Chapters (42)
- Cover Page
- Dedication
- Dear Friend
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Acknowledgments
- Reading Group Guide
- An Excerpt from the Goodbye Bride
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- About the Author
She made it sound so rational. Like you could tuck unwanted emotions in a box and toss them. “That’s crazy,” Lucas said. “Love isn’t some item on a checklist.”
Her fingers clutched the curtain, and she wouldn’t look at him. He’d expected an argument. He’d expected her to rationalize why her way was best. He would find a counterargument to everything she said.
“I’ll make reservations on the ferry as soon as I can,” she said. “Possibly today. I’ll have to send for my things.”
Lucas felt like she’d punched him in the gut. She wasn’t going to defend her decision? Wasn’t going to give him a chance to convince her? He couldn’t believe it was happening so quickly. The night before he’d felt like a surfer riding the crest of a dream wave. Now he’d crashed headfirst into the rocks.
She checked her watch. “I want to talk to your family before I go. I owe them an apology.”
It was his heart she’d broken, not his family’s. Say something. Say something to stop her before her plans set in her mind. “You’re in the middle of a crisis. Wait until things settle down. Don’t make a rash decision.” It was something she would say, something she could relate to.
A shadow passed over her eyes. “It’s not rash, Lucas. I planned to leave from the beginning, remember?”
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Eight
Nobody said good-byes were easy.
—Excerpt from Finding Mr. Right-for-You by Dr. Kate
Kate knocked on the Wrights’ door, then clasped her shaking hands behind her back. Lucas had offered to accompany her, but she needed to face his family on her own. This was her fault, not his.
The door opened, and Susan’s welcoming smile drooped. Kate watched the woman rise to her full height, watched her narrow chin notch upward. Regardless of how the woman responded, Kate was going to apologize to the family. Then she was going to have a heart-to-heart with Susan.
“Kate.” Her name was a sour ball on the woman’s tongue. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk to your family. Can I come in?”
Susan waffled in the doorway, clearly torn between opening the door wider and slamming it in Kate’s face. Finally, she stepped back.
Kate followed Susan through the foyer and into the kitchen where Roy was putting a pan of dinner rolls into the oven. The smell of pot roast and garlic filled the air, and Kate’s stomach growled in response. Jamie was on a stool at the kitchen island, a book propped open on the Formica counter. They both turned at her entry.
“Hi, Kate,” Jamie said, a genuine smile on her face, and maybe a touch of pity in her eyes.