cover page only for long enough to read the from part. Alan Cwedwick.
Why would his lawyer be sending three full pages of a small enough print to require a magnifying glass? Zach peered at the opening paragraphs to find tons of legalese. “I wonder if my birthday triggered something in Bruce’s files.”
His dad pushed aside the papers so he could point to the last page. “I’m not sure, but this part seems pretty easy to interpret.”
Still legalese, but part of the sentence was easy to interpret.
—granting divorce proceedings to terminate the marriage—
What? What?
His gaze snapped up to meet his father’s. “These are divorce papers. For me and Julia?”
“That’s how I read it. Umm, apologies for reading your mail, but I didn’t—”
Zach marched away from his father, all but sprinting back to the cabana to grab his phone. Waiting for the call to go through to Alan was painful.
“Good morning. How’s the birthday boy today?”
Zach was all but vibrating, but shouting obscenities at the other man wouldn’t get him answers. “You sent me divorce papers.”
“Oh. You got them already.” Alan clicked his tongue a couple of times. “I suppose you want an explanation.”
“You think?” Zach stepped out onto the small porch, glancing up and down the path to see if he could spot Julia anywhere. “Did Finn talk to you? Does this mean—”
“Finn? No, I haven’t heard from him recently.” It was Alan’s turn to sound confused. “Julia got in touch with me this morning.”
Everything inside Zach went still. “Julia did.”
“Yes. She wanted to double-check again if there was some way that you could be released from the one-year requirement. We worked something out.”
Over the past forty-eight hours, Zach had finally triggered plans that he thought would break the stalemate between them. Finally move him and Julia toward the relationship he’d always wanted.
Inside, hope died. “This is real. We’re not married anymore.”
“It’s real. You and Julia are no longer married.”
He looked down to discover his fingers trembling as he held the papers. “And you haven’t talked to Finn. Or Karen.”
“Just Julia. And now you.” Alan’s voice turned soothing. “Breathe, Zach. Trust me.”
The urge to burst into hysterical laughter was so damn high. Only he spotted Julia’s flame-tinted hair in the distance. “Don’t do me any more favours for a while,” he warned. “I need to go.”
“Talk to Julia,” was the last thing Zach heard as he hung up.
He was out on the path an instant later, marching toward her. Jumbled emotions bounced with every step. He was so angry. So sad. So confused, and frustrated, and furious.
Zach stepped off the path into a small clearing where the more rugged rocks had been levelled to leave a big enough space to place lawn chairs or tripods for viewing the sunsets. That gave him a place to stand as Julia made her way closer.
Her gaze was down, watching her footing, and it gave him time to just stare at her, the long length of her legs and her strong arms kissed golden by the sun over the past days. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders, the highlights all but sparkling.
The papers in his hand couldn’t be real.
She glanced up and spotted him. She smiled briefly before her expression faded, and she hurried forward, concern rising. “What’s wrong?”
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Julia stood before him, gripping his arms and all but shaking him. “Zach. Are you okay?”
He shoved the papers at her. “Alan sent these.”
She froze. “Oh. Already?”
Zach stood there with his hand stretched out. He shook them. “Is this what you wanted? Because I’ve been telling you all along that you needed to do what makes you happy. Is this what you want?”
She peeled the papers from his grasp. “I don’t know what these say. I called Alan this morning—”
“So I heard. And that’s what he sent.”
She lifted them, squinting at the small print. “What—”
His patience was at an end. Truth was, he didn’t care what the papers said.
“I contacted Finn on Christmas Day,” Zach admitted. “Told him the whole thing about us having to be together for a year wasn’t just about me losing the company but him too.”
Julia stiffened, the papers in her hand forgotten. “We agreed we wouldn’t tell them.”
Zach shook his head. “I agreed I wouldn’t tell Karen, but you reminded me that the truth makes a difference. While it’s not fair our actions could impact them, they have the right to know. They have the right to make their own choices and have their