Want You Back - River Laurent Page 0,86

the peep hole before opening the door. I flung it open. A dark haired, obviously from the city woman, stood there smiling at me.

“Hi,” she said. “You must be Charlotte.”

My vision was bad but I recognized people I’d met before. I had never seen the woman before. “Have we met?”

“No we haven’t, but I’ve heard of you and am sure you have heard of me. My name is Abigail. I just flew in from New York.”

My blood turned to ice. New York meant Alex. She had a connection to Alex and that’s how she knew me. I fisted my hands to keep them from trembling.

“May I come in?” she asked.

“Sure.” I moved to one side to let her in.

She was fashionably slim and tall. Not curvy and messy like me. I could feel her eyes on me as we sat down opposite each other.

“I’m Alex’s fiancée,” she said. “I’m sure he told you that.”

I blinked several times like an idiot. Fiancée. Oh God. I was going to be sick. “I don’t understand.”

“He never told you about me, did he?” she continued in a smooth, calm voice, making me feel like a blubbering idiot.

“No,” I whispered.

I thought about the nights we had spent making love, whispering sweet nothings to each other. I’d believed that Alex was mine. Nausea rose up my throat.

She moved her hand to her belly. “Did you imagine that he’s been alone all this time. We more or less live together.”

Yes, I had imagined that he was alone. That he still loved me. I wanted to cover my eyes and cry. I felt like such a fool. I hadn’t thought that Alex was capable of such deceit. I deserved it too, after the way I’d left our marriage.

But he knew the reasons why and he had said he’d understood and forgiven me. Why then hadn’t he told me about Abigail? Why had he slept with me and pretended that he was available to try again? He had cheated on his fiancée.

“We’re expecting a baby and Mrs. Turner wants us to get married as quickly as possible.” Her voice hardened. “I don’t know what hold you have over Alex, but I came to ask you to leave us alone. You had your chance and you messed up. Let Alex move on and have a chance at happiness with us.”

She stood up, but my legs refused to move.

Even after she left, I stayed rooted to the spot, losing track of time. I only realized that I was crying when my vision became too blurry to see. Alex was a cheater. The Alex I’d been married to would not have done something like that.

He had turned into someone I didn’t know.

Another disturbing thought popped into my mind. Alex had said that we were still married. Was that true or had he lied to me about that too? He couldn’t have, I decided thinking about the insurance.

Why was he doing all those things for me when he had another life with someone else? I didn’t understand any of it. All I knew was that I wanted no part of it. I didn’t want to be responsible for messing up his life again.

I wiped away my tears with the back of my hand. Alex was returning the following day. This time there was no panic. I just couldn’t bear to see him. I would drive to the lodge earlier and leave a note for him. That way, we could each move on with our lives and this time, for good.

Charlotte

The view on the drive up the mountains was gorgeous. In the sunlight, the peaks appeared as if they were dressed in gold. Beside me in the cab, Kayden was silent, as if he knew that our lives had changed once again.

I ached with sadness. For a few weeks, my dream of a family and love had been resurrected. I had fallen in love all over again with Alex. He had made me believe that we could work.

I had so many questions and no one to answer them. How could I have allowed myself to be so gullible? Alex was a catch. He drew attention everywhere he went. He was everything that a woman wanted in a man.

I had deserted our marriage. It had been naïve of me to think all that time he had been brooding over me. We followed a winding road until we got to the picturesque lodge.

It was picture perfect and the ideal location to have a wedding. I tried