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“Sarah, please. This doesn’t have to be the end.”
“It does with me if you want kids. I’m not going to get in the way of your dream.”
* * *
She couldn’t be serious.There had to be another reason. Maybe it was his confession earlier. “Sar, you’ll never know how much I regret all that happened with Lana.”
“I’m getting some idea.”
“Sar, I promise I haven’t seen Lana since back then.”
“You haven’t?” Her brow furrowed. “Why not? You should. She must’ve been as devastated as you. She’s probably been carrying this pain as well.”
Was she seriously suggesting he go visit his ex? There had to be more to this. “Sarah, I really don’t want to talk about the past. I want to have a future withyou.”
* * *
Her heart witheredat his look of hurt. But she had to stay strong. Be unselfish. This was for his good. “I’m sorry.” She stood. Forced her feet to stay as he shot upright, when all she wanted to do was run away.Run away!
“Seriously? You’re just gonna leave? After everything, this is how it ends?” His voice cracked. “What did I do wrong?”
“It’s not you, Dan, it’s me.”
His laughter was brittle. “That has to be the lamest line ever.” He reached for her hand. “Sarah, please talk to me.”
“Dan, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”And I’m praying that one day you’ll understand why I’m doing this.She mustered a smile. Took a step back. “Goodbye.”
“Wait. You don’t want me to take you to the airport anymore?”
“What’s the point? So we just break up again?”
“I don’t want to break up. Sarah, please—”
“I love you, Dan, but I can’t be part of your future.”
He grasped her hand. “Princess.”
She stilled, eyes on his fingers wrapped lightly around her wrist. Slowly his fingers unpeeled. “Goodbye,” she whispered before fleeing to the sanctuary of her room.
* * *
Anger pumped through his veins,driving him to pace, to move to follow her up the stairs, but he hesitated at the realization her dad and uncle a room away might have a problem with that. Stuff it. He hurried up two stairs at a time, then took a guess that the closed door was hers.
“Sarah?” He tapped on the door. “Are you in there?”
No reply.
“Sarah? Please. We need to talk. Don’t shut me out.” He banged a little harder.
The door remained closed.
He tried the door handle, but it was locked. Disbelief whooshed through his chest. “I thought you loved me,” he rasped, knowing he sounded pathetic and desperate, resisting the urge to pound on the door. He didn’t want to raise attention from those downstairs. Neither did he want to barge in. Not when there were too many explanations needed already. Maybe that’s what had freaked her out, and the awkward intensity of the moment meant she’d felt the need to escape. “I’ll go downstairs and wait for you, okay?”
Still no sound from within. Was she even in there? “I love you,” he said desperately, forehead against the door. And he did, he always would, no matter how far away she might be.
A sound on the stairs shifted his attention to John’s dad. Dan straightened, inched away from the door, shot for a smile that wouldn’t make him look shady.
“You okay there, son?”
