Chapter 26
DREW
I can’t breathe. Panic rips through me. I’m stuck in place. How did she find me?
The words scrape at the back of my throat, but no sound comes out. Every nerve in my body is screaming, move, but my feet won’t obey.
How—how does she even know I’m here? Did someone tell her? Did she see the article about the festival? Oh god—what if she saw the photos?
My pulse is so loud that I can barely hear the crowd swarming around us. Everything narrows—her face, that perfect lipstick smile that looks nothing like forgiveness.
Does she know everything? Or is she here to find out?
My brain spins through useless details: the color of her coat, the shape of her nails, the way her perfume cuts through the scent of roasted pork and mulled cider.
My stomach sours, all the food and the drinks threaten to come back up to paint the snow around us.
My instinct is to run—but there’s nowhere to go that won’t draw attention.
Of all the people to show up today. Of all the damn places.
“And now you’re parading around with three men at your side like you’ve got no shame. You sure moved on fast.” Her voice is sharp, but her posture is defensive instead of threatening.
I snap back into the present, the cold air battling the heat in my face and biting at the tears stuck in the corners of my eyes.
My mouth hangs open, unable to form words. People are staring.
Then, a hand takes mine, fingers twining together. Daisy. Her grip is steady, grounding.
My sister has fire in her eyes, her posture protective and defensive.
Ready to stand up for me like I’ve never seen her do before.
“What, exactly, do you expect her to do? Sit around pining for a cheating asshole? Don’t come here attacking Drew just because your husband can’t keep his vows. Take that up with him.”
Nick’s wife, Jennifer Tanner, bristles.
Her anger falters into something more wounded.
Her gaze meets mine again, and the look she shoots me is more tired than venomous.
She swallows hard, her throat working.
“He said you knew…that you—” Her voice breaks, and she shakes her head. “But maybe I shouldn’t have believed him. He’s done this before.”
That makes my stomach pitch.
The fucking lying asshole. I shouldn’t expect anything less from him though.
And that I’m not the first…
God, I’m such an idiot for falling for his entire act. Falling for him, especially now that I know what being taken care of feels like. Or at least, I think I do.
My jaw tightens, but all I can manage is a brittle, “He started it.”
Jennifer’s head drops, her hand covering her mouth as her chest heaves. It takes a moment for her to regain her control. “I just…I needed to hear it from you. You disappeared so fast, never answered the company’s emails. Maybe, you could talk to me before you disappear again?”
The crowd’s still buzzing, but the energy shifts. Some pity in the glances now, less judgment.
Daisy squeezes my hand again, and her dark eyes speak volumes in the silence.
Don’t you dare crumble in front of them.
I nod stiffly, but inside I’m spiraling.
People have their phones out, recording this. The fuckers. The whispers turn into questions rather than accusations.
It’s hard to hear past how I’m gulping for air.
Talking to Nick’s wife means reopening doors I’ve slammed shut.
The pain is already a steady beating presence in my chest.
In the weeks before we were caught, before I realized everything he told me, promised me, was a lie, we’d been talking about getting married, about the kind of ring I might want, a special overseas wedding…if I wanted children.
It hurts worse to know he’s already had those things and that he didn’t care about the vows he made to his wife.
That his promises would never be enough to keep him and his love in check.
I can’t believe I’d wanted it with him at all.
Sucking in a slower breath, finding the calm that took over me as I’d packed up my life and ran back home, I let it settle over my shoulders.
I can talk with her.
Because even though I can use the closure, Jennifer needs it more.
It may not be my fault, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not part of the reason she’s so hurt. I owe her this.
I know damn well the men in my life won’t like it one bit, but this is necessary.
When I glance at Daisy, I see Adam, Gabe, and Greyson hovering just a few feet away, anger and sadness and protection in their expressions.
The fact that they let my sister stand up for me, that they’re not swooping in to save the day gives me strength.
They trust me to make my own decisions.
To be an adult.
I step forward, ready to face this. Finally.
Pointing to a stand with no line, I make my peace offering. “Let me buy you some cocoa, and we can go chat.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Jennifer stiffens as I come closer, and I’m sure my half-hearted smile isn’t reassuring. “It’s freezing. Come on, the cocoa will help.”
She nods and follows me to the stand.
