Page 787 of Hell Hath No Fury

I’m not sure which way it’ll go and my nerves eat away at me, dreading that if we move to that next step, it could lead to a split. That’s the last thing I want, but I don’t think I can stand here one more time and watch him leave me.

I don’t know what it is about tonight, but my heart pounds and I can’t just stay here, pacing in my foyer, thinking about all the what-ifs.

I’ll never know if I don’t take the leap.

Ripping open the door, I ready myself to run out in the dark night lit only by the full moon and stop him. To call out his name, hoping he sees and hears me before he drives off.

I’m so prepared and determined that when I open the door, I’m shocked to see him standing there on the bottom step, keys in his hands still, with a look in his eyes that tells me he’s just as shocked.

My heart rages and my body heats as he smirks up at me and says, “Bree baby?”

“Did you leave something?” I question him breathlessly, wondering why he came back.

“I think I did.” His charming smile widens and he slips his hands into his dress slacks as he stands a few steps away. “Did you have something you needed to … say or ask?” he questions and I swear I’ve never been more in love. The ease between us, the look in his eyes. There’s a spark I pray never goes away.

“Stay the night?”

“Isn’t that a little serious?” he asks in a playful tone, taking a single step forward, but still too far away for my liking. I venture a step outside, standing under the porch light.

“I think I could be serious with you.”

“You’re not afraid of falling in love with me, Bree baby?”

“I think I already am.” Before the words are fully spoken his arms are wrapped around me and his lips are on mine, stealing the gasp. He kisses me in the light spilling from my front door, for all of Cedar Lane to see.

EPILOGUE

Aubrey

I don’t wake up feeling so alone, so much anymore. Even though I am.

No longer dreaming of Bennet, I reach over to the cold sheets where he used to lay. Where he kissed me a thousand times and where he held me in the darkest moments of our lives. Before we were torn apart.

Every night, though, I see him again. As if it’s a decade ago and when we first met all over again.

I don’t know much about soulmates or fate or whether the vows we made on our wedding day meant anything past the moment he left me, but every night I dream of my husband. Only I don’t know him. It’s as if we’re complete strangers who fall hard for each other. The days are lonely and he’s not here to tell me it’s all right … but when I sleep, we get to start over from the beginning and I feel those butterflies anew. We have our first kiss and I am loved again. I miss him every waking moment and, in my dreams, we relive our romance as if it’s the first time. Every single night, I fall in love with him all over again.

Bennet

Inourdreams, my love.

I see you and I miss you too.

But at least I have you at night.

This is not the end …