Page 124 of Honeymoon Phase
I focus on the most important thing first. “My dad is selling the yard to your ex?”
Luke’s face is hollow and slack as he nods. “I think so.”
“That should be a fun transition.” I bark out a dry laugh as I sniff and stare at the floor, dragging my feet through the straw scattered beneath my boots. “And on top of that, everyone on this mountain knew our marriage was a lie? Did I hear right?”
“Not everyone knew,” Luke offers, shoving a hand through his hair.
“Who didn’t know, Luke? The fucking goat?” I bite, my tone acidic as I hang on to my sanity by a thread.
As if on cue, Millie bleats and I want to scream.
“I feel like such an idiot.” I laugh and shake my head, my stomach twisted in knots. “I thought this was real between you and me, but it wasn’t. I thought I was becoming a part of your family, but I’ve been an unknowing participant to some weird manipulative game you’re all playing to get me.”
My mind reels as I replay the last several weeks with this Fletcher family. All the women in that bridal store with me, gushing over my gowns, taking me out for drinks. The Fletcher Mountain group chat. The engraved cutting board. Luke’s mom being so sweet with all the wedding planning. All those kind, tender looks. They were all just... playing their part? No wonder Everly was watching me all night long. She was just waiting to see if their big, grand scheme worked.
I thought these people were my friends, but they were just playing make-believe as well. This is humiliating.
“And Robyn?” I ask, hating to even utter her name. “You knew your ex was trying to buy the lumberyard out from under me and you didn’t tell me? How fucking easy is it for you to lie to me, Luke?”
“I found out two days ago and went straight to your dad.”
“Oh cool, so you plotted with him about me as well. Wonderful! I’m surrounded by liars.” I blow out a deep breath, feeling my head start to spin. “You know, maybe you can run the yard with Robyn. The way you were looking at her a couple weeks ago, it’s clear there’s nothing fake between the two of you. Maybe that’s been your plan all along.”
“Don’t do this,” Luke says, his face sad and resolute. “Don’tmake shit up just to villainize me further. You know that’s not who I am.”
“I don’t know you at all!” I scream, my voice hoarse and dense in the quiet barn. “How long have you had feelings for me?”
Luke’s jaw clenches as his lips twitch. “A while.”
“How long?”
He closes his eyes and says in a breath, “Years.”
“And you didn’t think maybe you should just grow a pair of balls and tell me?”
“No, Addison, I didn’t because I know you and you would have never given me a fucking chance.”
“Now we’ll never know!”
He exhales harshly out his nose. “You are looking for reasons to push me away because you’re scared about what’s building between us because it’s not the future you planned for yourself. But this is real. You know it’s real.”
“Our marriage is a mountain of lies. It’s fiction!”
“It was never fiction for me,” Luke says, and I feel my whole head spin.
“Well, it doesn’t matter because now not only do I have to divorce my best friend. I have to divorce the man I’m in love with because he’s a fucking liar.”
I turn on my heel, ignoring the devastated look on Luke’s face over my declaration as I storm out of the barn and away from the man who sounds like a complete stranger. That is not my best friend. That is not the person I let hold me in bed every night. The man who I thought I fell in love with. Love? What a joke. I clearly have no clue what love even feels like if I fell for all of this.
And my God, the Robyn stuff. What the actual fuck? My dad is going to sell anyways? To her? How? How did she get her hands into him of all people? That girl better pray she never crosses paths with me again or I will end up in jail just like my mother.
I stumble in the snow-packed lane as a deep, soul-crushing pain slices through me with that dark thought. My fear of turning out like my mother is exactly why I never wanted to fall in love or get married. I’m not built for this. I’m too raw, too troubled, too fucked-up. My genetics are horrific.
The sound of footsteps echoes behind me, so I pick up my pace, pushing my dark thoughts away. I dig into my coat pocket for my car keys ready to get as far away from Luke as possible.
“What are you doing?” Luke asks, out of breath as a cloud of air puffs in front of his lips.
“I’m going to leave this fucking mountain.”
