Memory of You (A Misty Cove Love Story) Read Online Free PDF

for the food to arrive, Bryce’s phone rang and he excused himself to answer it. As I sat on the couch staring at the blank TV and listening to the sound of his muted voice in one of the rooms, I couldn’t help wondering who he was talking to. Was it a woman? A friend of his? Luke Burkes, maybe? Luke had been his best friend for years.
    His voice got louder moments before he ended the call and appeared in the living room. He looked unsettled and wouldn’t meet my eyes. He busied himself with opening a Christmas Carols CD and sliding it into the player. Jingle Bells filled the room, but I couldn’t enjoy it as my stomach was in knots that became tighter by the second.
    What I’d heard before he hung up ran around in my head and made me feel dizzy.
    “I love you too.” Those were the words that came out of his mouth. He loved someone, and that person was not me. Even though I was the one who had walked away, who had given him up, it stung to hear him say that to someone else.
    What was with me? We had been apart for years, and I did get married to someone else. But why did he invite me to his place when he was in a relationship? Did he really just want friendship from me? Somehow it didn’t feel enough.
    I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, forcing myself to not think about him with another woman.
    “Are you okay?” he asked. “Do you want something to drink?”
    I opened my eyes and nodded with a tight smile. I would not ask him about his relationships. I had no right.
    He went to the kitchen and returned with two glasses of white wine. He handed me one and sipped his while gazing out the window.
    “I’ll… I’ll go sit on the porch, wait for the food to arrive.” I stood. I needed to be alone, to accept my new reality.
    He didn’t respond, so I walked out, almost breaking the stem of my glass with my grip. I lowered myself onto one of the white rocking chairs, freshly painted to hide its old age and wear.
    I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feel of the breeze on my face and hair. Moments later, I heard him come outside but I didn’t open my eyes.
    “You know what hurts the most?” he asked.
    I gazed up to meet his eyes. He was holding his glass and leaning against the doorframe.
    “What?” My voice sounded foreign to my ears.
    “The fact that you would believe that I was capable of cheating on you. How could you even think that?”
    I retorted with a pain-laced voice. “I didn’t think it, Bryce. I saw you.” I inhaled sharply, filling my lungs with the air that would soon be released, polluted with my anger and disappointment. “I saw you having sex with Marybeth… the night, the night before our wedding.”
    He was quiet for a long time and then he started to laugh, so hard the liquid in his glass sloshed. Then he stopped and shook his head. “I never had sex with any woman when we were together.” He paused. “I didn’t need to. I had you.”
    I felt a tingle race down my spine but I ignored it. Why did he feel the need to lie to me? We weren’t even a couple anymore.
    “I saw you, in your bed.” With the infamous snake tattoo at the back of her neck, Marybeth had been unmistakable. Their clothes had been tangled on the floor at the foot of the bed just as their bodies were under the covers. “Why would I lie about something like that? The only person who is lying is you. Frankly I don’t understand why. It’s not as if—”
    He came to stand in front of me, his gaze pining me to the rocking chair. “Jade, I’m going to repeat what I said. The person you saw that night was not me.”
    “I don’t know how I could have been mistaken.” I tried to suppress my frustration. “If you’re going to continue denying this, maybe it’s not a good idea for me to be here, after all.” I stood up and pushed past him into the house. I placed my glass on a claw-footed table and grabbed my cardigan. After everything that had happened, it was wishful thinking that we would get through dinner