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“That’s right.” He set the alarm and closed the main office door, and they walked out into the black inky night.
“Who is she?”
“Does it matter?” he asked. He didn’t owe her anything, but he wasn’t proud of the way they’d ended, either. He’d owed her more than he’d gave her. And he felt bad about it.
“It does to me.” Lainey’s eyes were soft as they met his. “I want to know what she has that I didn’t.”
“Lainey…”
“You told me you weren’t cut out for relationships,” she said. “And I understood that. Accepted it. But now you’re seeing somebody else. Selling your business for her. I just want to know who she is.
His head was pounding. He really needed sleep. More than anything, he needed to get home. And he knew where that was now. Not here in London. It never had been.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice low. “I’m sorry that it ended the way it did. I’m sorry I couldn’t show you the love you needed. But we’re better off apart. That’s why we got divorced.”
They should never have gotten married in the first place. He’d been lonely, and she’d been there, and he truly thought that was enough. But now he knew how wrong he’d been. That the affection he’d had for Lainey was nothing like the passion he had for Grace.
“Is she pretty?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“And she probably worships the ground you walk on.” Lainey’s voice was soft. Sad.
“I think it’s the other way around.”
Her eyes caught his. “I wish it could have been us.”
They’d reached her car. And he’d reached the end of his words. There was nothing more to say that they hadn’t already said. But maybe this was important. A final ending. He was leaving, not looking back.
But he didn’t want to leave her unhappy.
“It could never have been us. You deserved better. I hope you’ve found it.” He watched as she opened the car door with her key fob.
She pulled the door open and stopped, looking over her shoulder.
“Do you love her?” Her voice was so low he could barely hear it. The security lights from the parking lot reflected in her eyes.
“I do.”
She nodded, her lips pressed together. “Okay,” she said. “Okay.” Climbing into her car, she pulled the seatbelt across her, then started the ignition.
“I hope she loves you back.”
A ghost of a smile pulled at his lips. “She does.”
Lainey nodded again.
“Is your boyfriend waiting for you?” he asked.
“I think so.” She nodded.
“Richard says he’s a good man,” he told her. As he went to close the door, he caught her eye. “Be happy.” Then he pushed it closed and walked to his own car, intending to sit there until she was out of sight.
Although he had two more days until he’d fly home, it still felt like closure. The end of one life and the start of a new one.
And he couldn’t wait for this one to begin.
* * *