I get the dark variety but let them pile on the whipped cream and peppermint white chocolate shavings.
Jennifer gets the blonde variation.
It matches her, honey blonde hair that’s clean but not styled.
The darkness under her eyes screams stress and sleepless nights.
But that doesn’t distract from how pretty she is.
How poised.
What was Nick thinking? If he cheated on her more than once, what hope do the rest of us have?
I shake my head and try to keep from staring. I’m sure she wants to do the same to me.
But there’s nothing special about me other than my naive need to mean something to someone. To be wanted.
It’s burned me twice now.
How much I wanted to believe he was as obsessed with me as I was with him. It made me an easy target.
Jennifer finally looks at me. In my eyes. And I feel her pain.
She’s exhausted, emotionally…physically.
Does she wonder what I have that she doesn’t? I shake my head.
“I’m nothing special. Just easy to manipulate. I thought I’d grown out of it, but…” I shrug and look away, seeing every little lie he told to keep me from finding out.
How he kept me hidden for so long by making my need to go out and do things together look immature.
And I mistook attention for affection.
I sigh.
Jennifer nods beside me. “Yeah. That’s what happened with the last one, too. Didn’t seem so odd then. But you’re the same age, and I’m…so much older.”
“You know what I think? It’s not either of our faults. He made this situation.” My hands shake as I say it. “And he’s really messed both of us up.”
And it’s true.
Based on how Adam has pushed me, how Greyson has supported me, and how Gabe has seen me, the problem is in the cheating bastard.
Not me.
And it’s not a long limb to go out on to say it’s not her either.
I blink back the tears that threaten to fall, but I’ve expended too many of them already.
If I had the guts, I would give her a reassuring touch, but I don’t. We walk slowly around the outer edge of downtown where it’s a little less crowded. But our silence lingers.
“You grew up here?” Jennifer peers around. What does she see? The charming community or small-minded cheese?
I remember thinking this place lacked the flash and speed I wanted. The opportunities. The people.
But the people in the city…they don’t care about anyone, about me.
They don’t talk about me or watch my every move, sure, but when my life fell apart, I had people here who worried about me.
“Yeah. I did. I haven’t been back in a long time, and I’m not completely sure why.”
She nods. “I think about moving to a place like this sometimes.”
“It’s definitely different from city life.” I take a long drink of my cocoa, letting the sugar hit me hard as my adrenaline wanes.
The drink is cool enough to slog down fast, and it tastes better than I remember it.
More twists and changes in a town I’d thought was stagnant.
It might have just been me.
“I bet it is.”
We turn to start our way back, and I catch another glimpse of her and her of me.
It pauses for a moment, and I sip my cocoa again to keep myself moving.
“Why did you run away so quickly?”
I grimace. “I couldn’t handle the gossip, the whispers, the accusations… And I couldn’t face him.”
Jennifer takes her own sip. It looks like her first real one because she brightens just a fraction before drinking more.
It gives me the space to say, “It was a hard blow for me. Even though I knew something was off—the lies, the secrecy—I didn’t want to believe it. And when it all blew up, I was crushed. Alone.”
Sucking in a shaky breath, I close my eyes, revisiting the feeling. It’s nearly gone now.
“He really played us both, didn’t he?” Her derisive laugh has me joining in awkwardly. “I thought if I could find you, I’d feel better. Turns out, I just feel…tired.”
I’m glad she doesn’t blame me. It makes me feel far lighter than I imagined it could.
“What have you been doing since you came home?”
“Work. Life. Family. Small town stuff. Trying to remember who I was.”
“That sounds nice. I could use some of that. The company is finally cleaning up the mess he left behind.”
I raise my brow, unwilling to ask the question I desperately want to know. Did he get what was coming to him?
“My father fired him, and we’re still scrambling to replace him.”
Part of me is satisfied by this. The other part pities him. We near the bustle of the festival again, and I’m glad I don’t have this hanging over me anymore. “I don’t regret leaving.”
“I don’t blame you.” Her tone is wistful. Did she want to run away, too, but couldn’t? She still has to face everyone who knows what Nick did to her.
We stop again, just on the outside of the crowds. The familiarity soaks into me like a balm.
“You know… You could still come back. We haven’t filled your role.”