Chapter 29
MATHEW
“Order for Mathew?” the barista called out.
Mathew stepped forward just as the woman in front of him turned to leave. He caught her by the upper arms before her drink sloshed all over both of them.
Then he looked up.
“Victoria.”
Her eyes widened, color rushing into her face. “Mathew. Sorry—I didn’t see you.”
He blinked at her. “I thought you left town.”
She looked away, chewing on her lip. “I know. I meant to. I just… stayed a little longer than I planned.” The words tumbled out in a rush.
“It’s not what you think. This place kind of grew on me, and I needed a break.
From the city. From my family.” Her eyes lifted to his again. “From what I did to you.”
Mathew studied her more closely. There were shadows beneath her eyes. She looked tired. Worn down in a way he hadn’t expected.
Normally, he would have asked if she was okay. If she needed anything. But he’d already made it clear where they stood.
“You look good,” she said quietly. “Better than the last time I saw you.”
He gave a short nod. “Things are going well. I’m seeing someone.”
Her brows lifted. “River?”
There wasn’t any spite in the question. Just curiosity.
“Yes.” A real smile tugged at his mouth before he could stop it. “We’re working through some things, but… yeah. It’s good.”
Something softened in her expression. “I’m glad.”
He nodded once. “Thanks.”
Victoria glanced down at her cup, tapping one fingernail against the lid. “Actually… it’s good I ran into you. My flight leaves in a few hours. I was going to email you, but it’s probably better I tell you in person.”
Mathew waited, suddenly cautious.
“I wanted to apologize,” she said. “For showing up the way I did. For pushing when you’d made it obvious you didn’t want that from me.” She winced. “And for what it did to things with River.”
He said nothing.
Victoria drew in a breath. “I was in a bad place. And I think I romanticized what we used to have because it felt easier than facing what was really wrong in my life.” A tear slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away quickly. “That’s not your fault. It wasn’t fair to you.”
For a moment, Mathew could only stare at her.
When it became clear she was waiting for a response, he cleared his throat. “I appreciate you saying that.”
It wasn’t much, but it was all he could offer without opening a door he had no intention of stepping through.
Victoria searched his face a second longer, then gave a small nod. “I should probably go.”
He nodded too.
She turned and took a few steps, then stopped and looked back at him.
“You know,” she said, “I used to hate that your mother never offered me her wedding ring.”
Mathew stilled.
A flush crept up Victoria’s neck as she looked away. “I always told myself she didn’t like me. That she thought I wasn’t good enough for you.” Her laugh came out strained. “Maybe part of me spent too much time trying to prove I was.”
For the second time in only a few minutes, Mathew found himself without words.
He’d known Victoria never felt comfortable with his family. He’d assumed it was because she thought they were beneath her world.
Now he wasn’t so sure.
Victoria gave him a sad little smile. “I think I get it now.”
“Get what?” he asked.
Her eyes held his for a moment. There was sadness there, yes—but also something like acceptance.
“She makes you happy,” Victoria said. “In a way I don’t think I ever did. You’re different when you talk about her. Lighter.”
Warmth spread through him before he could guard against it.
She was right.
River had brought color back into places in him he hadn’t realized had gone dull.
A genuine smile broke across his face. “Yeah,” he admitted. “She does.”
Victoria’s own smile softened into something less forced. “Then I really do wish you well, Mathew.”
She turned toward the door.
“Victoria.”
She looked back, curious. “Yeah?”
There was one thing that had been nagging at him ever since that strange conversation with Aiden.
“Aiden,” he said. “Does that name mean anything to you?”
She frowned. “Aiden?” Then she shook her head. “No. Should it?”
His confusion deepened. “You never met anyone by that name while you were here?”
“No.” She grimaced faintly. “Honestly, I spent most of my time at the hotel or trying to catch up with you.” Color rose in her face again. “Not my proudest season.”
Mathew let out a thoughtful hum. “Huh.”
Victoria tilted her head. “Was I supposed to know him?”
He shook his head. “No. Never mind.”
Her smile returned, smaller this time but more real. “Goodbye, Mathew.”
“Goodbye, Victoria.”
He pulled out his phone, halfway tempted to call Aiden and demand an explanation for that bizarre conversation.
“Order for Mathew!” the barista called again, sounding much less patient this time.
