Page 9 of A Heart to Find
Keira picked at her fingernails and cast her eyes downward, unable to look Hannah in the face after so ridiculously calling her out for having a broken system.
“How can I face him again? I made a fool of myself already.”
“Nonsense. You walk back in there with a smile on your face and confidence in your heart—even if you have to fake it at first. He will be thrilled you’re not bailing on him. Trust me on this.”
“I do trust you. I don’t trust him.”
“Two weeks. Go on the dates. Participate in the process. And if it’s not right for you, you will try again. I’m not going to let you leave here without your soul mate. You have my word.”
The silence in the glassed-in chamber grew louder and louder as Hannah stared her down. Keira struggled to come up with any excuse more convincing than what she had already shared.
Keira grasped at something, anything, to convince Hannah that her instinct was correct. “I have to tell you, though, that he doesn’t want kids. Or a wife. Or anything to tie him down. And I want all of those things, so I don’t understand how our match isn’t a mistake. To be honest, I don’t even know how he got accepted into this program.”
Hannah’s bangle bracelets chimed as she grabbed Keira’s arms.
“Deep breaths, carnation. Trust the process. The matches we make are made for reasons that don’t always make sense on the surface. And you said it yourself–you haven’t known him for ten years. You’re going to trust the process, remember?”
Keira breathed deeply, as instructed.
“Okay. I’ll do it.” But she wouldn’t let her guard down. She wouldn’t let him in deep enough to hurt her. She’d leave the scabs that had formed over her broken heart and save the fresh parts of her heart for the next guy. Her real match. The soon-to-be love of her life. The one who would love her so thoroughly, he would not only refuse to add scars to her battered heart, but his love would obliterate the previous marks.
This would be her practice session. She hadn’t dated for a while—her recent awkward foray into the dating world notwithstanding. Best to work through the discomfort and awkwardness when she didn’t care about making a good impression.
This could be perfect, even if maddeningly disappointing.
“Are we ready?” Hannah gestured toward the hallway that would lead back to the ballroom.
Mustering all the self-confidence she could dig out of the dark, dusty corners of her willpower, she straightened her shoulders, forced her lips into a smile, and exhaled a long stream of negative thoughts.
“As ready as I’m going to be.”
While awaiting Keira’s return, Jared rehearsed what he should say over and over in his head, trying to tune into Elizabeth’s voice from the past. After seeing that his match was the one and only Keira, he had no more doubts about Elizabeth’s divine intervention.
Or something less mystical. She had, after all, arranged this whole thing for him before succumbing to her illness.
He could start with, “Hey, sorry about our past, but I was young and dumb and I’ve changed.” He could tell her about his pride and joy—his beautiful daughter. He could tell her he’d do anything to be back in Keira’s world for the lifetime she had promised him when they were kids.
But he had promised himself he wouldn’t use his daughter as a bargaining chip—that he’d only reveal her existence when he knew his match was meant to be. He couldn’t violate that vow so soon. Keira could be a completely different person by now.
He certainly was.
Watching her walk toward him with a confidence he had never seen in her, all the careful words he had rehearsed shriveled up and died a painful death.
He had expected wrath. Dirty looks. Tears, maybe.
He hadn’t expected her to approach with a beaming smile and an extended hand.
“Jared Marshall, I’m pleased to meet you. My name is Keira Holden. You may think you know me, but you knew the old me. I’m delighted to report that person no longer exists.” She paused, chewing on her bottom lip for a second before flashing her straight white teeth with the one crooked incisor he had always loved. “The new me is here at Sweetheart Island Resort and is ready for an adventure.”
Keira and adventure had never been words he’d put together in a sentence. It had mattered a lot back then. But through the years of living his own adventures, he had gradually started wondering why it had mattered so much when she offered so much more than any adventure ever could.
He could feel her trying to reclaim her hand from his grasp, but he held her hand captive between two of his. The spark was still there, though she seemed to want to pretend otherwise.
As he watched the fire grow in her eyes—showing him the true thoughts running through her mind despite the bright smile she wore—joy gathered in his heart. Getting to know this new version would be fun. Getting her to reveal the fact that the old Keira—the one he had known and loved—did, in fact, still exist would be even more fun.
He allowed her to win the hand-hostage war. But he kept watching for the squint at the corner of her eyes. The one she always gifted him with when he annoyed her.
She didn’t disappoint. The narrowed eyes shot at him quickly and deadly, but disappeared before anyone else would have noticed.
