Not His First Choice Chapter 06
Three more days passed. He drove to Ridgway and found the little inn where I was staying.
The high-altitude sun was harsh. He wore a thin jacket, hair mussed by the wind, jaw shadowed with stubble.
He saw me. His lips moved. “Nora—”
“Why are you here?”
My voice was flat as still water.
He took a step forward. I lifted a hand to stop him.
His hand hung in the air for a moment, then dropped.
“I straightened it out with Lily,” he said, hoarse. “We’ll go back and get married. Whatever you want. Ring, wedding, honeymoon—you pick the place. Stop this.”
I looked into his eyes.
At eighteen, I’d thought they held an entire summer. Warm. Clean.
Later I figured out they never reflected me. It was always Lily. It was the promise he’d built for himself: always put her first.
I looked at him. “Ethan. I don’t need you to do anything for me anymore.”
“Everything you’re doing—it’s too late.”
I stepped back and closed the gate, leaving him alone outside.
The moment the latch clicked, I heard him say something soft. “Nora, I’m sorry—”
The wind carried it away. It never quite reached me.
The next morning, the innkeeper looked at me like she wanted to say something and didn’t know how.
“That guy out there. Stood there all night.”
I took a sip of coffee. “Not my problem.”
The gate rattled again.
I opened it, and Ethan was still standing there.
“Nora.”
“Ethan,” I said, leaning against the doorframe. “I already told you. I don’t need your proposal, I don’t need your promises, and I’m not going back. Respect my decision. Don’t come looking for me again.”
He stood there. His lips moved. In the end all he said was, “I get it.”
He turned. Walked down the steps, one at a time. Pulled the car door open. Started the engine.
Halfway down the alley, he hit the brakes. Sat there in the middle of the road.
A few seconds later, the car started up again and disappeared around the bend.
He was gone. Really gone.
I leaned against the doorframe and looked at the empty alley. Something inside me finally set down its weight.