and exactly what I would have ordered myself. Because he already knows. He knows everything about me.
The air of confidence around him dissipates the moment the waiter leaves. “You slept with him?”
“Yes,” I say with a calm demeanor even though it eats me up inside. It shouldn’t. I don’t owe Robert an explanation, but I give it to him anyway. “I really like him.”
“But you don’t love him,” he offers.
I can never repay him for the grace he gives me. There’s no hostility, nothing but a simple question about love. My heart shatters for us when I realize that truth.
“No, I don’t know him enough to love him like that.”
Robert nods, his eyes glistening and holding a faint tinge of red, but he doesn’t speak. He doesn’t say anything at all although he does finish his drink.
I suppose I can’t blame him.
“Say something, please.” I hate the silence between us and the tense air. I never wanted this. I didn’t think it would be like this.
“What do you want me to say, Mags?” He’s obviously upset and my heart aches with his. Why does it feel like a breakup? I never wanted to feel this way with him. In all our highs and lows, I’ve only ever felt this way once and I can’t go back to that night again. He tells me with all sincerity, “I still love you.”
“I love you too.” I’ll always love him. He knows that. I know he does.
His response is immediate and resolute. “Then don’t see him again.”
“I can’t just ignore him, Robert—” He cuts me off before I can explain myself. My head is a whirlwind of thoughts and questions. My heart races with uncertainty but also hope. Hope that’s long since been dormant but is now being stirred with low flames.
“You gave him a chance, Mags,” he says and lays his hand on the table again. Because of the hurt in his gaze, I reach out this time, letting him hold me and I’m holding him just the same. “Don’t I deserve a chance too?” he whispers and then he adds, much stronger, much more confident, “What if I asked you to marry me?”
Don’t stop reading. Magnolia’s story concludes in Autumn Night Whiskey Book 2. Get your copy today!
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