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Luke stood up, ready to get the hell out of there and go home to his apartment, where there was no one reminding him of the woman who broke his heart.
“She’s a big girl. If she wants me, she knows where to find me.”
* * * *
Marley sat at her kitchen table that night, a dozen balls of paper littering her feet. She’d been sitting there for hours, trying to pen the perfect apology letter to Luke.
Only words seemed to be failing her.
Smoothing her hand over the white sheet, she closed her eyes and released a calming breath. She thought about the emotions that had been swirling and twisting inside her for the last week. The regret, and the sadness, lonesomeness and heartbreak. She pictured Luke standing before her, that broken look in his eyes…
And started writing again.
Dear Luke,
I am so sorry that I hurt you. You were right. It only took a few days for me to realize that nothing that happened was your fault, and that I was taking out my anger at myself on you. It was my choice to disregard the rules of Something Borrowed and start seeing you in secret. It was on me that I called out Sonora in front of all of her wedding guests.
And I wouldn’t change any of it.
I should have probably told Brent sooner than his wedding day, but as for the stuff between you and me, I wouldn’t have done it any differently, except for the way I treated you that last night. You were so patient and supportive and I shit on you. You told me how you felt and I let you walk away thinking that you meant less than nothing to me.
I wish I could expunge that from your memory. I wish you were here now, so I could share all of these feelings with you and all the things that have changed.
I’m not moving to New York. I am staying in Sweetheart, and putting the settlement money Sonora’s parents gave me to restoring Buzzard Gulch. I’m going to start a freelance editing service, and Kendall and Brent have generously helped my mom rebuild the Sweetheart Café. She’d almost considered not rebuilding because she didn’t want to take money from me, but it all worked out.
Except between you and me.
But if there is anything I’ve learned this summer it’s that I am lucky. I’ve been lucky in this town. With the friends I’ve made and most of all, I was lucky to have found you.
This letter has probably come too late, but I didn’t feel like a phone call would do everything I needed to say justice and I was afraid if I showed up on your doorstep, you might call the cops. They’d probably get there fast since you’re one of them.
I understand if you can’t forgive me. I just wanted to say that this summer was the best and worst of my life, but I owe all the best parts to you.
Your Sweetheart, Always,
Marley
Chapter 25
Two weeks later, Marley walked down the hallway at Castle Vineyard, a nervous wreck. Not because she thought Brent and Kendall were making a mistake getting married. No, she knew they were completely gone for each other and going into this with open eyes and hearts.
She was a frazzled bundle of nerves because she hadn’t seen Luke yet. She’d sent him the letter two weeks ago and hadn’t heard a word about it, even from Kendall or Brent. She figured if he cared at all, even if it was just to be pissed off, he would have at least told his best friend.
Instead there’d been nothing, and she wasn’t sure what to expect today when they stood up with Brent and Kendall. Would he ignore her still? Be civil for their friends’ sake?
God, was it too late to run away and let Kendell hold her own bouquet?
Knowing damn well that it was, Marley stepped into the bridal suite and held up the veil she’d run to fetch. “Got it.”
Kendall sat at the vanity, smiling beautifully into the mirror. Marley was the only bridesmaid she had, mostly because Kendall’s family had opted out of coming, including her parents. They thought that she was betraying her sister by marrying Brent, even after Sonora had cheated on him.
Assholes.
Kendall’s blonde hair was up in a top knot with curls cascading down, and her makeup was light. The simple A-line gown fit her perfectly, and once Marley placed the veil over the curls, she looked as though she belonged on the cover of a magazine.
“I am so sorry the rest of your friends and family couldn’t be here.”
Kendall tried to put on a brave face, but Marley could tell she was hurt. They might not have known each other for very long, but Kendall wore her heart on her sleeve.
