Sailing at Sunset - Cindi Madsen Page 0,99

she thought everyone had arrived. She followed Aiden’s gaze up the grand stone staircase to the mezzanine level lobby until she saw him.

At that very moment everything stood still. It was entirely possible even the world stopped turning. Out of all the things she considered that could’ve gone wrong today, all the contingencies she prepared for, this one never entered her mind. She stood there, stunned.

“Hey, isn’t that…” Aiden broke her trance.

“Brody Paxton,” Paige finished. Her voice had a sort of breathless quality to it that she hated, but she couldn’t help it.

Brody stepped up to the railing and paused. Perhaps he had a valid reason for stopping in that particular spot, but as far as Paige could tell, it was only to smolder. Which, by the way, he did so well it made her weak in the knees.

His dark hair was perfectly styled in his signature Ivy League haircut, and his well-tailored suit accentuated his lean, athletic frame. The light flooding through the door cast a halo-type glow around him, making him look like a vision out of a dream. The string quartet behind them picked that moment to reach their crescendo, and she couldn’t be sure, but she thought she even heard angels singing. After all this time, her ex-boyfriend was still the most beautiful man she’d ever laid her eyes on.

He slipped off his sunglasses and gazed out the massive windows. Even from a short distance, she could see the hypnotic sparkle in his cobalt blue eyes, and something inside her fluttered. Was it her or was there a sudden lack of oxygen in the room?

“Didn’t he move to Europe?” Aiden asked.

Paige nodded, trying in vain to get her scattered thoughts under control. “His company transferred him to Luxembourg.” At least that’s what he’d told her thirteen months and eight days ago, when he’d ended their blissful eleven-month relationship with the news that he was moving overseas. Alone.

The familiar ache pinged in her chest.

“Why is he here?” Aiden whispered.

“I don’t know.” The same question had been swirling around her mind as well. It had been a while since she’d talked to him, but as far as she knew, he was still living in Europe.

Visions of the dismal day she drove him to the airport trickled to the front of her memory. Watching him walk away was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. She knew the move would be good for his career, but it didn’t make the ache in her chest hurt any less.

The one thing that had made it easier was hope and a promise. A faint spark of excitement tingled in the tips of her fingers as the pieces of this puzzle started to come together.

On that dreary day in the busy airport, tears had stung her eyes. Brody had told her it wasn’t a breakup, just a pause. They weren’t saying goodbye, just see you later. His final goodbye kiss still burned on her lips as his airport promise rung in her ears. Someday, I’ll be back.

She would adamantly deny it if ever asked, but she’d often daydreamed about what their reunion could be like. Maybe she would meet him at the airport with a welcome home sign and a teary-eyed smile. Or perhaps he would surprise her and show up on her doorstep with a bouquet of flowers and, during some of her more hopeful moments, a ring. The setting might have changed, but the ending was always the same; he’d come back, and they’d be together again.

And here he was.

The fingertip-tingles started to work their way up her arms. She hadn’t known if it would really happen. Time had a way of changing things, but what they’d shared was special. She’d been certain then he was the one, and seeing him now, all of those feelings came rushing back.

She started to call his name, and the excitement flooding into her threatened to launch her up the stairs and into his waiting arms. But as she took the first step, she caught sight of something else. Or rather, someone else.

Brody turned and offered his elbow to the woman stepping through the door. A smitten smile spread across his face. A smile not made for Paige. She froze in her tracks.

“Whoa. Who’s that?” Aiden’s words didn’t help the sucker punch to the gut reality had just dealt her.

An elegant woman stepped up next to Brody. With one hand she tucked a strand of her long, auburn hair behind her ear, highlighting her