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It was a partially blurry cellphone photo, and it took me several moments too long to understand what I was studying. It was a woman in highly complicated lingerie and heels, but not just any woman, either. It was Josie. She was straddling a man’s lap, and the man’s face was tipped up to her; his eyes nearly shut in the flash of the camera.
It was Graham.
And it was happening all over again.
No matter where I went or what I did, I couldn’t stop seeing my fiancé’s naked body covering my best friend’s. And now I had to see Josie taking back what was probably rightfully hers—the man who had fathered her child. The man I loved.
After he had promised that he wouldn’t hurt me.
After I had believed him.
After I had allowed myself to trust him and love him and think that I belonged with him.
After I had convinced myself that I could be happy and secure and comfortable again—that life could go on even after utter heartbreak and betrayal.
And yet, here I was, broken again.
This time, I was sure I was beyond repair, beyond redemption, and beyond ever loving or trusting another living human being ever again.
“Heather, what’s wrong?” Lauren asked softly enough for Jason to drop his file on the dining room table behind us.
“I need to go,” I said, only barely aware of how terrible my voice sounded. I sounded nowhere near my regular self, which made sense. How could I ever be her again? That woman loved life and had extra love to give while this new woman had been emptied out, crushed, and thrown by the wayside.
“Go where?” Jason asked. He was standing in front of me, but I couldn’t remember him crossing the room and couldn’t remember standing up myself. Lauren had taken hold of one of my arms, but I couldn’t remember when that happened, either.
My heart had broken and shattered, and now nothing else made sense.
“Have to get out of here,” I mumbled. “I can’t stay.”
“Heather, I need you to explain to me why you think you can’t stay here,” Lauren said slowly, forming each word clearly. She must have thought I was in shock, and she was right. “This is your home now, and you’re safe here. There are people who care for you here, people you care for. Collins is here, and Graham will be here in a little bit. Where do you think you need to go?”
“Away,” I said, feeling completely out of my head. “This isn’t right. It can’t be.”
“What happened?” I was only vaguely aware of Jason hissing the question at Lauren. “Why is she acting like this?”
“I don’t know,” Lauren responded in something a little less than a stage whisper. “She was on her computer, and then suddenly, she just stopped and stood up like something else took over her body.”
I lurched toward the door, hardly aware of the hands that grasped at me.
“Hey, we’ve been drinking,” Lauren reasoned. “You should probably stay here tonight.”
I had barely touched a thing. “I’m fine.”
“Okay, that’s fine,” Jason rumbled, rubbing my shoulders and upper back. I hated it, eschewed his touch. “Let’s at least call you a rideshare to get you to wherever you need to go.”
“Already here,” I said, brandishing my phone to show them the message that the driver had arrived. “I’m on my way out.”
“Heather, where are you going?” Lauren demanded. “Graham needs to know!”
But I already launched myself into the back of a car I’d never be able to identify even if I were asked to do so. The driver took a quick sweep of my face in the rearview mirror before focusing on the roadway before us.
“To the airport?” he asked before pulling out onto the main roadway. “Where are you going? Vacation?”
“Anywhere but here,” I said, focused on returning to the place I had last felt secure. I didn’t care if it had been uprooted from my life. Together, Graham and I had managed to get all of my belongings and memories back to California. Now, I was dedicated to shedding all of it in favor of a new beginning. I could get off the plane the minute it landed and decide to reform my entire existence based on whatever I wanted.
“Got a ticket already?”
I narrowed my eyes toward the driver’s seat. I didn’t understand why he was asking, and I didn’t trust anyone anymore. “Yep, all set. I need you to drop me off at Terminal B.”
