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Decker's lips tightened at her words. "I'm sorry about that. I had an inspection. I couldn't get away. I'll make it up to him."
She shook her head. "No. You aren't going to do that. I don't blame you for not coming, Decker. But last night, I know you freaked out when Leo asked if you were my boyfriend. He said the same thing to me today, in between sobs about missing you. I was selfish to get involved with you. I knew it was going to affect Leo, and I did it anyway. This isn't the best time or place to do this, but we have to end things today. It's time. It's past time. You knew it last night. That's why you left so abruptly."
"Chloe—"
She put up a hand. "Let me finish. I don't blame you for anything. You were always honest with me. I'm not mad. It was fun while it lasted, but it has to be over." The words came out like a rush of water behind a broken dam. She felt an instantaneous release, but also a terrible pain. "I told myself we could have a fun fling, but it became more than that to me and also to Leo. And I knew better. He loves you, and you're leaving, and I just put another man in his life who is going to break his heart." She felt a knot in her throat. She wasn't just talking about Leo; she was talking about herself.
"Chloe," Decker said again. "I don't want to hurt Leo. Or you."
She nodded tightly. Now that she'd said what she had to say, she needed to leave. "I know we'll have to deal with each other because of this house, but let's just keep it professional from here on out. And I don't want you to disappear on Leo, so maybe at some point, you could say goodbye. I think he'll need to have some closure with you."
Decker stared back at her with a grim look in his eyes. She wanted him to say that she was wrong, that he wanted to be with her, to be with Leo, but he wasn't saying anything, and with the silence she felt anger mix with her sadness.
"Okay, then," she said shortly. "I'll see you."
With every step to her car, she thought he'd call her back, but he didn't. And when she pulled out of the drive, she turned her head, wondering if he was watching her go. But he was headed into the house. That hurt even more.
His father had told Decker to never look back, and that's exactly what he was doing. He was done with her. On to the next.
She drove about a mile before she pulled over by a park and let the tears come. She cried for herself, for Leo, and even a little for Decker. She thought they could have had something incredible together. But he was still following in his father's footsteps, searching the world for something that he probably couldn't even define.
Or maybe this was on her. Maybe she was the one who was too stuck in her ways, needing every guy she met to line up in exactly the right way for her. Life wasn't that simple. Love wasn't neat or organized. She couldn't check off boxes and find the perfect guy. Joel was a great example of that, and it wasn't just that Joel had left; she'd known even before he'd decided to return to New York that they weren't great together. Everything had been too forced. With Decker, it had been easy and fun. Laughter, conversation, passion, and honesty had flowed between them, which was why she'd fallen in love with him.
The buzzing of her phone snapped her out of her reverie. Her first hope that it was Decker calling was dashed when she saw Hannah's name on the screen. She felt another swell of emotion.
"Hello?" she said with a tearful sniff.
"Chloe?" Hannah asked sharply. "Are you okay?"
"No. Decker and I broke up." She bit down on her lip to stop the emotion from flowing out. "Not that we really had anything to break up, but what we had is over."
"Oh, Chloe, I'm sorry. What happened? I thought you were having fun."
"We were having an amazing time, but time was the problem. Leo fell apart today when Decker missed his show at school. I've never seen Leo cry so hard, and I realized that I'd let the worst happen; I'd let my kid fall in love with another man who wasn't going to stick around. I had to cut it off."
"What did Decker say?"
"Not much of anything. He certainly didn't say he'd stick around." She paused. "To be honest, I think he was relieved. He said that Leo asked him last night if he was my boyfriend and if that meant he could live with us. That freaked him out."
"I'm a little surprised he didn't say something. Seeing you together, you seemed like you had a really strong connection."
"We do, but we've both always known we were on different paths. I shouldn't have gotten involved with him. And, by the way, yourjust have funadvice was not that good."
"But you had some fun, right?" Hannah asked.
"Too much," she said with a sigh. "I'm sorry to dump this on you. Why did you call me?"
"Oh, right. It doesn't matter now. Just some anniversary party stuff. Don't worry about it. Anyway, I'm on my way to work. I'll call you tomorrow."
"All right."
"And, Chloe, I'm sorry it didn't work out with Decker. I know I encouraged you to take a risk on him. I thought he was a good guy."
"He is a good guy, but he's not for me."
"Well, someday everything will line up."
She had a hard time believing that, but she said goodbye and set the phone on the console. She wiped her eyes, blew her nose, and started the car. She didn't have time to sit and cry. She needed to get on with her life like Decker was getting on with his.
