Colt
I thoughtI had gotten rid of all of the photos, but I didn’t think to check Patti’s desk. I swore never to go back in there once she passed, and I’m shocked that she even had a photo of us hanging around. I run a hand through my hair and head back downstairs. Seeing that picture brings back such bad memories, not only of our marriage, but all of the reasons why we got married in the first place. Sometimes there’s no escaping a situation once you’re in too deep.
I grab a dustpan and head back upstairs, not expecting Nova to clean up the mess. Technically she’s the one who broke the frame, but I can’t deny the fact that it’s difficult to get any work done when I know she’s upstairs. All I can think about is her and how much lighter my whole world feels when she’s around. Maybe that’s part of what she does? It is healing to get rid of old things to make space for the new.
She’s already filled one box by the time I get back, and I find her bent over, cleaning out the bottom drawer of Patti’s desk. The woman’s figure is mind-blowing. An image of wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her close to me, breathing in the scent of her shampoo before having my way with her plagues my mind. It’s torturous knowing that she’s only here for a short amount of time, then after that both of our lives will go on as usual.
Nova stands up straight, tightens her ponytail, then turns toward the door. I don’t even have the willpower to turn away before she catches me creeping on her, but I don’t care. I’ve never seen a more effervescent woman, so naturally stunning.
She places her hand on her chest. “I didn’t see you there.”
“Don’t mind me,” I say, but I want her to mind me. I want her to notice me, to tell me that things are going to be alright, that not every woman I fall for is as cold-hearted as Patti was. “Oh, I can do that, Colt.” She brings her delicate fingers to her lips. “Is it okay that I call you Colt?”
“It is my name.” I mean it as a joke, but my words come out stifled. I’m not used to in-person socializing.
“Good. I like a first-name basis. It makes it easier to cut to the chase.” She says, brushing her hands against her jeans. “Again, I’m really sorry about the frame.”
“Nova, I promise you that I forgot the picture was even in that desk.” Her light brow furrows. The tip of her pink tongue touches the side of her mouth. “No worries, I promise.”
“And you really want to throw it away?”
My chest tightens. How can you explain your own stupidity to someone? How the fact that the day she died felt like someone removing the chains off of your ankles. It makes me sound like a total asshole, but it’s exactly how I felt.
“My marriage wasn’t exactly ideal,” I say, feeling alright with this explanation—even if it is only the tip of the iceberg.
“I was married once, too.” She says, and I nearly do a double-take.
“You seem so young.”
“Yeah, I know I look young, but I’m twenty-nine.” She rolls those big blue eyes and lets out a sigh. “It only lasted a few years. Come to find out he preferred other women to his own wife.”
A pang of anger tightens every muscle in my body. What kind of a fool would cheat on Nova? Anyone would be lucky to have her as theirs. If she were mine, I’d claim her, possess her, shower her with love and affection. Nothing bad would ever happen to my sweet Nova. I’d make sure of it.
“He sounds like a real jerk.” My jaw clenches.
“He was.” Her mouth twists to the side. “Probably still is. I wouldn’t know I filed for a divorce and never looked back.” She takes a step forward, her blue eyes practically sparkling with mischief. “He can go to hell as far as I’m concerned. My life is better without him.”
“I understand.” A slip of the tongue.
Nova cocks her head. “You do?”
How do I get out of this one? It’s horrible to verbalize that your dead wife can go to hell, let alone think it. “My wife was cheating on me, too.”
A gasp escapes her full lips. “No way,” she says, shaking her head. “That’s crazy.”
“It can happen to anyone, I suppose.” Now it’s me who takes a step forward, offering up a secret. “We never should’ve gotten married in the first place.”
“Oh,” she says.
I read her thoughts without her having to say a word. “No, we didn’t get pregnant.”
“I wasn’t…okay, yeah. I thought maybe that’s as good a reason as any.”
My legs suddenly feel tired, and I take a seat on the sofa near the window. “Our families were very close. I grew up with Patti and known her since we were both in diapers. It was almost assumed that we would be together. It started as a joke with our parents, but you know the old adage?”
Nova sits opposite me in the office chair. “Nothing’s ever truly said in jest?”
“That’s the one. All through high school and college we were on a-gain, off-again. My parents were so dead set on me marrying her. Oddly enough, hers too. Her father wanted me to take the reins of his company, and it was expected that a condition of that was to marry his daughter, keeping all of that money in his family.”