I turned to face her fully, and she immediately noticed something was wrong.
“Oh my God, are you okay?”
“We have to go now,” I declared.
“What happened?”
I swallowed hard and shared, “Ryker was just here.”
“What?!”
Nodding, I repeated, “Ryker was just here. I gave him my address, and he’s going to be at my house in an hour. We have to leave now.”
“Okay. Okay,” she returned. Elise ignored my frozen state and sprang into action. She darted around me, packing up the last of my things, and threw them into a box. Then, she took me by the hand and pulled me out of the store.
“So, what’s your plan?” Elise asked.
We were back at my place. I’d come in, changed my clothes, and washed the makeup from my face. Then I filled her in on everything that happened when she had gone and carried a box of my things out to the car earlier. I ended up finding out that she’d stopped at the magazine racks on her way back to me and picked up a few that had articles about her brand in them, which is why I ended up facing Ryker on my own.
“I don’t have one,” I admitted. “What do I say?”
“He didn’t say what specifically he wanted to discuss with you?” she wondered.
I shook my head. “No, but my guess is he’s going to want a better explanation for why I never called him,” I reasoned.
“Do you have an answer for him?”
“I do. But Elise, I just think this is going to do more harm than good,” I revealed.
“Why? I thought something like this, having him find you and come to you again, would be like a dream come true,” she argued.
It was.
It was a dream come true to see him again today.
It was everything I’d been hoping for since the day he walked out of my life.
“I can’t go through it again,” I said. “I won’t survive a conversation with him tonight that ends with me knowing it’s done forever.”
“Maybe that won’t happen,” she replied, trying to lift my spirits.
“But it could,” I argued. “And as amazing as he looks, as grateful as I am to know that he’s alive and well and happy, I would give up having seen him today if it means I have no reason to hope anymore.”
“So, don’t give up hope,” she urged, shifting her body closer to mine on the couch. Taking my hand in hers, she asked, “Why would you ever assume the worst?”
“He moved on,” I blurted.
“What?”
Feeling the tears welling in my eyes, I admitted, “I didn’t tell you about that part. Before he walked up to my table, he was standing there with her. They were talking, he smiled at her, and she hugged him. The worst part is that she came through my line and was really sweet to me.”
“Oh, Scarlet. Babe, I’m so sorry,” Elise lamented. She engulfed me in a hug, and I instantly burst into tears.
Realizing I didn’t have much time left before he’d be here, I managed to pull myself together.
“How can I feel so many drastically different things for him right now?” I asked her.
“What do you mean? Like what?”
“I love him,” I started. “I’ve always loved him, and I know I always will. But I’m so mad at him. I’m angry at him for making me believe he’d only ever be mine. More than that, I’m angry at him for breaking things off with me all those years ago. Who we were, the way we felt about one another, I know we could have survived it and made it through. He didn’t give us that chance. And it makes me so mad.”
“You guys were young,” Elise reminded me. “People do stupid things when they’re young.”
Nodding, I murmured, “Yeah, like fall in love and believe that it’s forever.”
“Falling in love is not a stupid thing,” she insisted.
“It feels like it to me.”
“Scarlet?”
“Yeah?”
She gave me a look of disbelief before she stressed, “You made a career out of telling stories about falling in love. Don’t tell me you don’t believe in it because I know it’ll be a lie. You’re hurt. I get it. But you can’t give up hope.”
“I don’t think it can be fixed, Elise,” I insisted. “He’s moved on. He broke his promise and moved on.”
I could see the sympathy written all over her face. Then she asserted, “Maybe. But he obviously still feels something for you, enough to show up at the signing today and to demand the opportunity to talk to you. Maybe it won’t go the way you hope, but it’s possible that talking to him could help. I just think that if you go into this assuming the worst, you’re going to make it harder on yourself than it needs to be.”
Perhaps I was making it unnecessarily hard on myself before I needed to. I didn’t know what Ryker would say, but I knew I was too curious not to find out. Despite that, I was struggling not to prepare for the worst.
“Don’t you think it’s going to be harder for me if I go into this hoping for the best?” I asked.
“Yes, which is why you shouldn’t do that either,” she advised. “Don’t have any expectations, Scarlet. I know that’s probably easier said than done, but it’s been a long time. I can’t imagine that this is going to be fun or easy for either one of you.”
I disagreed a little bit with her on that one. If Ryker was finding this difficult, he was doing a heck of a job hiding it. Truthfully, he seemed completely unaffected by the fact that we were even speaking. From my perspective, Ryker didn’t have any reason to feel anxiety about this. He had someone else. He walked away from me and gave his heart to another woman.
“I guess I’ll have to wait and see what happens,” I sighed.
Giving me a squeeze, Elise promised, “The minute you call me, babe, I’m right back over here for you. I know he’s going to be here soon, so I’m going to head out. But don’t hesitate to call me… I don’t care what time it is. I want to know that you’re okay.”
“Thank you, Elise. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I told her.
“You know I feel the same about you,” she replied. “Are you sure you’re good for me to go?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m just going to pace a little, try to take some deep breaths, and continue to look out the window for him.”
She let out a laugh. “Sounds like a great plan. Call me whenever you’re ready to talk, okay?”
“I will.”
With that, the two of us got up off the couch, and I walked my best friend to the front door. Once there, she stopped and turned to face me.
“You’re my best friend, Scarlet,” she started. “And if there’s one thing I think you know something about, it’s love. Every day you sit in front of the computer, you write love stories. Given everything you’ve ever told me about Ryker and everything I’ve ever read in your books, I don’t think this guy is just looking for closure. He showed up there today for a reason. I hope that reason falls in line with what you need right now. But if it’s not, you know I’m here for you.”