Page 35 of When Forever Comes

OLIVIA

I had to leave. I had to get away and let West live the life he deserves. Because he deserves so much more than me.

When we were at dinner and I went to the restroom, I overheard some waitresses talking. They couldn’t believe I was West’s date and not Giselle. They confirmed my insecurity that Giselle would be a much better match for West. She’s gorgeous, kind, and ambitious. Just like him.

Giselle took every chance available to touch West. His arm, his shoulder, even on a couple of wildly inappropriate occasions, his face. Giselle made it crystal clear that she wasn’t going to let West be with another woman without a fight. I’m not sure if they ever dated, but if the way her gaze lingered on him when she thought I wasn’t looking was any indication, I’d say Giselle is in love with him.

Giving him a chance with Giselle goes against my heart’s every desire, but it has to be done. She’s the woman he deserves. Not me.

When I got home, I discovered Brad had thrown all my belongings into mine and Dana’s apartment. Which was an odd relief. He left his key with the front desk, but I didn’t trust that he didn’t make copies, so we changed our locks. Thank the good Lord I haven’t heard from him since Amber Island.

Every day I go to work, come home, and try to write. I thought since I experienced double heartbreak in the span of a week, I could throw all that emotion into a novel. But I haven’t finished a single one. Not even the new ones. I still nail the dark moments where the couple fights, separates, and struggles with their broken emotions, but when I reach the part where the couple is supposed to get their happily ever after, writer’s block slams into me.

No matter how many walks I go on, no matter how many Pinterest boards I make that have images of happy couples, I can’t give my characters the happily ever after they’ve fought tooth and nail to achieve.

I’ve come to a depressing and powerful realization: I’m no author. I’m a failure. As a writer. As a fiancée. As an almost girlfriend. As a friend.

Dana barges into my room without knocking. If it wasn’t for the door stopper, she would have punched the handle right into the wall.

“What are you doing? Still moping and being downright stupid?”

“Excuse me?!” I ask, standing up from my desk where I’ve been staring blankly at one of my many incomplete manuscripts.

“Liv. West is still very clearly in love with you. Why would you run away from that?” Her eyes glisten with tears. “Don’t you realize there are people close to you who wish a man would love them the way West loves you? How can you be so selfish?”

My sister is clearly dealing with her own heartbreak, but I can’t bring myself to sympathize with her right now. Something happened with Rhett, but she hasn’t said a word until now, and I’ve been too focused on my own issues to get to the bottom of her heartache.

“I’m trying to be selfless!” I exclaim, not caring if our neighbors can hear me. “West is too good for me. I don’t deserve him.”

Dana settles her hands over her hips. “When are you going to get it through your thick skull? God gives us more than we deserve. It’s called grace, Olivia. G-R-A-C-E.” She spells it out. “We don’t deserve our next breaths. We don’t deserve a single good thing God gives us. But He gives it to us, anyway.”

Her words sink in. Then I see the tears spilling down her cheeks. “We don’t always understand His ways. A lot of times, the paths He sets us on are hard and test us. But they’re designed to bring us closer to Him.” She wipes the tears from her cheeks.

My heart softens toward her. “You’re on your own heartbreak path, aren’t you?”

She throws her hands up and drops them. “Yes. It’s stupid.” After she tosses herself onto my bed, I lay down beside her and take her hand.

I’ve been so caught up in myself, I selfishly ignored my sister’s silent pleas for companionship and empathy. When I turn my head to face her, I ask, “What happened?”

She releases a deep sigh. “We had an amazing date the night we left. I texted him while we were on the plane to tell him we were leaving and that I really wanted to keep in touch, but I got a response from his phone carrier saying his phone number was no longer in service.”

“Are you sure you had the right number?”

“We had texted a little before our date, so yes, I had the right number.” She turns her head away from me. “He ghosted me.”

I sit up and pull her up to sit next to me. She still refuses to face me.

“Listen here.” I shake her arm. “If he ghosted you, he’s not worth it. Don’t let him settle in a single one of your brilliant brain cells.”

Her shoulders shake with a laugh before she turns and faces me. Her eyes are rimmed in red. “You think I have brilliant brain cells?”

I crack a smile. “I thought they were the most brilliant until this.”

Dana narrows her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve allowed a man you spent a week with to break your heart.” I raise a brow.

“And you walked away from a man who is head over heels in love with you because you don’t see your own worth.” She stands up.

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