Page 111 of Healing the Heart

Staring at him, her heart aching, a tear tracked down her cheek. She didn’t bother wiping it away because more would follow.

“You’ll still walk the earth tomorrow, and a year from now, and ten beyond that—at least that is my fervent hope. When that decade has passed, I pray you’re still not of the belief that it’s better to have never loved and be spared the pain because standing here with my heart breaking, after sharing nine tumultuous weeks with you, the scariest time of my life but also some of the best, I can say you are dead wrong. I’ve loved and lost, but I’ll cherish every second we had and feel profoundly sorry that you won’t be able to say the same.”

His phone alerted. Cursing vehemently, he pulled it out.

“You need to go,” she murmured, her throat tight with emotion and burning with a torrent of tears yet to come.

“Yes. That’s my ride. But I don’t want to leave it like this.”

“Yet you will because you’re set on your lonely path.” She walked into the bedroom and said as she closed the door, “Goodbye, Noah.”

Fiona went one step further. She turned the lock then pressed her ear against the panel, holding her breath while listening for the sounds of him leaving. At a loud bang in the hall, she jumped then let her breath out slowly seconds later when the front door slammed.

She should have packed as quickly as she could and gotten the hell out of there, but she couldn’t. Her legs wouldn’tfunction. She slid to the floor and, with her back to the door, cried silent tears until her backside went numb.

Chapter 29

A Little Groveling Wouldn’t Hurt

THREE WEEKS LATER...

The black Explorer waiting in the passenger pickup lane outside of baggage claim was easy to spot. Noah headed straight for it. About ten yards away, the rear cargo door opened automatically, and he threw in his duffel and suitcase.

“Thanks for picking me up,” he told Eric, getting into the back because Val was in the passenger seat up front.

“I bet you’re beat,” his friend said quietly, waiting for him to buckle up before pulling into traffic.

“You have no idea. Thirty hours ended up being forty-two because of delays and weather.”

Val twisted in her seat. She didn’t speak, just stared at him. Okay, maybe glared was more accurate.

“Something you wanted to say?”

“Yes, but there’s so much of it I’m trying to decide what to do first. Chew you a new one for breaking Fiona’s heart then flying off to the other side of the world where I can’t have Eric beat your—”

“Valerie!” her husband, who she was using to threaten him, snapped.

“Sorry,” she muttered, clearly not meaning it.

“What was the other choice?” Noah asked.

“Apologize.”

“I’d go with that one, like we discussed,” her husband advised, while navigating the stop-and-go traffic surrounding one of the busiest airports in the world.

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