I stare at my phone long after the call ends, Cole’s words looping in my skull like a bad song.
You don’t have to go through with this.
I’m too old for you.
You deserve someone closer to your age.
Every sentence slams into me harder than the last. I should be furious, should be storming into the woods to hex his brawny ass, but all I feel is hollow.
I thought I finally found someone who wanted me. Not tolerated me, not flirted for the fun of it, butwanted me. And now he’s handing me an escape route like I’m a trapped animal he’s trying to set free.
The cats are no help. Onyx yawns, Obsidian leaps to the top of the fridge, and Oswald meows for dinner instead of offering life advice.
So, I do the only thing I can think of. I call Noel.
She picks up on the first ring.
“Spill. Was the dress shopping as traumatic as I warned you it would be?”
Her teasing tone is the final straw. My throat closes, and before I can stop myself, I’m crying. Ugly, hiccupping tears.
“Noel—” I choke out. “He doesn’t want me.”
There’s a pause, then her voice sharpens like a knife.
“What happened?”
I pace the length of my tiny kitchen, words tumbling out between sobs.
“He called me. Said I don’t have to marry him, that he’s too old, that I deserve someone closer to my age.”
The silence on the other end is deadly.
Then Noel snarls, “That fucking idiot.”
A watery laugh slips out of me.
“You’re supposed to tell me I overreacted.”
“No. I’m supposed to tell you that you’re gorgeous, brilliant, and terrifying in the best way, and if he can’t see he hit the fucking jackpot, he’s dumb.”
I sink onto the couch, Oswald hopping into my lap like he knows I need the weight.
“I thought he wanted me.” My voice cracks. “That hesawme.”
“Oh, he does,” Noel mutters darkly. “He’s panicking because he actually landed the best woman in Crescent Ridge and doesn’t know what to do with himself.”
Her words should help. They don’t. Not really. The image of Cole’s face when I tried on my dress burns in my mind. Hungry. Reverent. Like I’m exactly what he wants. How do I reconcile that with him trying to shove me away mere hours later?
I press my face into Oswald’s fur.
“I can’t do this, Noel. I can’t walk into that courthouse tomorrow if he doesn’t even want me there.”
Her sigh crackles over the line, long and loaded.
“Listen to me, Sabrina. If there’s one thing I know about men in this town? They’re idiots. But Cole? He’s not playing games. He’s scared. And when men get scared, they say stupid things instead of admitting they’re in over their heads.”
“So what? I’m supposed to ignore the part where he basically called me a mistake?”
