have been the high point of their relationship thus far. Instead it signaled the beginning of the end. It was as if a dark chasm had suddenly appeared between them. “You don’t want children?”
The half-amused, half-scornful lift of his lips told her the answer.
“It isn’t unheard of, Robin. Life is about making difficult choices. I’m trying to avoid being pulled in two different directions, of being forced to divide my time between the work I love and those waiting for me at home. Something would have to give; one of those roles would suffer. The result would be inefficiency, dissatisfaction, and eventually resentment.”
A heaviness settled in her stomach. The picture he painted of a life together was incompatible with hers. “If that’s true, then you and I don’t have a future.”
“All because of Owen?” he asked contemptuously.
Robin shook her head. “You know Owen isn’t the problem. He only exposed the fact that we’re heading in different directions. Having children is as important to me as falling in love and getting married. It’s something I’ve looked forward to my whole life.”
His careless shrug relegated the deepest wishes of her heart to insignificance.
“My mistake. I didn’t realize having a family was so important to you.”
That’s when Robin realized the truth. She and Wade didn’t know each other the way two people in love should. They’d just been playing around like kids in a sandbox. Their relationship had never progressed beyond the surface level. “Maybe if we’d talked about our goals instead of making assumptions, we would’ve realized how far apart we are.”
The smile he sent her was more of a sneer. “A failure to communicate? Is that what we’re blaming this on? Why not? It’s as good a reason as any other. Looks like I won’t need this ring in my pocket. Maybe I can get my money back.”
The shocks just kept coming. “You were going to propose tonight?”
“That’s not all. I was going to ask you to come to New Zealand with me. I’ve taken a position at the University of Auckland.”
If it hadn’t been before, Robin’s disillusionment was now complete. Wade had accepted a job on the other side of the world without saying a word to her. The ramifications of that decision were so vast she hardly knew where to begin, or if it was even worth it to mention them. If she needed more proof that they weren’t meant to be, this was it.
“I’m not the only one who’s been making life-changing decisions,” she told him, not bothering to keep the irony out of her voice.
Wade was having none of it. “The situations are different, but I don’t expect you’ll see it that way. There’s no point in dragging this out. The sooner we end this joke of an evening, the better.”
He might as well have replaced the word ‘evening’ with ‘relationship’. It was equally true.
Putting actions to words, Wade made a U-turn at the next intersection. Robin turned to look out the window. She felt tired and curiously numb considering her first experience with love had crashed and burned. The speed at which she and Wade had regressed from a couple to strangers was both disorienting and disheartening.
When he turned into the parking lot of her apartment complex, she unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for her purse. What did one say on an occasion such as this? ‘Nice knowing you’ felt like a polite lie. ‘Thanks for nothing’ sounded bitter. She needed something that fell in the middle.
“Take care of yourself in New Zealand, Wade.”
“Don’t I always?” he asked with a mocking smile. “It’s too bad I won’t be around to see what Reece can do with a clear field.”
His sarcastic retort missed its target. Instead of getting angry, Robin laughed. “You’ve got Reece on the brain.”
“Laugh if you want, but your first instinct about him was right. The fact that he was able to change your mind should tell you something.”
She got out of the Jeep and then leaned down to deliver her parting shot. “The fact that you flipped sides so quickly should tell you something as well.”
Without waiting for a reply, she turned and walked away. Before she reached the door to the apartment, she heard the squealing of the Jeep’s tires. She stood for a few minutes staring at the keys in her hand. The anger and disappointment she felt were expected, but where was the sense of loss she’d been so certain she’d feel if she and Wade broke up? Would it