Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
G enevieve handed a stack of books to Mr. Pearson. He was a retired Army colonel who loved to read about war. “Enjoy, Mr. Pearson.”
“Thanks, Genevieve. You have a great day.” Mr. Pearson tipped his veteran’s hat at her with a smile.
Genevieve smiled thinly. She hadn’t had a great day since Gabe’s phone call. She’d looked up the real Prince Gabriel Rafferty online and found that he and her Gabe were one and the same. She’d picked up the phone numerous times to call, even if it was just to check on his father, but then put the phone down. What good would it do? He’s a prince for goodness’ sake. He lives a continent away. I’m some little small-town librarian who’s never even flown. There is no future with him.
Tilly walked up and put her arm around Genevieve. “You either need to call him or get over it. I can’t stand seeing you like this.”
“Like what?” Genevieve forced a smile. “I’m fine.”
Tilly put her hands on her hips. “You are not fine. You are miserable. Why don’t you just call him already? Cut the guy a break.”
“A break? He lied to me. More than once.”
“Okay, so he did. But he had a good excuse.” Her eyes widened. “He’s a prince, Gen. A prince.”
“And I’m sure he has plenty of women falling at his feet. I don’t have to be one of them.”
Tilly rolled her eyes. “Oh my gosh, would you give up your pride just a little bit? The guy cares about you. Call him, go see him, do something. Or say you are done with it. But quit moping around and just wallowing in it.”
Her cheeks flushed. Tilly’s right . I just don’t know if I can risk being hurt again like I was by Tim. If I can’t trust Gabe to be honest, then how could we ever have a relationship?
Genevieve poured herself a glass of red wine, snuggled up under a thick blanket, and let her mind drift as she watched the fire burn. Lost in her thoughts, she jumped when the doorbell rang. Red wine sloshed out of the glass and onto her couch. “Great...” She blotted the stain with the blanket. “Coming!” She yelled at the door. Probably Tilly coming to try to cheer me up.
She pulled the door open, and her heart jumped into her throat.
Tim stared back at her. He held out a huge bouquet of red roses. “Hi.”
Genevieve couldn’t seem to form words. Her mind whirled. Why is he here? What does he want? She cleared her throat. “What are you doing here?” The words came out shakily.
Tim took a step forward. “I’m so sorry to show up like this, but I needed to see you. Can I come in?”
“No, you cannot.” Fury rose in her chest. Her hands were shaking. “And I don’t want your flowers.”
“Genevieve, please...” He took a step back. “Okay, fine. Just listen, then?”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
Tim paused, fiddling with one of the rose petals. “What we had, well it meant something to me. You meant something to me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my, um, situation, but I wanted you to give me a chance.”
I can do this . I’ve been waiting to do this. “Tim,” she cleared her throat and tried again. “Tim, you don’t have a situation. You have a family. Or at least I’m assuming you still do.”
“But my wife and I were having problems and–”
She held up a hand. “I don’t care. A married man who is a good man either fixes his problems or gets a divorce first before he dates other women. He doesn’t go on a dating website, lie to someone, and make them fall in love with him.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve been saying this so many times in my head, but now I get the chance to say it to you.” She paused, building up her courage. “You were wrong, and you broke my heart. In spite of that, I forgive you. I have to forgive you, or I will keep suffering for what you did. Now, I never want to see you or talk to you again. Never, ever show up at my home again. Do you understand?”
He looked down at his feet. “Yes, I understand.” His eyes filled with tears. He looked down at his feet. “You have to believe me. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too.” She waited until he looked up to make eye contact with her. “Goodbye, Tim.” She quietly shut the door. For the first time in a long time, she felt free. Free from the guilt, free from the shame. She really was done with him.
Genevieve called an emergency friend meeting at The Moonlight Café. Tilly arrived first and was looking like her happy, healthy self since she’d gotten over the flu. Sarah arrived a few minutes later. Genevieve ordered everyone a round of coffee and cheesecake on her, since she’d made them come out that evening. She recapped the entire Tim incident.
Sarah shook her head. “I can’t believe he had the nerve to show up.”
“I can’t believe it took him this long to do it,” said Tilly. She sipped her coffee. “If he had any sense, he would have been beating down your door to apologize from day one.”
Genevieve rolled her eyes. “He is too prideful to do that. You should have seen him standing there with those flowers. As if that would be enough for me to take him back.” She flipped her hair back from her face. “He’s lost his mind.”
Sarah watched her thoughtfully. “It’s kinda funny, though.”
Genevieve frowned. “What do you mean?”
Sarah took a big bite of her cheesecake then swallowed. “Well, a few weeks ago, this is all you wanted. An apology. Some sign of remorse.” She shrugged. “I mean, maybe even a reconciliation? You did like him a lot.”
The thought of being with Tim after finding out about his family repulsed her. “I would have never reconciled with him. Never.” She hesitated. “But I guess you are right. I did really want an apology.” She laughed. “Okay, who am I kidding? I wanted him to beg, grovel, cry...write my name across the sky, put out a public apology. I wanted to know he was hurting.”
Tilly nodded. “And now you do.” She paused. “So, how does it feel?”
Genevieve let those words roll around her head for a moment. How does it feel? “Honestly, kinda like a hollow victory.” She tilted her head. “I mean, yes, it feels good to know he’s sorry. It feels good to know he’s ashamed and wants me back. But it doesn’t make him the man I thought he was. And that’s what I loved. The man I thought he was.”
Sarah reached for her hand. “That’s right, love. He’s not that man.”
Tilly raised an eyebrow. “Do you think your feelings for Gabe change the way you feel about the whole Tim situation?”
Does Gabe change things? He lied to me, too. “I don’t know. I care about Gabe. A lot actually. But he lied to me, too. So where does that leave us?”
Sarah threw her hands up in the air. “But he’s a prince! Not some lying, cheating married guy. His reason for lying... let’s just say, his reason for covering up the truth... is legitimate.”
“I know he’s a prince! But does that justify deceiving me?”
Tilly slowly ate a bite of cheesecake. “I think you have to look at the motives, though. Tim- yeah, lying sleazeball. Cheating husband.” She licked the fork. “Man, that’s some good cheesecake.” She sipped her coffee. “Gabe- handsome prince hiding his identity. It’s not the same.”
Genevieve sighed. “Well, it kind of feels the same.”
Sarah turned toward her. “I love you. I’m saying this because I love you.” She placed her hand on Genevieve’s shoulder. “You have every right to be upset over what happened with Tim. You do. But you can let that one stupid guy ruin your chance at maybe finding love with Gabe. Of finding happiness.” She squeezed Genevieve’s shoulder. “Heck, it could ruin your chance of being a princess. Or you can get over it and seize whatever happiness you can get out of life.”
A princess. That doesn’t even matter. The idea was so foreign to her she couldn’t even imagine it. “I don’t care about being a princess. I just want to be happy.”
Tilly took another sip of her coffee. “Do you care about Gabe?”
Genevieve nodded. “You know I do.”
“Then do something about it.”
Sarah held up her coffee mug. “Hear, hear.”