Page 22 of Love Affair in London (Once Again #12)

P iper’s answer genuinely shocked Jared. “Your fiancé? He canceled, and you still came without him?” He winced at how judgmental that sounded. “Not that I mean anything by it.”

“He didn’t cancel.” Her tone was light but resolute. “I did. We were supposed to get married on Saturday.”

Another jolt of surprise knocked him off balance. “Wait—this past Saturday?” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder as if pointing to the past.

She nodded. “Yes. Two days ago.”

“This was supposed to be your honeymoon?” His words tumbled out before he could stop them. “Are you some kind of runaway bride?” The moment he said it, he felt ridiculous, embarrassed by the intrusive questioning. “Sorry. I’m just... surprised.”

Her soft laugh was far from humorous. “You make it sound like a rom-com. Wasn’t there an old Julia Roberts movie called Runaway Bride ?

” She paused, then added with a smirk, “But I’m too old to be rom-com material.

Let me just tell you why and save us both the awkwardness of you trying to figure out if it’s okay to ask.

” She rested a hand lightly on his. “He should be embarrassed, not me.” She sighed.

“Well, maybe I am a bit ashamed. I mean, what kind of person walks out on their wedding?”

“It’s better than going through with it and getting divorced a month later.”

She raised a brow, her smile rueful. “Is there a story there?”

“It was a college buddy of mine.” His tone was dry. “Huge, fancy wedding—three hundred guests. Neither of them wanted to admit they weren’t ready, so they went through with it. They stayed together just long enough to avoid returning the wedding gifts.”

She wagged a finger in the air. “Luckily, we told our guests not to bring gifts. Wedding presents are for people just starting out.”

“You don’t have to tell me why it happened.” He felt a twinge of guilt for prying. “It’s not my business.” But he had wanted to know if there was someone else in her life. Now he knew there wasn’t. At least not as of two days ago.

Her voice held a teasing lilt. “But you’re thinking, ‘Who goes on a honeymoon without the spouse?’”

He chuckled. “I’ll admit I’m curious. But only if you want to talk about it.”

She hesitated, then took a sip of champagne as if to steel herself.

“The truth? I knew his three daughters were going to make my life wretched. They felt like I was usurping their mother’s place.

” She held up a hand to forestall his reaction.

“There wasn’t an affair or anything like that.

Their mother passed away from cancer long before I met Roger.

But it was obvious they thought I was overstepping. ”

Jared tilted his head, the gesture encouraging her to continue. “Why do you think that?”

She scoffed, a mix of humor and derision.

“Because I was overstepping. Roger paid for everything for them—apartments, phones, cars, you name it. And these women are in their twenties. One of them is married! When I suggested he set boundaries, it didn’t go well.

I realized I’d spend the rest of my life biting my tongue while Roger enabled them to keep making poor decisions.

And even if I kept quiet, they’d still hate me.

Things wouldn’t get better.” She made a snort of revulsion, her gaze out the window as if she were reliving it all.

“I wasn’t even allowed to celebrate Christmas with them because I was just ‘Dad’s girlfriend.

’ Roger promised things would change after the wedding, but I knew better. ”

“That’s ridiculous. He should’ve stood up for you.” Jared felt disgust for the man on her behalf.

“That’s what I realized the day before the wedding.

” Her voice was quiet but steady. “Roger would always choose them over me.” She glanced at Jared.

“And I don’t think that’s selfish—I wasn’t trying to take him away from his daughters.

But I didn’t want to be excluded and overruled for the rest of my life. ”

He nodded thoughtfully. “People think marriage magically fixes things. But if there’s a problem before the wedding, it’ll be there afterward as well.”

“And it only gets worse.” She hesitated, then asked, “Is that what happened to you?”

Despite himself, Jared sighed. “No. We were good—married for twenty years. College sweethearts. But we grew apart. You know how it is in the beginning—you stay up late talking, everything feels so exciting. Then one day, those endearing quirks you loved aren’t so endearing anymore.”

“Was that true for both of you? Or just you?”

“I was the less endearing one,” he admitted with a dry laugh.

“We fought all the time, about how much I worked, that I wasn’t around enough for the kids.

Then I guess we just stopped talking altogether.

If you don’t work at marriage, it falls apart.

