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“What are you saying?”
“I want to remarry and have kids within the next couple of years. That’s what I’m pursuing you for.”
Her stomach sank. What he wanted—those weren’t temporary things.
Those were things she couldn’t have. Notyet, anyway.
“Those things aren’t negotiable for me,” he said. “The prospect has turned more than a few women away, and I never chased them back. I’m chasingyoubecause I know we’d be good together.”
She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes as she pulled in a deep breath. “So, let me clarify something here. You’re saying being with you comes with the caveat that if I’mnotlooking for those things, we can’t associate.”
“That’s a pretty brutal way of putting it, but yeah. I guess that’s what it means. So, now you have it. We’ve come to a juncture where touching you drives me insane because I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep you.”
Oh no.
No no no.
That was attachment he was talking about. That man—that raregemof a man—was talking about keeping her.
The Fates had sprung a trap on her. They were testing her. They were teasing her with something she’d be unlikely to ever find with any other man.
It’s not fair. It’s not fucking fair.
She scrambled to her feet, brushed the dirt off her ass, and started for the yard. She could wait in the car until Carine and Leah were ready to go, or justgoand pick them up later.
“So, that’s that, huh?” he called after her.
Fuck Clay. Ought to maim him for calling Tim. She wanted to choke him—andscreamwhile she did it for setting her up that way.
“I’m sorry, Tim. I can’t give you more than what I already have.”
“You can. You just don’t want to, and I think you’re being incredibly selfish.”
Valerie stopped in her tracks to process the garbage he’d just spewed, and turned. “Selfish?I’mselfish because I happen to know that ‘having it all’ is a myth for women that I’m not going to set myself up for?”
“I understand that your work is important to you,” Tim said.
“Obviously, youdon’t, if you’d make that statement. I’m sorry if you feel like you’ve been led on, but I’ve always been clear that I didn’t want to be tied down. Not by you, not by anyone. It doesn’t matter how pretty the rope work is or how careful your knots are, the purpose is the same. It’s confining and I have to opt out. Again, I’m sorry.”
This time, when she turned and walked away, she didn’t stop. She fired off aSorry to flake. Can you find a ride home?text to Carine while she was walking because she wanted to leave no room for another plea from Tim. She didn’t think she could take it—couldn’t keep refusing him, but she had to. He’d smother her. He’d do it lovingly, she was sure of that, but the result was going to be the same.
He’d put out her light or cut off her trajectory with a wedding ring.
She didn’t think he would run like her father did, but she’d still end up just like her mother—a woman who had so much potential that would, in the end, go unused.
