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“Fine. But even if something happens and I don’t marry Ted, that doesn’t mean I’m meant to be with you. Oz… Mama already told you that you’re broken glass. Is that what you want to be?”
He drew back, his head lifting, turning, to stare out at the ocean for a long moment before shifting his attention back to her, a wry smile curling his lips. “Maybe I am because of what happened with us before, but after ten years, what if I’m that rare piece just waiting to be rediscovered?”
A low huff left her. Leave it to the writer to come up with that kind of comparison. But Oz definitely qualified as rare, and she’d be lying if she denied that.
He was the man any girl would be lucky to take home to their mother. A man who could be trusted alone with her girlfriends. Oz wasn’t a player, never had been, and she knew in her soul he’d ruined her in a lot of ways because no one else would ever measure up to him.
Not even Ted, with his handsome good looks, drive to succeed, and aspirations.
She loved Ted, but he used his handsome face to win over female voters. Flirting, complimenting, admiring.
Now aware of her father’s behavior, she remembered his flirtatious attitude and statements and couldn’t help but wonder…
Was she setting herself up for the same heartbreak as her mother?
Really? Was she going to go down that path?
It’s familiar, her mind said.
“Controllable,” she whispered.
“What was that?” Oz asked her. “I can hear the cranks turning in that brain of yours.”
She blinked to awareness and tried to master a neutral expression, uneasy with her revelation. “You’re wrong,” she said, determined to go down swinging.
“You know you can’t lie to me.”
Hands fisted, she moved toward a bench and sat with her back to the road and the homes behind them. Oz followed but chose to sit on the railing, facing her.
“You want a confession? Fine. You weren’t the only one heartbroken when we ended. That decision… it wasn’t easy for me.”
“Good. That means I wasn’t the only one actually in love.”
She glanced up at him and found him leaning toward her, hands gripping the wooden railing by his hips. “You weren’t, Oz. But I think a part of me… knew.”
“Knew what?”
Was she really going to confess this? “Knew that if I stayed, I’d always wonder what if? I’d wind up resenting you and us and… everything.”
“You weren’t ready.”
She nodded and stood, taking a few steps to get them moving again so she wouldn’t have a hundred fifty percent of Oz’s undivided attention while she waded through the muck that was life. “I’ve wanted to be on air and have my own show for as long as I can remember. I played TV news anchor as a kid. I have no idea why, but it’s all I’ve ever—” She broke off, unable to continue because her thoughts shifted to the future. To Ted. After a couple of steps, she turned and tried again. “I do think about what’ll happen when I marry Ted.”
“And?”
It’s what made her want to reevaluate. Made her realize what she’d first thought was a fairy tale was in fact a Kennedy-esque romance complete with an unhappy ending. One she wasn’t sure she could live.
“Look, Devon, I know I have no right to comment on your life, but I hope you’ll thoroughly think this through. At least think of alternative ways to keep doing something you obviously love.”
“You make it sound easy,” she said.
“No. But I do think it’s doable.”
“I think my father is the perfect example that you can’t have your cake and eat it, too,” she stated dryly.
“If it’s important, if it really means something to you, Devon, it’s worth fighting for. Why do you think I’m still trying?”
