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Mason folds his arms over his chest. “You going to take it then?” His tone is icy enough to give me shivers, and not the good kind. This isn’t the kind of fight that ends in hot hate sex. This is the kind of fight that destroys us completely.
“You know it’s what I’ve always wanted,” I answer evasively.
“Then we done here?”
My heart is cracking in two, but I don’t dare let it show. The tears will come in droves the second I’m out the door. But I’ll be damned if I give him the satisfaction of making me cry. Maybe this is his way of getting even with me for leaving him at the altar. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.
“We’re done here.” I spin on my heel and march for the door. A part of me hopes he’ll tell me to stop. Chase after me and tell me I got it all wrong. Though he does follow me outside, it’s not to stop me from leaving. He marches to his truck and whips open the door. “I hope all your dreams come true, Willow.” I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or genuine. I suspect it’s both. Before he gets in, he stares at me, his gaze hardened, and says, “I bought it for you.”
He speeds off, leaving me with my jaw hanging open.
CHAPTER18
Mason
The next morning, I shove a small duffle bag into the storage compartment of my plane, positioning it to balance out the weight of my other luggage. It’s no hundred-pound suitcase, but every pound matters with all I’m hauling out to my off-grid cabin. After the hell that went down last night, I need to get far away for a few days. I don’t need the entire town telling meI told you sothe second they hear the gossip.Even if they don’t speak the words, it’ll be on every pitiful face I see for weeks to come.
I thought Willow wanted to stay.
I didn’t realize she was choosing it second to the acting role she claimed she didn’t want anymore.
Last night, I tossed and turned, reliving every humiliating moment of the day I stood in front of a full church and waited for her to walk down the aisle. The music playing on and on. Heads turning back and forth in confusion as no bride appeared. Kinley standing at the back of the church with a look of pity, holding up a folded piece of paper. The note. The fucking note Willow left because she was too much of a coward to face me.
It gutted me then.
And it’s gutting me all over again now.
There’s a part of me that wonders if she did what she did last night out of spite. Her payback because she thought I bought the theater to bulldoze it. But she should fucking know me better than that. I never would’ve removed a brick, even if she wasn’t in Caribou Creek to appreciate it.
“That’s it then?” Gran folds her arms over her chest, her magenta track suit fluttering in the breeze. “You’re just going to run away?”
“I’m taking a vacation.”
“Bullshit.”
I bristle because I don’t have time for this today. Weather is rolling in this afternoon. If I don’t take off within the hour, I’ll be grounded for the rest of the day. “You were right. Is that what you want to hear?”
Gran smacks my arm hard enough to sting. “Don’t get mouthy with me. I’m not here to gloat.”
I turn my back on her, pretending to move around my luggage. As if the weight isn’t already perfectly balanced. “Then why are you here?”
“To tell you I was wrong.”
“About what?”
“About Willow.”
Abandoning the storage compartment, I turn and face Gran. “What are you talking about?”
“She came to see me this morning. With my favorite lemon meringue pie, I might add.”
“You mean it was infused with booze.”
“Details.” She waves her hand dismissively. “Anyway, we had a nice long conversation. And … I was wrong about her.”
“But she’s leaving, just like you said she would. The second she got the call for an audition—”
“I turned it down.” Willow’s voice is a complete surprise. I saw Gran coming from a mile away with her blindingly bright track suit and super bling earrings. But Willow? I have no idea how she snuck up to my plane undetected. I usually have better awareness of my surroundings. “I was never going to go to that audition, Mason.”
