Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Faye
“Ijust want to talk to him for a second,” I say as Cassandra barricades me in the room. She’s standing in the doorway with her arms crossed like a terrifying bouncer who’s never missed a day on her Peloton.
“Not going to happen. Get packing.”
I throw a shirt into my open bag on the bed and then huff out a breath. I make a break for it, trying to zigzag around her, but she easily pushes me back and I fly onto the bed.
Newton wags his tail and leaps on me like we’re playing.
“You can’t just hold me in here against my will,” I say. “This is kidnapping. It’s against the law!”
“My island. My laws.”
I run through the options in my head. I’m not coming up with much.
“I’ll tell Edward about your secret FirstSpark account,” I threaten. “Yeah, that’s right. I know about it.”
I give her a smug look, but it dissolves when she laughs at me. “Who do you think took the pictures? You have nothing to threaten me with.”
“Oh really?” I say, letting the dark side boil up inside my chest as I glare at her. “Not true. I have one more thing.”
Cassandra narrows her eyes on me.
“Newton!” I shout, pointing at her. “Attack!”
Newton collapses onto his back for a belly rub.
Darn it. It was worth a shot.
“Get your shit and let’s go,” she says, out of patience.
I have no choice but to pack everything and head out. My head hangs in shame as we step out of the house under the covered patio. The rain is falling hard, turning everything gray and hostile. The warm sunny day we had this morning is gone. It doesn’t look like it’s ever going to come back.
The whole family is here, and Owen, who won’t even look at me.
“I’ll take her back,” Amber says softly. She gives me a sad look and then runs out into the rain to get the boat ready.
I take a deep breath and walk up to Owen. His eyes are off in the distance. He’s all closed up. The walls securely in place. He’s back to his robot mode and it’s set on Emotionally Shutdown.
It makes me sad to see him like this.
I like the other side of him. The fun side. The happy side. The side that looked at me with so much warmth in those beautiful blue eyes.
It’s all gone.
He’s back in his bubble and I’m not in it.
“I just want to tell you,” I say softly to him. “That relationship was already over.”
“Stop talking to him,” Cassandra snaps.
“Give them a second, hun,” Edward whispers to her.
I ignore them both.
“We broke up over a month ago,” I continue.
He just nods as he stares off into the distance. “Oh. Okay.”
That’s all he has to say… Oh. Okay.
I feel his body all tight and closed up. He’s like one of those clams that slam shut at the slightest movement in the water. He’s locked up tight and not opening for anything.
Not even for me.
“Do you believe me?” I ask, my chin quivering.
He finally looks at me. His face is still, but I see the turmoil in his eyes. He’s hurting too.
“I do.”
I take his hand. It stiffens.
Hot tears fill my eyes as I let him go.
“Do you still see yourself with a cottage and a dog?” I swallow hard. “And a wife?”
He exhales long and hard and then slowly shakes his head. “That’s not the life for me, Faye.”
I drop my head, holding back tears. “I’m sad to hear that.”
His shoulders stiffen as he lifts his head and stares off into the distance.
I look at Newton and he lowers his head with a whimper.
“Would you like to keep Newton?”
He takes a deep breath as he looks at the dog. “You take him. You always wanted a dog. I never did.”
He never did.
I close my eyes for just a second.
I don’t tell him that I have a picture on my phone of him sleeping with his face buried in Newton’s neck.
I don’t remind him about gently carrying Newton to the couch so we could have the bed.
Or feeding him one kibble at a time. Or how he threw a stick forty times this morning and laughed every time Newton swam back with it.
I just take Newton’s leash.
I don’t argue.
What’s the point of arguing with someone who has already retreated inside themselves and locked the door?
“Okay then,” I whisper. “I’m sorry I ruined your investor weekend.”
“You didn’t ruin anything,” he says in a flat, monotone voice. “You were lovely. It was just an unfortunate incident.”
“Yeah,” I say, looking away. “Unfortunate.”
Amber is on the boat, waving me over. She’s already drenched.
I take off his grandmother’s rings and force them into his hand. “I’ll be out of the apartment by Wednesday. Goodbye, Owen.”
I run out into the rain so no one can see me crying.
After a few steps, I stop and turn.
He’s watching me, standing under the porch all closed up like a statue as the rain comes down in the uncrossable distance between us.
He looks like he did the first time I ever saw him walk into my coffee shop—contained, unreachable, a man standing slightly outside of everything.
Only now, it’s worse. He’s no longer the stranger I met five years ago. He knows what he’s closing off. He knows exactly what he’s shutting out.
The cold rain soaks through my shirt and plasters my hair to my face. Newton presses against my leg, shivering.
I look at Owen for as long as I can stand it.
Rain runs down my face, and I can’t tell anymore what’s rain and what isn’t.
I want him to come for me. I want him to react.
But he doesn’t.
He doesn’t come.
He doesn’t even move.
I can see it in his eyes. The magic is gone. It’s all shriveled up like a raisin. Even I can’t reach him like that.
Newton whimpers beside me.
I turn back into the rain and run to the boat.
I don’t look back again.
I want to, but I don’t.
“Life jackets please,” Amber says as she kicks the boat away from the dock. “It’s going to be a rough one.”
I secure our life jackets as the engines roar and the boat takes off into the tumultuous lake.
My heart breaks as I turn back to take one last look at the cottage. Owen is still standing there, watching.
I can’t believe it’s going to end like this. Why didn’t I tell him about Alex earlier?
I guess I wanted to live in that happiness bubble for a little longer, only now it’s popped and everything is a mess.
I cling to Newton as the boat speeds toward Port Carling, bouncing on the rough waves.
“Are you really married?” Amber shouts over the engines as the cottage shrinks into the distance.
“No,” I say with a sigh. “I broke it off when that video aired.”
Amber nods, her pink hair soaked on the sides of her face. “Do you love him?”
My heart sinks. “Yes. I think I do.”
Amber thinks about it for a moment and then shakes her head in disgust. “Even after he shot a spider at you and ruined your engagement?”
“What?” I say, jerking my head back. “Ew. No. Not him. I don’t even like him.”
“Then who were you talking about?” Amber asks. “Oh my god, not Tristan! What are you doing, girl?”
“I was talking about Owen.”
“Oh,” she says, looking relieved. “You two were pretty believable together. I thought you two were in love.”
“So did I,” I whisper.
“I’ll order you a car to take you back to Toronto,” she says, pulling out her phone.
“I don’t have money to pay for that.”
She waves her hand. “My dad has an account. Don’t worry about it.”
My shoulders slump as I watch her make the call. It’s better that I leave. I don’t belong in this world—the world of the ultra-rich who have yachts and private islands and can book a seven-hundred-dollar car ride without batting a manicured eyelash.
It was fun pretending, but that’s all it was. Pretend.
My phone buzzes on my thigh and I pull it out with my heart racing.
It’s a text from Owen, but it’s not what I was hoping to see.
Keep the apartment. I hope you and Newton are happy there.
Goodbye, Faye.
I slip the phone back into my pocket and start crying. Newton leans into me with his ears down. I wrap my arms around him, bury my face into his neck, and hug him the whole way back to Port Carling.