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“I don’t believe in marriage?” Yeah, it had come out as a question. I doubted myself at this point.
Elena laughed. “Do you even know what you believe? You know, your brother tried to use your parents as an excuse to dump me.”
I sat back in my chair, heart sinking. “I remember that.” That was a decade ago, and I still recall telling Lock he was being an idiot for breaking up with Elena. Thankfully, he pulled his head out of his ass quickly and she forgave him. I might have made my dad adopt her so she could have still been my sister if he hadn’t.
“Then you’ll also remember it didn’t work. He figured out very quickly how stupid it was to use his parents’ mistakes as an excuse not to live the life he wanted. I see you doing the sameafteryou had front-row seats to Lachlan fumbling the bag, and I can’t help wondering why you’re being stupid too. Is this fear?”
I flinched from the pummeling she’d given me. “You’re being mean.”
“No, I’m being blunt.”
And this was exactly why I came to Elena. She never pulled punches. She wouldn’t coddle me and tell me my decisions were right if they were dead wrong.
“I’ve never wanted to be married.”
She arched a brow. “And yet, you are.”
“But it’s not real.”
“You keep saying that. I don’t think that word means what you think it means.”
“I only married Luca because there was an end date. He’s the one who changed what we agreed on. He didn’t even want to have a conversation about it. It was his way or nothing.”
“And you honestly chose nothing?”
“I don’t believe in marriage,” I whispered.
“It’s not a fairy tale, babe. It’s an agreement between two people, which is what you and Luca have. Was it fair for him to change the details? No, of course not. It sounds like he was a total jackass.”
“He yelled at me.”
Because he’d been in pain. My Luca had been hurting and angry. If I hadn’t been there, he would have yelled at the walls. Taken his fury out on a canvas or mounds of clay. But it had been me. And I wasn’t a wall or clay. I was a woman with out-of-control feelings, shaky knees, a rattling heart.
Her eyes narrowed. “Did he hurt you?”
“No. I didn’t love being yelled at, but I wasn’t afraid of him.”
Aching for him. Confused by him. Needy for him. Angry at him. Never afraid of him.
“Good. I would hate for Lachlan to have to murder him.”
“He would.” My brother didn’t play when it came to the women he loved.
She nodded. “Not a question. Your father would probably get in on it as well.”
“There is no need for violence.” My head was beginning to feel lighter, as were my troubles. The gummy was working its magic. “I don’t think you’ll see him again anyway.”
Elena sighed and picked up her sparkling water, giving it a swirl. Then she reached for my hand. “I want to dance. If I go out there alone, I’ll end up having to fend off a lonely rancher or two, so you’ll have to dance with me.”
The gummy had loosened me up just enough that I let her drag me to my feet and over to the dance floor. Everyone was doing some line dance I didn’t know, but I joined in anyway. Soon, I was swept up in it, shuffling and spinning, probably doing it all wrong, but I didn’t give a damn. It was something other than being miserable, so I latched on to it with both hands.
One song blended with the next. Elena and I danced together, and any time a guy so much as glanced our way, she bared her teeth. Even pregnant, she attracted attention. That might’ve been because she had a whole “Evil Elsa” thing going. Scary but hot.
We spun until we were dizzy and had bounced ourselves sweaty. Eventually, we bellied up to the bar for another drink.
A pretty bartender with black hair and bright-blue eyes rested her elbows on the bar and grinned.
“What’ll it be?” she asked.
