Two Hearts on the Backspin
Two Hearts on the BackspinExcerpt:
His hazel eyes still held rich swirls of sea green and earthy browns, but they had lost their shine.
“It’s your event, isn’t it?”
She nodded. Soft words, harsh words, words spoken over sobs, words spoken against his skin, words that dredged up the past, and words that harkened a future whirled on her tongue.
His cheeks rounded in a smile that brightened his eyes and deluged her with a thousand and three happy memories. “It’s well organised.”
"Thank you.”
You’ve finally branched out to start your company.”
Yeah. It’s been five years now. I have ten staff.”
That’s good.” He adjusted the shoulder strap of his bag. “You look good. Your husband’s treating you well?”
She traced her thumb over her ring finger, her wedding ring long gone. “Marco and I ended things eight years ago.”
Brandon smoothed an eyebrow.
His left ring finger didn’t have a wedding ring.
A little flare of hope brightened in her, but her mind quashed it by dredging up endless fights.
“You drove up from Toronto?” She rose from her chair, needing to look him in the eye as an equal.
Needing him to know she was someone who had risen from the devastation of the end of their relationship and now stood on firm ground.
“Ottawa.” Her heart kicked. Ottawa. Where she lived. This could work. Even if he lived in the west end and she was in Little Italy, the commute wouldn’t be bad if they avoided rush hour.
She gave her mind a mental shake to banish the logistics playing out in her mind. She shouldn’t work out convenient mid-way points to meet, itineraries for dates, or which store to buy hamburgers and hotdogs for a BBQ. “I didn’t see you register with Howard.”
No. I didn’t take the bus. I was caught up answering emails, and time slipped away. Drove over.”
From Ottawa?” She stacked her cell phone with her tablet and pressed them against her chest, a firewall of leather and plastic. One spark. Just one spark between them, and she’d jump right back into a relationship.
“Yeah. After my divorce, I stayed in Toronto for a while, but the city’s too big, and too expensive. I moved back a little more than a year ago. ”You’re divorced?” She hated the joy in her voice.
“Yeah. About ten years now. The kids live with their mom in Kanata to be closer to her parents, and I moved up to be closer to my kids.”
How old are they?”
Kevin’s fourteen, and Vanessa is thirteen.”
With those words, a bucket of ice water was dumped on the kindling in her heart. Fourteen and thirteen years old. He’d found someone else, married, and started a family within a year and a half of their breakup.
Like she had done.
