Page 70 of A Heart to Find
“So you understand.”
She stopped and turned to him, her face unreadable.
“No. I don’t understand one bit. And while I appreciate your honesty now, it’s too little, too late. Thank you for the fun times over the last many days. I know you’ll find the right person to complete your family. Unfortunately, I’m not the one.”
“You are the one, Keira. You’ve always been the one.”
She shook her head slowly, her chin quivering.
And then she turned and ran ahead, leaving him behind.
Emotionally drained, he didn’t have the energy to run after her.
He had blown it.
She asked for openness and honesty, and she bared her soul to him.
And he shared everything, too.
Except the biggest part of his life.
Shoulders hunched, Jared worked his way back to the lodge, entering through a back door to avoid friendly attention in the lobby.
Maybe she needed time. Time to process what it would mean to their relationship that he had a daughter. Time to wrap her head around the idea of embracing new family dynamics. Time to remember the feelings they stoked in one another.
He had never felt better than he had only an hour ago.
And he hated the thought that his own stupidity could have cost him the love of his life.
Again.
“I need to speak to Hannah Willows, please. It’s urgent.” Keira called down to reception the second she walked into her room and could reach the landline.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Holden. She’s very busy dealing with the storm. It’s coming in much stronger than the forecast suggested, and we weren’t as prepared as we normally would have been.”
Keira struggled to hold on to her manners and decorum as her emotions threatened to spill all over the island.
“I understand. Please have her call me as soon as she gets a moment?”
“I will, but is there something I can help you with?”
Why wait? Hannah knew the history Keira shared with her in the beginning, but Keira needed to get off this island as soon as humanly possible, so she would have to rely on the kindness of a stranger.
“Actually, maybe you can. I need to schedule a time to have the ferry take me back to the mainland. As soon as possible, please.”
“Ooh, I’m afraid the soonest will be days from now. A state of emergency has been declared over this Nor’Easter and all transportation has been temporarily halted—even all the regional airports have grounded their planes. I’m afraid we all need to wait out the storm before planning any off-island events. But we have extra activities planned throughout the resort, and?—”
“It’s not for an event. Please, I need to get home.”
“If there’s a medical emergency?—”
“There’s no medical emergency.” Just a broken heart and an exploding mind. “If you could please have Hannah call me as soon as she can, I’d really appreciate it. My cell phone still isn’t picking up a signal, so she’ll have to call my room. Thank you.”
She considered reaching out to Robyn. Or Megan.
Instead, she reached out to her pillow and climbed into bed.
Her emotions were so tangled together that she couldn’t even begin to unravel them. Like combing knots out of her hair, she had to take the patient approach before tearing everything out at the root.
