Shaking my head, I looked down at the glittering diamond on my finger and felt my face crumple again. Sucking in a breath to stop another hysterical meltdown in front of him, I pulled the ring off my finger and held it out to him.

He glared balefully at it, refusing to take it.

I placed it on the counter instead, my hands shaking.

“You don’t mean this,” Roane whispered hoarsely. “We love each other too much. We’ll figure this out once everything has calmed down. I’m sorry I kept this from you, angel. I’m so sorry, but they’re not malicious lies. It was just stupid omissions that got out of hand. Let’s just talk about it and you’ll see: I’m still me.”

But I knew as I looked at him that everything had changed irreparably. No matter what he said, he was no longer Roane. My kind, loving thirtysomething farmer fiancé. He was this stranger, the son of a baronet, who had made me a fool and hurt me deeper than anyone ever had because of it.

Roane paled at my expression because, apparently, he did know me.

“Evie . . .” His voice broke.

There was still a part of me that wanted to comfort him, and the fresh tears that spilled down my cheeks weren’t just for me. They were for him.

The sound of him whispering my name over and over again made me choke back a sob as I left him behind in the apartment.

Twenty-Six

My suitcases sat by the store door, waiting to be loaded into the cab that was coming for me. Unlike heartbreaking scenes in a movie, torrential rain didn’t accompany the moment. Instead it was a beautiful, too-hot day in Northumberland. Clear skies, bright sun, water glistening with sunlight that cascaded through its gentle waves.

No one knew I was leaving today except Penny.

Poor Penny.

She was thrown by how quickly things had fallen apart. Sally was pretty pissed too that I’d pulled out of the sale.

As I gazed around the bookstore, my chin wobbled and fresh tears stung my eyes. In the last forty-eight hours I’d cried more tears than I knew I had in me. Yet it seemed there was more to come. I had to hold them back until I got back on US soil. Staring around the store made it hard to be strong, because I was going to grieve not only my relationship with Roane, and the village and my friends, but this store.

This beautiful dream that I’d touched with the tips of my fingers.

When I’d returned that awful day to the apartment, Roane and Shadow were gone, and after I’d sobbed a bucketful of tears, I’d pulled out my laptop and googled Roane.