Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 133224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
“Let’s go,” Henley snaps as he looks around. “This place is fucking depressing.”
Juliet picks up the ring box from the table and opens it up. Her mouth drops open. “Oh my god,” she whispers.
I go to take the ring off her, and Henley snatches it out of my hands. “I’ll keep this safe.”
My eyes search his.
“I believe you said no,” he snaps as he puts the ring in his pocket.
My heart dies a little. He told Henley I said no . . .
I did say no . . .
“Do you want to take anything?” Juliet looks around at the roses. “What do we do here? Shall we take them all, or . . . ?”
“No point,” Henley snaps as he walks past us out the door and gets into the car.
“Don’t mind him,” Juliet whispers as she puts her arm around me. “He’ll calm down.”
I put my head into my hands. “I was just taken by shock, you know, and . . . I just handled things so bad, and . . .”
“I know.” She tries to comfort me.
“And I thought he was cheating, and I just was so mad and horrible, and I just didn’t know, you know? And I just . . .” Snot is running down my face, and I’m near hysterical.
“I know, baby.”
“And Blake won’t answer his phone, and I tried to get him to come back. Where is he? Is he okay?”
“I don’t know. He called Henley to come and collect you.”
“Can we go find him?”
“Let’s just get you and Daisy home, shall we?” She puts her arm around me.
“But what about all the roses?” I stammer as I look around.
“We can come back tomorrow; I don’t know, let’s just go home. Maybe Blake is at home.”
“Where’s the baby?”
“Chloe and Antony are minding her.”
Oh god, everybody knows.
I follow her out to the car. Daisy and I get in the back seat, and Henley pulls out onto the road.
The drive home is made in silence as I mentally go through our fight and stare at the scenery through tears.
If marriage is just a piece of paper to you, then you really should go back to your husband, because that’s exactly all it was to him.
I close my eyes in horror.
I deserve better than this secondhand love that you’re dishing out.
I imagine Blake going to all the trouble to find my engagement ring and working extra hours to pay for it, and all the while I was at home imagining terrible things about him.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I stare at the scenery through tears.
You let his love taint mine . . . and I’ll never forgive you.
I’ll never forgive myself.
I sit at the dining table and stare into space as Chloe paces back and forward in the kitchen. “I don’t understand where he’d go.”
“Try him again,” Juliet says.
With shaky fingers, I dial Blake’s number. It’s 10:00 p.m., and no one’s heard from him. Henley and Antony are out looking for him, and this is turning into an absolute fucking nightmare.
That’s if it wasn’t already.
You’ve reached Blake Grayson.
Leave a message.
I close my eyes. Answering machine again. I’ve lost count of how many messages I’ve left tonight.
“Blake, it’s me. Can you call me back, please? We are all worried sick. I love you.” Dejected, I hang up the phone.
Chloe keeps pacing, and Juliet walks into the kitchen and puts the kettle on.
The house is silent and sad, and I get the feeling that everybody hates me. Damn it, I hate myself for what I did to him.
My behavior has been inexcusable, but in my defense, I had no idea his head was even in this space.
“He’ll be fine,” Juliet says. “He’s just cooling off somewhere. As soon as he calms down, he’ll come home.”
I twist my fingers together on my lap and nod.
I wish I was so sure.
I have this sick, sinking feeling in my stomach telling me that this isn’t going to be all right.
Juliet’s phone rings, and we all jump. “Hello,” she answers. She listens for a minute. “Oh, thank god.” She puts a hand over the phone. “He’s fine. The boys found him.”
“Where is he?” I stammer.
“Where is he?” she asks. She listens for a beat. “He’s at a hotel. He’s fine, don’t worry.”
“Thank god.” I put my head into my hands as relief overcomes me.
“Okay, great.” Juliet listens. “Yeah, good idea; you stay there with him. Okay, love you. See you in the morning.” She hangs up the phone. “Henley and Antony are going to stay with him tonight. They’ll be home in the morning.”
I smile sadly. Not the outcome I wanted . . . but thank heavens he isn’t alone.
Juliet sits down on the couch beside me. “I told you he’d be fine.”
I nod.
“It’s been a big day, and you’ve been crying for hours. Why don’t you just go and have a shower and head to bed?”