possibly last. So I ended it.
I thought I was doing the right thing by letting her go, but what I really was doing
was pushing her away before she could push me away.
But I pushed too hard, and she’s gone.
It’s what I wanted.
But that’s a lie. What I really want is to see her face again. To hold her, and hear
her laugh. I want the sunset walks in the park and arguments over what movie to
see. I even want her tantrums and her sarcasm. But most of all I want the love
that I threw back in her face like it didn’t matter. I’d do anything for that.
So here’s my question. If your Bruce came to you and told you that he’d made
the worst mistake of his life—that he’s ready to be brave and love you … would
you give him the chance?
Can you still love the man who can’t stop loving you?
In anticipation—
S. Condon
“Wow,” Riley said, blowing out a long breath. “Wow.”
Julie must be rubbing off on her, because she felt tears welling at a stranger’s
letter. And not a few dainty drops. Like one of those honking, slobbery type of
cries. “Does anyone have any chips?”
Emma traded the chips for the letter, and Riley tore open the bag. They were the
baked, unsalted kind, but she barely noticed as she munched them three at a
time.
“Oh my,” Emma said in a croaky little voice.
“Oh jeez, even Emma is getting weepy. What is it, like, a poem or something?”
Grace asked.
“So much better than a poem,” Julie said as she snatched the paper from Emma
and skimmed it. “It’s a love letter.”
“Let me see this.” Grace ripped it out of Julie’s hands. Not that Julie noticed,
because she was crying. Again.
“I think I’d leave Jake for this guy,” Grace said, becoming sobering as she read
it.
“I wonder how Camille got it,” Julie said, pulling herself together and dabbing her
eyes. “Why wasn’t it with the rest of the letters?”
“No postage,” Emma said, peering at the envelope. Then her eyes narrowed.
“Grace, give me that.”
Grace handed over the letter, and Emma stared at it for several seconds before
she lifted her eyes to Riley. “Ri, how many people know about your original fake
name for Sam?”
Who cares?
“I don’t know. You guys. Camille. Maybe one of the copy editors, if they made a
pass at it before I changed it to Bruce?”
Wordlessly, Emma handed the letter back to Riley.
Riley felt the blood drain from her face as she saw what Emma wanted her to
see.
Condon.
It couldn’t be a coincidence. Could it?
But how …
“How are you going to answer it?” Grace asked softly.
“I’m dying to hear the answer to that myself.”
All four women turned to stare at the man in the doorway.
But he was staring only at Riley. And his eyes were full of …
Everything.
Wordlessly the other three stood. Well, Grace and Emma stood. Julie had to be
coaxed out of her chair, and luckily Grace had the forethought to grab the box of
tissues on the way out.
“Nice one, Samuel,” Emma muttered as the three women slipped past.
“I want to watch,” Riley heard Julie say.
“And I want Ryan Reynolds for my birthday,” Emma snapped. “Get it together.”
Riley barely heard any of this.
She couldn’t believe he was here. Couldn’t believe …
She shakily rose to her feet, holding up the letter. “You?”
He blushed and looked at the floor. “It’s awful, isn’t it? I wrote a different one that
was a little less Byron, and it was even Liam-approved, but last night I couldn’t
get these words out of my head.”
She pressed her lips together. “Did you mean it?”
His head snapped up, and his blue eyes were desperate. He took a half step
toward her before catching himself. “Every damn word.”
“How did Camille end up with it?”
“I meant to mail it, but my, um, drafting took too long. So Liam looked through
your contact list at dinner and got Camille’s number.”
“The sneak,” she muttered.
“Liam, or Camille?”
“Both.”
Several moments of tense silence passed between them until Sam finally closed
his eyes and broke the eye contact. “I have to know, Riley. I have to know the
answer.”
He sounded tortured, and a tiny part of her wanted to feel smug about that, but
the atypical huskiness of his voice killed her.
Riley swallowed. She knew what her heart wanted. Her heart had always wanted
it. But her head was begging her to be smart.
This was a man she’d practically begged to love her, and he’d let her walk away.