I Still Love You (21st Century Austen #8)

1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Nothing feels better than showing your ex how much better off you are without them. I’ve been telling myself this for nearly eight years and seeing said ex walk into the restaurant for dinner confirmed how right I was.

“I told you he was hot,” Lizbeth whispered in my ear as we watched my ex-fiancé walk in.

Mason Wright was hot and always had been.

His thick black hair and chiseled jawline weren’t what people always noticed.

It was his heavy black eyebrows that made his green eyes stand out.

Even after all this time, this man made my heartrate increase.

The rest of my body betrayed me as it leaned closer, hoping he would come over and plant a soft kiss on my lips. Traitor.

Mason smiled at people as he walked closer to the table, reaching out and shaking hands with those he was meeting face-to-face after months of remote planning meetings.

Once he noticed me, his arm stopped mid-shake with the man standing next to me.

I was already small, even if I didn’t use a wheelchair, but it was easy to miss me as I remained seated while everyone else stood up to greet him.

My long wavy dirty brown hair was pulled back from my head in a braid and my brown eyes didn’t stand out.

I was often overlooked by those around me for many reasons.

I usually made a point to make sure I was the first one you noticed in a new space.

“This is the new WorldWiki Foundation Executive Director, Penny Smith,” Lizbeth said, assuming Mason had no idea who had randomly joined them for dinner.

Mason and I locked eyes, and I could hear my heart beating in the silence.

I had waited a long time for this moment, and I don’t think I could have planned it better.

Lizbeth had no idea that she was introducing two people who knew each other more intimately than anyone else in this room.

Mason’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat before he pasted a smile on his face.

“It’s nice to see you again, Penny,” he said, as if we hadn’t slept next to each other for years. “It’s been nearly a decade since you were last in Lacock.”

Lizbeth’s eyebrows shot up. “I totally forgot that you got your PhD here!” she said, turning to me. “I didn’t even think you would know some of the faculty.”

I tore my eyes away from Mason to turn to my friend. “I don’t know most of the faculty planning the conference, but Mason and I got our degree together. We knew each other well at the time.”

I was careful with how I phrased it. I didn’t want to embarrass Lizbeth because I had leveraged her ignorance to surprise Mason.

I also wanted Mason to know all we had left was our history together.

Lizbeth’s shoulders relaxed, but Mason crossed his arms over his chest. My words had hit perfectly for both of them.

“We changed restaurants to make sure we had a place that was accessible for Penny,” another woman said, claiming Mason’s attention.

My ex nodded, looking back at the woman. “Naturally. The last time Penny was here, we didn’t have as many restaurants that were accessible for those using wheelchairs. This was a great pick for tonight’s dinner.”

It would be fair to say my options back then had been limited. I recalled only being able to get into fast-food restaurants and hole-in-the-wall places in strip malls. Even this restaurant hadn’t been as accessible as it was tonight.

“I remember this place being the candy store,” I said, turning to Denise as everyone sat down again. “They had a bunch of steps up to the front door. Did someone finally buy it out?”

I watched Mason from the corner of my eye as he took the only empty seat at the other end of the large community table we had claimed.

Denise shook her head. “The Bennet family still owns it but changed it from a candy store to this restaurant. There was a lot of drama around it last year, but Mrs. Bennet makes the desserts which are so much better than her old candy was.”

“She still makes candy,” Lizbeth said. “Ginny and Elliot often bring it home when they come to visit.”

I raised an eyebrow. Ginny was practically Lizbeth’s sister-in-law and an amazing candy maker.

I recalled being told that she had helped some friends open a candy store here.

At the time, I had rolled my eyes and wondered if I was ever going to be able to escape this small Massachusetts city.

I wasn’t sure if having more local connections was good or bad, but seeing the changes as I drove in made me think it could be good.

“We’ll have to get dessert then,” I said with a smile.

I’ve lived a lot of places in my life, but Lacock, I liked the least. Not because my heart had been broken by Mason days before we graduated, but because it was the least accessible place I had ever lived.

New England was infamous for potholes and uneven sidewalks.

I had purchased a wheelchair that could manage these inconveniences.

Most communities put some thought into how their spaces would be accessed by those with mobility aids, but at that time, Lacock had done the minimal required by law without any thought into how people would use them.

There would be buttons that I could push to open doors, but they would be broken or well out of reach.

The ramps would be short and steep, making it impossible for me to get up them.

I was pleased to see, in the eight years since I had graduated, this had changed.

Someone in the city government and on campus was finally thinking about the experiences of people like me.

This restaurant, for example, had replaced the steps at the front door with a ramp that made it easy for me to finally enter.

I had tasted the candy made here only once, and I was glad I hadn’t been able to get inside because there were steps up to the door.

It had been Mason who had bought me that candy and laughed with me as we sampled his selections.

Whatever had prompted the change, I was glad they had made them.

“I’m sorry I didn’t realize you and Mason knew each other,” Lizbeth said later in the lobby of my hotel.

We had returned together since I was down the street from the restaurant at a new hotel downtown.

I had driven up from Cape Cod, where I lived, earlier that day for WorldWikiCon this weekend.

I had only come because it was so close to home and it presented an opportunity to rub my success in a few noses.

Lizbeth had noticed the tension between us even if she didn’t understand why.

I shrugged. “You know my instinct is to tell you a citation is needed, but we both know I never talk about my history in Lacock. I wasn’t planning to be here, so don’t worry about who I may know. I appreciate you all moving things around so I can be part of the conference.”

Lizbeth grinned, but didn’t push for more of an explanation.

I was impressed with the younger women’s efforts to be aware of what was happening around her but not push for more than people were ready to share.

It was something she regularly worked on.

We had worked together in a variety of organizations since we had met when she was in graduate school.

“I know most of these people know you already since you’ve been working on EncycloWiki since before we met,” Lizbeth added. “I can let Mason introduce you.”

I started working on EncycloWiki before I had even met Mason over a decade ago.

My goal had always been to increase accessibility on the seventh most popular website in the world.

He had gotten involved to correct entries about topics he was learning about in classes.

Now I was in charge of the WorldWiki Foundation and EncycloWiki while he was nothing more than a professor at a small university.

I wasn’t ready to share any of this with Lizbeth.

I was still angry about how our engagement had ended.

I wanted Mason to introduce me. He would have to list all my accomplishments since we broke up.

His mentor had convinced him I would bring him down and ruin his career because I wanted to leave academia.

Since graduating, I had started my own non-profit, been on the EncycloWiki board of directors, organized past versions of this very conference, and testified before congress on multiple occasions. What had he done?

“I think having Mason introduce me is a great idea,” I said. “Unless someone important should do it.”

There was only one other person whose face I wanted to rub my success in - Lois Fairfax. I had done my research, and she was the current Lacock State President. It would feel just as good to have her introduce me, since she’s the woman who convinced Mason to dump me.

Lizbeth nodded and made a note in her journal before getting up and leaning over to give me a hug. “I’m glad you’re here,” she said before walking away. “I know you hadn’t planning on being able to attend this year, but having you is a comfort to me.”

I watched her walk away before wheeling my chair to the elevator and going to my room. There was still one more person I wanted to chat with before I went to bed.