He shrugs. “I heard you packed your bags and moved out here.”
“How?”
“I hired a private investigator, babe.”
“Don’t call me that,” I say through gritted teeth, pointing a finger in his face before turning around. Bringing my fingertips to my temple, I rub the ache away and will my heart rate to slow down.
Wait, did he just say he hired a private investigator?
I would have known. I would have noticed someone?—
The man who’s weirded me out on multiple occasions and no one seemed to know who he was. How could I be so stupid?
I spin around with narrow eyes facing him. “Why did you track me down?”
He reaches a hand out to rest it on my shoulder, but I shrug it away, not wanting his hands on me in any way, shape, or form.
“After you left, I thought I’d be over us. I thought I could move on, but I couldn’t,” he says. “I needed to find you to tell you how much I love you and that I’m sorry for how things ended.”
“Sorry will never be enough for what you did,” I say. “You didn’t lie to me about taking out the trash, Theodore. This isn’t something small I can ever forgive. You were sleeping with your secretary,” I practically shout, anger bubbling up again. “I was justified in leaving you.”
“I need you, Blair,” he says in a begging tone. “I want to run for office again, but I can’t do it without you.”
“So that’s what this is all about? You hired a private investigator and drove sixteen hours to beg me to come back soyoucan run for office again?” I can’t hold back the laugh as the words roll off my tongue.
He can’t be serious right now.
Since the moment I first drove away from San Francisco to come here, I always wondered about what it would be like to run into the man standing before me again. I put him so far in the rearview mirror that I thought it would be easy to see him.
But it’s even worse.
It’s hard because I have to tell him to his face that I don’twant that. I want no part of being with him ever again. Now I have to tell him I don’t miss him and that I’ve moved on.
I knew before I left that I moved on.
I knew before I left that I deserve better than that life.
“Yes,” he finally answers. “I need you.”
“Have you ever stopped to think about what I need? Better yet, what Ineededfor years when we were still married?”
My words ring in the air as I watch him standing there in silence.
“You never once thought about what I needed,” I continue. “I realized so much after I walked away from you. I was molded into nothing more than a trophy for you to display. Nothing more than someone to show off so it looked like you were fit for office. And that’s why you came out here again. You need to look fit for office to run again because it looks better on a campaign ticket when the person running is married.”
“That’s not the only reason,” he cuts me off.
“I’ve moved on,” I keep going, ignoring his lies as I make my way to stand directly in front of him. “I’m sure you thought I wouldn’t, but I did. I’ve picked up every broken piece you shattered,” I say, poking at his chest and fighting back emotions, knowing I can’t let him see me fall apart. “I put myself back together again. I’m done hanging onto the past.”
He gestures toward the ranch where Griffin went to give us some time. “Is that who helped you move on? Are you with him now?”
I stare at him in shock that he just asked that.
Contrary to what he assumes, Griffin isn’t the one who picked up my broken heart. I did that all on my own before stepping foot in Bluestone Lakes. The last step for me was getting out of dodge and making a life for myself that I could be proud of.
Falling for Griffin wasn’t in that plan.
Falling for Griffin happened when I least expected it.
