Page 10 of Tarnished Vow

“Maddy. I’m fine.” He glanced back at me.

“I know.”

“I’m not going to do anything.”

I nodded.

Frustrated, he turned to look at the river. “Do you have nothing better to do on a Sunday morning? Where is Vince? Shouldn’t you be asleep with him?”

I shrugged, smiling. “Actually, now you mentioned it, I’m rather hungry. Take me out for breakfast?”

He turned to glare at me. “I’m not going to kill myself, Maddy. I’ve accepted it, I’m fine.”

“Of course you’re not going to kill yourself.”

“Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“Oh, gosh no. If I thought you were going to do that, I would drag Vince down here with me every year.”

If he jumped in the river, I could not save him.

His expression dropped slightly. “Then why are you here?”

He didn’t make her get into the car, and he couldn’t have stopped her from losing control. He blamed himself for an accident.

“So you aren’t here by yourself.” Perhaps my actions over the years weren’t as obvious as I hoped. “And you know me. I’m a sucker for an early morning.” I forced a very fake smile.

The corner of his lips twitched up. “Don’t let go of that branch until I’m up there. If you fall, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Oh please. I’m not that bad. Sure, I love this dress. But even I understand context.”

Watching him climb up the bank, before standing beside me.

“I was talking about Vince.” Steadying an arm around me, as we walked back to the road.

“That’s fair. He does tend to overreact at times.”

“He is going to take your wedding hard.” Letting go of me as we walked along the concrete road.

“He’ll be okay.”

Rome shoved his hands in his pockets. “It’s going to be weird not having you around all the time.”

Holding my smile back. Moments ago, he was annoyed to see me.

“Can you call the driver down now? Or am I going to have to walk the full compound?”

His lips twitched into a full grin. “Only if you admit you’ll miss us, too.”

“You do realize I’m not dying, right?” Probably the wrong choice of words. “Sorry, bad taste.” Clearing my throat. “And of course I’ll miss you all, but again, I’m still around. Vince and I will still be friends.”

“I never understood why you went along with it, you know.” Rome paused, looking at me. “In his head, he thinks it’s a friendship. But you’ve always known better, right?”

“You’ve heard him. I’m not his type, and he doesn’t see me like that.”

Watching the car pull around the bend, of course, he had already organized a pickup.

“I’m sorry Maddy.”

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