Page 25 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

I sucked in a breath and tried to remember the last time I took a weekend off. “I go camping in the mountains.” I hadn’t done that in a while, though.

“Someone who likes to spend time outdoors,” she mused. “That shouldn’t be too hard in Queen’s Cove.”

“What do you do on weekends?” I asked, because I was curious.

She brightened up. “Toronto always has something going on.” She spun her finger around in the air at the bar. “There’s a place like this a few blocks from my apartment.” Her smile dimmed and her throat worked. “My old apartment, I mean. My best friend, Willa, and I go there a lot. Toronto has an amazing food scene, so our friend group is always going out, trying new places. We have a lot of friends in the artist community so I go to a lot of exhibits and shows. In the summer, farmer’s markets, where I buy overpriced soap.” She shot me a cheeky grin and my chest warmed. “What else? If the weather’s bad or I’m feeling lazy, I’ll spend the whole day watching interior design shows.” She shrugged. “Sometimes I go to real estate open houses to check out the decor and layout.”

I snorted. “Really?”

She nodded and bit her lip. “It’s fun.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I go to the art gallery here in Queen’s Cove sometimes. If they have a new exhibit.”

Her eyes lit up. “You’ll have to tell me if there’s any good exhibits coming up.”

“The one now features local Indigenous artists. We should go,” I said without thinking. “You should go,” I corrected.

“That would be a good date spot for you to take the future Mrs. Holden.” She tapped the idea onto her phone before glancing up at me. “Is the marriage thing a must-have?”

I gave her a questioning look.

“Like, what if she doesn’t want to get married?” She tilted her head, watching me. “Not everyone does.”

I frowned. “If she doesn’t want to get married, we wouldn’t be a good fit.”

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“What?”

She snorted. “That’s narrow-minded.”

Narrow-minded? I thought back to last weekend at Katherine’s celebration of life, surrounded by all the happy, married couples.

Why would anyone go for Holden when they could have one of his brothers?

My throat worked and I stared at the condensation on my water glass. “I want someone to choose me.” My shoulders lifted in a shrug and I glanced back at her. “I like the idea of a commitment.”

She pursed her lips before tapping it onto her phone.

I frowned at her. “What, you don’t want to get married one day?”

She scoffed but it lacked her usual warmth. “Nope.”

“Never?”

Her gaze lifted to mine. “Never ever.” Her tone was flat.

This conversation was getting under her skin but I couldn’t stop myself.

I leaned forward, propping my elbow on the table, studying her expression. This didn’t make sense. “But you were engaged.”

She sucked in a breath, blinking like she’d been slapped. “Yeah, and now I’m not.” Her words were sharp. She stood and her chair scraped. “I’m going to use the washroom. If the server comes by, can you order me another margarita and two more pork tacos?”

Without another word, she strode off to find the washroom, and I watched her walk away. My gut rolled with regret and disappointment.

12

Holden

---