rather quickly. Meaning, I wasn’t the only person no longer happy.

I mean, I think that’s clear as fuck, Hollis.

Which fucked me up even more. Yeah, I’d filed for the divorce, but I thought my husband—well now ex-husband—would put up a fight for me, for us, that we could beat the distance and heavy time between us.

Again, Holli, first thought wrong.

I knew what I’d signed up for. I allowed my heart and soul to belong to a man whose goal was Major League Baseball. But I didn’t think either of us was prepared for the distance to kill us so early in our marriage. A marriage I wanted to work so badly that I ignored the lonely nights and empty mornings in our bed for months at a time.

Two full years and some change. That was how long our shit lasted.

Hell, our courtship was longer than that.

I snorted at my thought.

We didn’t even get to celebrate our anniversary due to him being in the middle of his season.

I didn’t want to hold him back nor want him to feel a way each time we talked and all I did was cry from missing him.

Luke was picked up by a team in Pittsburgh after they saw him on his minor league team in Ohio, still far from me in our hometown of Crescent Falls.

Of course, I was the supportive wife, happy for my husband accomplishing his dreams, so happy that I pushed him away to be who he wanted to be without me.

I was still in college chasing mine, so we were even.

“And just like that, goodbye, Luke Deacon.”

I was back to being Hollis Walker. Well, technically speaking, I had never changed my name. It was an expense Luke and I couldn’t afford. Instead, we let his friend give us tattoos in his basement that dubbed me his wife and him my husband.

I rolled the single diamond studded ring off my finger, then coolly used my now naked hand to brush over the permanent damage I had done to my body all in the name of love.

I gotta fix this shit ASAP!

The alarm system letting me know that my back door was open had me looking up. I didn’t have to wonder for too long since my twin sister Callie was never quiet.

“Hollis! Why the hell is it so dark in here? Damn, turn on a light—” Her sentence trailed the moment she walked into the living room where the fireplace was the only thing illuminating the room. It was like she finally felt me.

“Oh Holli, is that what I think it is?” I nodded, followed by a couple sniffles.

“That was fast. I thought for sure this whole bullshit would drag out for a couple of months at the least.” She flopped down next to me, throwing her arms around my shoulders, pulling me with her as we hit the back of the couch.

“Yeah, well I guess God said it was time for us to part ways,” I said sarcastically.

I’d filed for divorce four months ago.