I saw him swallow, hard. “Maybe I can forgive, but I’m not sure I can forget. Maybe this seems like one small lie to you. But I told you, for most of my life I’ve been lied to. Not just by my parents. By everyone in this industry who thinks they can get something from me or coerce me into doing what they want. I can’t have it in my personal life, too. It’s too much.”

This time I did touch him, even though I knew I shouldn’t. I couldn’t stop myself. I rested my hand on his forearm. And he didn’t move away. “I want to fight for us. We’re worth fighting for. Please, tell me what I can do to make you trust me again. I’ll do anything to fix this. Anything.”

“That’s the problem, Juliet. Short of going back in time and starting all over, you can’t fix it.” He moved farther back, all the way to the front door. “I can’t do this right now. I need for you to go.” He opened it.

There had to be something I could do or say. I racked my brain but realized there was nothing. I had done everything I could. I had laid all my cards on the table, but he wasn’t interested in playing this game.

So I left. My heart broke a little more with each step I took.

When I got to my van, I turned back.

But this time he wasn’t watching me go.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

A couple of weeks later, Shelby and I were going out to look at baby cribs. She didn’t want to buy anything until Allan agreed, but her plan was to have it all picked out.

“If I don’t, then Harmony will just buy the one she likes.” She was trying to sound exasperated, but I could hear the delight in her voice. Harmony had come around in a big way, and Shelby was loving every second of it.

Remembering my resolve to be here, in the moment, I smiled at my friend. I was going to feel sad, probably for a long time, but I was doing my best to move on.

We got to a red light, and she dug something out of her purse. It was her lip gloss, which she handed to me. “Here. Put this on.”

“Are you afraid the clerks at the baby store are going to be horrified by me?” I joked. I counted it as a win that I was routinely showering again. But I put it on to humor her, because as she was fond of reminding me, newly pregnant women should always be humored, given the amount of vomiting they were subjected to.

Shelby suddenly pulled over to the curb and brought the car to a stop. “I’m doing this because I love you. Get out.”