Page 57 of The Wedding Planner's Manny
and today was no different.
“Aren't you going to answer that?” Conner asked, looking at me curiously.
I suppressed a sigh. Maybe it really was time to answer it. What could Jeremiah do to me over the phone anyway? I didn't want to look like a coward in front of the kid. “I'll take this outside,” I said, leaving the boutique with my phone ringing in my hand. He probably wanted to talk about the divorce.
That was good. Weshouldtalk about that, right? Once I stood on the sidewalk outside the boutique, I took a deep breath, and then I answered the phone. “Hi.”
“Rhys?” Jeremiah sounded so confused. He probably hadn't expected that I would pick up instead of letting him go to voicemail again.
“Yeah, it's me. Was there something you wanted to talk about?” I asked in a clipped tone of voice. No need to make him think I was interested in having a friendly conversation.
“You don't have to be like that. It's not like I did anything to you, and I already apologized for what my brothers did.”
Yeah, you're such a good guy.Lord, how had it taken me so long to realize what a douche he was?
“Was that what you wanted to talk about? The assault? I've recovered well, thank you for asking.”
Part of me wanted to hang up the phone with that, even though I knew the assault wasn't what he wanted to talk about. He never wanted to talk about that. He'd apologized and he was done with it. He didn't care that I'd never be done with it.
Getting cornered and beat up in a parking lot by three alphas wasn't something you forgot.
Even now, in the broad daylight, miles and miles from where it happened, the memory made me shudder. I searched the road ahead of me with my eyes. There wasn't a lot of foot-traffic here, hardly any cars either. Still, I felt like maybe I should go back inside.
“That's not what I wanted to talk about,” Jeremiah said, as I'd predicted. “It's about the divorce papers. If you still want to get a divorce.”
“Of course I still want a divorce! Why would I change my mind about that?”
“You're an omega,” Jeremiah said, simply. “Omegas are fickle. You change your mind all the time. It was hysteria that led you to run away in the first place so—”
“It wasn't hysteria!” I was not a hysterical person. If my husband knew me at all, he would know that.
That he didn't said so much about our relationship. “Have you signed the papers?” I asked. The lawyer I'd talked to told me Jeremiah should have gotten those weeks ago. But he was sitting on them.
Even after he promised me this process would go smoothly.
Then again, why had I thoughtthiswas the promise he would finally keep?
“I haven't signed the papers yet,” Jeremiah confirmed my suspicions. “I think this is all way too impersonal, to be honest.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want you to be there when I sign the papers. I want you to look me in the eyes as I do it. I bet you can't. I bet you don't really want this divorce.”
What the...?Was that really what he was thinking? How deluded was he? “I can promise you a hundred percent that I do want this divorce. But I won't set foot in Crystal Bay again. No way.” Not after what had happened to me. I didn't have a death wish. “If you want me to watch you sign those papers, you'll have to come here.” Where I was surrounded by people who would keep me safe. I didn't want to see him again, but if it was the only way I was getting my divorce, I could bear it.
“Fine,” Jeremiah said. “You've always been difficult. You know that, Rhys? But I put up with it because I love you.”
“Do you?” I demanded, because it sure didn't feel like that anymore.
“You know it. I'll come to Oceanport and you'll fall right back in my arms. Just like last time.”
Was he ever full of himself! I was so angry I was about to throw the phone.
But he continued speaking before I could react. “I'll let you know when I have some vacation time booked,” he said and then he ended the call.
For a full minute or so, all I could do was stare at my phone.You'll fall right back in my arms. Justlike last time.Jeremiah's words echoed through my mind. Didn't he understand that I only slept with him so he would back off?
And maybe also because I had critically low self-esteem—which was how he made me go for him in the first place.
