Before the Sunset (Cottonwood Cove, #4)(4)

two





Reese





I lay curled up in a ball on my bed in my tiny flat in central London. Boxes were stacked in the room, as I was leaving in a few days to head back home.

Taking this job had been the experience of a lifetime.

I had applied for a design fellowship with Elaine Bronstein, a woman whose design had been an inspiration to me since discovering her in Design Beautiful magazine when I was in college.

I now felt prepared to pursue my dreams back home. I had the tools I needed to start my own business. I wasn’t sure how it was all going to happen, but I’d start one client at a time. I knew I didn’t want to be working for my ex-fiancé Carl’s family’s party supply business any longer.

I’d been completely unfulfilled for the last few years, and Elaine had taken a chance on me.

Unfortunately, Carl had been furious when I’d told him that I was going to take the opportunity that I’d been offered.

I’d tried to explain that I needed this. Needed something for myself. I’d supported his dream of becoming a doctor, giving up my amazing job in San Francisco to move back to Cottonwood Cove, where he’d accepted his residency. He didn’t want us to be living apart any longer, so I’d made the choice to go back home.

For him.

He was the man I was going to marry, after all. So, I did it.

I hadn’t been able to find a job in design back home, so, per Carl’s urging, I’d gone to work at Barley’s Party Supplies—heaven forbid anyone in his family come up with an original name.

At the end of the day, I’d spent the last few years making balloon arrangements and witnessing meltdowns every single weekend at children’s birthday parties.

When Kressa Warren, one of the famously awful twins of Cottonwood Cove, had chucked a cupcake at me, causing it to smear all over my favorite skirt, I knew I was done.

Ever try getting red dye out of a pink silk midi skirt?

Not happening.

There was nothing wrong with making balloon animals or hosting parties. It just wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life.

I thought if I drew a line in the sand, if I took a stand about how important it was to me, he’d eventually come around.

I still wanted to get married. Still wanted to do everything that we’d planned together.

I wanted children and a family and all the things that my parents had given my sister and me.

All the things that I’d planned to do with Carl.

We’d spoken weekly since I’d left, and though he’d been angry that I’d made the choice that I had, we’d both talked about getting back together when I returned home.

Even though we were currently not together… officially.

Obviously, I wasn’t really clear on what exactly that meant.

I thought I’d return home inspired and ready to start my own business, and he’d ask me to wear my engagement ring again, and we’d go back to wedding planning shortly after.

We had a wedding venue reserved already, and they’d agreed to allow us to use the deposit at a later date.

He’d asked me for forever just eighteen months ago.

Did he seriously change his mind because I didn’t do what he’d wanted me to do?

Was I that easy to get over?

Apparently so.

My sister, Olivia, had just called to inform me that he was dating someone, and she’d seen them together.

And he wasn’t dating just anyone.

He was dating Christy Rae Lovell.

The girl he’d hooked up with when we were “on a break” in high school.

His words, not mine.

Had he not watched Friends, like everyone else on the planet, and not known that being “on a break” does not mean you hook up with a girl your ex-girlfriend despises?

A break was not a hall pass.

It was about taking some time while you figured things out.

Kind of like what I thought we were doing right now.

I couldn’t imagine going back and seeing Carl with her.

We lived in a small town.

They would be everywhere.

And Christy Rae Lovell was a nurse, so they’d make the perfect couple.

A doctor and a nurse.

How very Grey’s Anatomy of them.

I would vomit if I had the energy to hold my head over the toilet.

The tears continued to fall, and a sob escaped.

My phone dinged, and it was a text from Finn, also known as Chewy. He’d had a slight obsession with Star Wars when we were young. He still considered Chewbacca to be the reason he’d gone into acting. Growing up, we’d take turns every single weekend watching his favorite movie, or mine, the best movies known to man—Harry Potter and Star Wars. I couldn’t even begin to count how many times we’d watched those movies, and how many Halloweens we’d gone as Chewy and Hermione. So, I’d always called him Chewy for as long as I could remember, and he’d called me Miney because he’d dropped the Hermione when we were in middle school.

Chewy



I’ve called four times. Why aren’t you picking up the phone?





I can’t talk right now. I’m not feeling well.





Chewy



I know Olivia filled you in on Carl. I just found out. I told you he’s an asshole. Don’t let this set you back. You’ve got a plan when you come home. And it’s a good one.