Mathew jolted and stepped forward for the drinks, realizing they’d probably called his name more than once while he’d been standing there talking.
As he headed for the door, another thought rose up and lodged itself firmly in his chest.
His mother’s ring.
The one she’d always said would go to the woman he was meant to spend his life with.
She hadn’t offered it when he married Victoria.
And for the first time, Mathew found himself wondering whether that promise still stood. And… whether or not his mother would approve of River.
Mathew rolled the ring between his finger and thumb as he waited on the stairs leading to River’s apartment.
Four months ago, he’d sat down with his mother and finally told her everything.
Until then, she’d only known he was struggling and that a woman was involved. She hadn’t realized how serious things had been with River before River pulled away.
That day, he’d told her the truth.
He’d met the woman he wanted to spend his life with.
Not five minutes into the conversation, his mother pushed to her feet and left the room.
For one awful second, Mathew had thought she’d forgotten where she was again—or what they were talking about.
Those moments came more often now. She sometimes forgot his father was gone.
Forgot Jason was engaged. Forgot Mathew had been married and divorced.
Jason had postponed the wedding while they got her settled into memory care. Mathew knew better than most how quickly things could shift once dementia took hold.
But then his mother had come back into the room.
She’d stopped in front of him, taken his hand, and pressed a small gold band with a modest solitaire into his palm. Tears had shone in her eyes as she folded his fingers around it.
She’d told him she knew he’d find the woman this belonged to.
That had been a good day.
“What’s up, Mathew?”
His head snapped up, and he closed his fist around the ring as River came toward him. Her gaze moved over his suit, slow and appreciative. “You clean up nice.”
Mathew stood and held out his free hand. “We’re going to be late if you don’t get upstairs and change.”
River groaned. “Do you think Isabelle would forgive me if I showed up in my coveralls?”
He laughed. “If it were up to me, you could go exactly as you are.” He tipped his head. “But considering today’s probably going to live forever in wedding pictures, maybe go with something a little less covered in grease.”
She smirked. “Give me ten minutes.”
River leaned in and kissed him, then squeezed his shoulder before heading up the stairs.
After she disappeared inside, Mathew looked down at the ring once more. He had gone over this a hundred different ways—when to do it, how to do it, whether he should wait.
But every time he landed in the same place.
He didn’t want another day without River fully in his life.
Mathew stepped inside and shut the door quietly behind him. Then he moved toward the center of the room and waited, nerves tightening with every passing second.
“Do you want to do something fun after the ceremony?” River called from the other room. “I know the reception’s right after, and you probably have to make an appearance since you’re the best man, but maybe we could sneak away later?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he drew in a breath, dropped to one knee, and opened his hand.
At that exact moment, River stepped out of her room in a beautiful navy gown and stopped cold.
Her eyes flew from his face to the ring.
“Mathew,” she whispered.
He looked up at her, his heart pounding hard enough to drown out every prepared speech he’d rehearsed.
Then he told her the truth.
“I never believed in happily ever afters. I thought that it was perfectly acceptable to go through life simply surviving. But then I met you.”
Tears welled instantly in her eyes.
“Loving you changed that.” His voice roughened. “You changed that. You made me want more than survival. More than routine. You made me want a life that felt full.” He swallowed. “And you’ve made me want to be a better man inside it.”
River covered her mouth, her shoulders trembling.
He smiled a little, because there was only one way he wanted to ask her this.
“River Brooks, will you be my happily ever after?”
This time her laugh was a startled burst of sound. She’d asked him that very question when they’d first met, and it had nearly knocked him off his feet. If he’d known then what he did now, he would have accepted and held her to it.
Then she nodded.
“Yes.”
He barely made it to his feet before she reached him.
Mathew slid the ring onto her finger, then pulled her into him like he’d been waiting his whole life to do exactly that.
Their kiss was everything he needed, wanted, and more. She was his soul mate, the woman who had been saved just for him when he was finally ready to let love back into his heart.
“I love you, Mathew,” she whispered against his lips.
His forehead rested briefly against hers. “I love you too.”
Then he smiled and kissed her once more, softer this time. “But we really do need to get going, or Jason’s going to lose his mind.”
A laugh trembled out of her.
Mathew took her hand and looked down at the ring on her finger, still hardly believing it was there.
This was what true happiness felt like. Not perfection. Just the certainty of a life with River.