I think people believe love shouldn’t be work, but that’s a myth.

We stopped working at it, and eventually, she wanted something different. ”

“She had an affair?”

“No.” He gave a sharp shake of his head.

“She just wanted to explore the possibilities. Not that she’s dating anyone, even though it’s been a year, at least not as far as I know.

The kids would have told me.” He looked at her, his voice softening.

“The worst part? It was almost a relief. We’d fallen out of love and had been going through the motions for so long, the time to fix things had passed. ”

“I’m sorry.” Her tone sounded genuine.

“The divorce wasn’t traumatic,” he replied quickly. “We’re good now. We talk more than we did those last few years we were married. We share time with the kids, and everything’s friendly. I just wish I’d known earlier how much work it takes to keep a relationship alive.”

She nodded. “I learned something from this engagement too.”

“What’s that?”

“I wasn’t just marrying Roger; I was marrying his family. And if the family dynamic is broken, the marriage can’t work.”

Jared raised his glass. “Here’s to that.”

She clinked hers to his. “And to not taking new relationships for granted.”

He smiled. If he ever got remarried—or even had another relationship—he wouldn’t make the same mistakes.

“You probably think I’m an awful person for not feeling bad about running away.” Now that she’d told Jared her story, Piper wanted his absolution.

“God, no. I think anyone under the pressure you were would feel the same.”

He actually understood. Roger and the girls created an incredible pressure she’d never fully admitted to.

“It’s like the proverbial weight lifted off your shoulders,” he said. “I’m sure those wicked stepdaughters were worse than anything Cinderella had to put up with.”

She laughed loudly, then clapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh my God. That’s what I called them too.”

“I bet they were calling you the wicked stepmother.”

“Oh, I’m sure they were.” She rolled her eyes. “They probably called me even worse than that. Let’s just say I didn’t care to find out all the names they had for me.”

She felt good. She felt wonderful. She felt free—just like she had when she’d told Roger she couldn’t marry him.

Jared was right. It had been a relief. All along, she’d been consumed with worry about what the rest of her life would be like, whether they’d ever accept her.

Even though, deep down, she’d known they never would.

She spoke without considering. “It would have been so much better if I’d just been Roger’s lover.

Really, all I wanted was great sex and companionship.

” Jared’s eyebrow quirked up, and Piper cringed inwardly.

God, she had a big mouth, and she rushed on to say, “That sounds so terrible. But then I wouldn’t have had to deal with the girls and wouldn’t have made such a mess of it all. ”

Taking her hand in his, Jared stroked his thumb across her knuckles. “I once had a boss who hated me.” He looked down at their linked hands as if he were returning to the past.

“I can’t believe that.”

Without looking up, he chuckled. “It’s true.

He hated me. I never figured out why, but he made my life unbearable.

I was young, fresh out of college, and he rode me endlessly.

I never did anything right in his eyes. He always made me redo my work.

He was relentless. Every day, I dreaded going into work.

But I couldn’t quit without another job—I’d just gotten married.

Still, every day I went to work wanting to punch his lights out. ”

“Did you?” she asked softly. His thumb moved rhythmically over her knuckles, and she found herself focused on the soothing motion.

“I was looking for another job,” he said. “But I hadn’t found one yet. One day, I just couldn’t take another minute. I walked into his office and told him, literally, that he could take that job and shove it. Then I walked out.”

If he hadn’t been holding her hand, she would have clapped. “I’m proud of you.”

“It was just like you said when you told Roger you couldn’t marry him.

I was so relieved. I was free. It was like I hadn’t taken a breath for the six months I’d worked for that man, and suddenly, I could breathe again.

” He finally looked at her. “I get why you had to run away from the wicked stepdaughters.”

She felt totally understood. “How long did it take you to find another job?”

“Three weeks. It was the company I work for now, and I’ve been there for twenty years. Leaving was the best decision I ever made.”

“And leaving Roger was the best decision I could have made.” She studied him. “Did you make up that story just to make me feel better?”

He grinned, his thumb still stroking back and forth, leaving streaks of heat where he touched her. “I would never make up a story just so you’d feel better.”

He seemed like the kind of man who’d want to be sure the person he was with felt good. She didn’t care if he’d made up the story. She liked him for it.