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Why had she done that? And would she ever come to regret breaking things off with him? Was she here, running away from something? He was sure she needed to deal with some issues, but he wasn’t sure if she was still in love with another man. And what did that mean for him and these new feelings he was developing toward her?
He turned his head and tried to make out the shape of her face in the darkness. “Tell me why you left your fiancé at the altar.”
CHAPTER13
Remi had not expected Colton to ask about Tavon, and his words made her insides tighten like a twisted rope swing. She didn’t want to talk about Tavon, especially not with Colton of all people. But she didn’t want to deflect, either, because he would just call her out on it. He was good at that. It was kind of annoying, really. She was stalling. She took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I couldn’t marry him.”
“Why not? Was he…not good to you?”
The tentative way Colton said it made Remi jerk her head toward him. Was he asking if Tavon abused her?
“No. That wasn’t it at all.” Embarrassment heated her skin, even in the cool evening breeze. Tavon was never a jerk. If he had been, she would have had a better excuse for leaving him. Instead,shewas the jerk. “He was a good man,” she said quietly. “That’s what makes what I did so awful.”
Colton moved closer to her and propped himself up on one elbow. “Tell me what happened.”
She stared up at the stars trying to find the right words. “Tavon and I started dating two and a half years ago. We bumped into each other at the grocery store. I hadn’t seen him since high school, so we talked for a few minutes while he tried to find the best bag of clementines. It was fun to chat with him so, when he asked me out, I said yes.”
Colton nodded. “And then what?”
“And then we dated. Every Friday night he’d pick me up and we’d go knock some pins down at the Gas and Bowl. He would win every time because I suck at bowling. Then we’d go eat pie at Grandma’s Pie Shack. He’d get the apple and I would get the blueberry. Then he’d take me home, and we’d agree to do it again the next weekend.”
“Huh.”
Remi looked over at Colton when he didn’t elaborate. “What?”
“Nothing.” He traced a pattern into the sand between them.
She frowned and shoved his shoulder. “Something.”
“All right, all right. You don’t have to get pushy. I was just thinking that bowling and pie doesn’t really sound like you. But maybe you’ve changed. Did you like bowling?”
Remi shrugged and looked down at Colton’s fingers moving in the sand. “It’s all right, I guess.”
“But Tavon likes it, so you went bowling with him every week.”
“I guess.”
“And pie. Tavon likes that, too.” He didn’t ask it as a question this time.
“Yes,” she said quietly.
“Did you two ever do anything you like to do?”
She sighed, knowing exactly what Colton was trying to do. “I didn’t mind bowling.”
“But it’s not your favorite thing.”
She turned to him. “All right, fine. I didn’t love the things we did together. But it was better than staying home alone. Do you know how lonely it is when you work from home and have no social life? It was something to do with someone that I got along with.” No, that wasn’t quite true. She liked Tavon. She just didn’t love him.
Colton’s facial features softened. “How did that advance to marriage?”
She tried to avoid his gaze, but it was nearly impossible. Even in the dark she could see his gray eyes, his stare penetrating through her. It made her insides go all mushy. Embarrassment made her blush. “I don’t know if I want to tell you.”
Colton scooted even closer to her, and she could feel the heat from his skin on her arm and see how his eyelashes still held small drops of ocean water. “Come on. You can talk to me. There’s no judgement here.”
The sound of crickets nearby grew deafening as they sat in silence, Colton waiting for her to say something. Finally, she broke the silence. “I guess it just seemed like the next step. You know. Everyone kept asking us if things were getting serious. And after a while it seemed silly not to say yes. And then Tavon said we would get a tax break if we got married.”
“Wait…” Colton held up his hand, a strange look on his face. “A tax break?”
