Brett wanted to laugh at that, but he didn’t. The only way you wouldn’t cross paths with someone in a town as small as Granite was if you were purposely avoiding them. He wasn’t stupid enough to believe that he hadn’t ran into her for almost a full year by coincidence. No way. He had no doubt she’d made that happen herself.

“I just wanted you to know I’ve changed. I’m not at all the same guy from before. And I have you to thank for that. If you hadn’t broken up with me when you did, I would probably still be that same asshole you dated back then. So thank you for breaking up with me. You did me a huge favor.”

*  *  *

Sidney was so stunned that she didn’t know what to say.

Who in their right mind thanks someone for breaking up with them?

While she appreciated the heartfelt apology, she couldn’t help wondering if her weight gain had anything to do with his being so glad that they were no longer together.

Maybe that was just her insecurities bubbling to the surface though, since he never seemed to have a problem with her size before. Then again, he’d clearly been spending a lot more time at the gym, bulking up all those hard-packed muscles, while she’d spent the past year drowning her sorrows in pints of rocky road ice cream.

Sadly enough, it was easier to believe he had a problem with her weight than to believe Brett was a changed man. Old habits die hard, and it wasn’t like the incident at the bank was the first time Overprotective Brett had reared his ugly head. According to his sister, Brett had been that way since his father’s death. Valerie probably put up with it out of some sense of loyalty—after all, they were family—but Sidney wasn’t willing to do the same.

Still, although she hated to admit it, she couldn’t pretend that hearing him say he’d changed didn’t intrigue her. Sure, he had been too overprotective and had a jealous streak a mile long, but he had always treated her well. Not only that, but she had never stopped loving him and…well, last year’s Valentine’s Day had been the worst day of her life too.

She still remembered it as if it were yesterday. Brett had come barging into her office unannounced and interrupted a heated meeting she was having with the bank manager’s brother. Sure, the guy was an ass, but he was a client nonetheless, and it was her job to deal with him. Besides, it wasn’t like it was the first time she’d dealt with a difficult man before. She’d dated Brett, for goodness’ sake!