AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’d been giving that a lot of thought. With his father gone, there was nothing holding him in New York. If he was going to make a change, now was the time to do it. But without something concrete, it was best to keep these thoughts to himself. He wasn’t even sure Clara would welcome the idea of sharing this beautiful city with him on a permanent basis.
He used his fork to move the food around on his plate. “You never know with my brother living on this coast, it might become a regular stop for me. Would that be a problem?”
Clara immediately lowered her gaze. “It isn’t for me to say. You should talk to your brother.”
Was she dodging the real meaning of his question? Or was she saying that she wasn’t open to seeing where this thing between them was headed?
The last thought ruined his appetite. He pushed aside his nearly empty plate.
“Thank you for such a lovely evening.” Clara wiped her mouth and then folded her linen napkin before setting it aside. “That was amazing, and I am absolutely stuffed.” She glanced at his plate. “Didn’t you like yours?”
“What?” He followed her gaze to his plate. “It was fine. I just wasn’t all that hungry.”
“Thank you for everything. We should probably get out of here so they can clean up.”
“Clean up? But we haven’t even had dessert.” He couldn’t let her go, not yet. If this ended up being his last chance to spend some alone time with her, he wanted to make the most of it.
“Dessert? After all of that food?” She patted her still-flat stomach. “I honestly don’t have room.”
He was running out of time to get his feelings across to her. “Clara, there’s something I need to say to you.”
The smile faded from her face as her fine brows drew together. “What is it?”
“I’m sorry.” When she went to speak, he held up his hand. He had to get this out there because he was afraid he wouldn’t have another chance. “I really mean it. I was too young or too foolish… Whatever it was, I made the biggest mistake of my life letting you go.”
Her glossy pink lips gaped open. “But you already apologized—”
“Not for being such a fool and letting you go. I should have fought for you—for us. We were good together. The problem was, toward the end, we weren’t together enough. I lost focus on the important things in life. I should have worked to fix our circumstances instead of giving up.”
Clara’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “Andrew, I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything. I just wanted you to know how bad I feel, and if I had it to do over again, I would make different choices.” She hadn’t said anything about feeling the same way, about regretting their breakup. It was obvious she no longer had feelings for him. “Someday you’ll find a guy who’s willing to fight for you and your love.” Jealousy sliced through him as he thought of Clara walking down the aisle and into another man’s arms.
“Thank you for those very kind words. They mean a lot. But, Andrew, I have a confession.”
Her voice was soft, and he strained to hear what she had to say. A gut feeling told him that it was important, that change was afoot. He just had no idea if it’d be for better or worse.
“It wasn’t just you who didn’t fight hard enough for our relationship. I let my pride get in the way. With my family breathing down my neck to give up on my wedding-planning career, all I could think about was proving them wrong. I was so certain my way was the only way.”
Andrew squeezed her hand. “Sounds like we were lacking on the communication, too.”
She nodded. “Before you called it quits, I had my own doubts about making a long-distance marriage work. If you hadn’t called off the wedding, I… I would have.”
He knew she was trying to make him feel better about the past, but the knowledge that she’d been thinking of dumping him before their wedding hurt—deeply. Still, it was in the past. And it had nothing to do with them now. They were once again friends. Nothing more.
“Thank you for telling me that.” He almost choked on the words.Wow! He’d really messed up back then. “Enough with the serious stuff. Why don’t we have some fun before dessert?”
“Fun? I don’t know. I still have work to do.”
“Didn’t we just get done discussing how all work and no play really messes up lives?”
“Yeah, but—”
“No buts, come on.” He got to his feet, hoping she liked what he had in mind.
A beeping sound caught their attention. It sounded like a cell phone, but it wasn’t his. Clara reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. She frowned. “My battery is almost dead.”
“No worries. Mine works. And you don’t need yours right now. You can charge it later.”
