Don't Hesitate Don't Hesitate (The Reluctant Heart Book 3) - Jeannette Winters Page 0,42

you’re with the right person and you should hold on to them tight. You will have found your soulmate.”

Soulmate? At one point I would’ve considered using that term regarding me and Andrew. But obviously, only one of us had those feelings.

Aunt Trixi made it sound so simple. But that wasn’t the case with Andrew and me. I’ve said things that I meant at the time. Granted, it was in the heat of the moment, but when I had told him I never wanted to hear from him again. Never wanted to see him again, it came from my core. I had been hurt. Hell, I still am.

Andrew doesn’t care. He hasn’t tried to reach out to me. And from what I knew, he wasn’t in Bermoose anymore anyway. He gave up on obtaining the club and left me behind, too. He has his life. I don’t belong in it.

“Can we please change the subject? I don’t want to talk about him. I have other things, like running a business, that I need to think about,” I said firmly. That was one thing that hadn’t changed. If I slack and The Treasured Chest goes in the red, I’m going to be stuck running it longer than a year. Is everyone forgetting why I am even in Bermoose? It’s not for me. It’s for them. If I had followed my heart, I would already be in Boston, and never met Andrew in the first place. And never falling in love with Andrew, and never felt the pain of it when it came to an end.

It felt like someone was holding my heart and squeezing so tight that it couldn’t beat.

Whoever said it was better to love and lost than never loved at all, must be a masochist because this kind of pain fucking sucks.

“I know one thing,”

“What is that?” she asked, afraid of what she was going to say.

“I’m hungry. Want to go get a bite to eat?”

Finally, you get it. My stomach was still twisted in knots, but I had to eat. I wouldn’t mind grabbing a half-gallon if moose tracks ice cream and a spoon and running back to my room. Gaining twenty pounds over this wasn’t going to help a thing. But real food would at least provide some much-needed energy before I go into work. God, I don’t want to go to the club tonight. Why do I have to be so…responsible? Why can’t I just crawl away and hide and lick my wounds I want to?

Trixi smiled and said, “I feel like a club sandwich. How about going to the diner on Main Street?”

“Really? Don’t you think they’ll all still be talking about me?” I asked.

“Then why not go and set the record straight? Tell them you’re not going anywhere and that Bermoose is your home for God knows how long, because you’re too scared to chase what you really want.”

I shot her a warning look. “I’m not going anywhere if you’re going to keep talking about Andrew.”

“I never said his name. You did,” she smiled. “Guess we know now what you really want.”

I rolled my eyes. Why did I say I missed having you home again?

I wanted to argue with her, but she was right. I wanted Andrew. But that didn’t change the fact that he never wanted me, and used me to get to my land.

I had to admit, I was happy that Andrew had looked deeper into the will. I had options now that I didn’t before. But that didn’t mean I could pull it off alone. And that’s exactly what I am. Alone.

Chapter Eighteen

Andrew

“I don’t give a fuck what I’ve lost for an investment,” I snarled. “I can sell the property I already acquired, or hell, I can donate it to Bermoose. This development is off the table. Now, is there something productive you wish to discuss, or can I head home?” I just got back to Boston a few hours ago. I never should’ve agreed to meet Phillip at the bar. All I wanted right now was to drink until I couldn’t think. Phillip was getting in the way of both.

I had plenty of alcohol at home, and right now, that’s where I wanted to be. My place was my solitude. And if I couldn’t be with Anne, I didn’t want anyone’s company. She’s told me where I stand. The doghouse would be a step up. I couldn’t get her cold eyes out of my mind. As soon as she learned what