tucked
into one wall with two chairs pulled up in front of it. The kitchen was like
something out of the forties, but everything worked beautifully. The staircase
to the second floor was as steep as a ladder, and her bedroom was small with her
bed snuggled under a sloping ceiling. But the windows looked out over the woods,
and the bathroom had been updated recently to include a tub big enough to
stretch out in.
It was a fairy-tale cottage, and Georgia already loved it.
This would be her first night in her new place, and she was
anxious to nudge Laura on her way so that she could relax in that beautiful tub
and pour herself a glass of wine to celebrate the brand-new chapter in her
life.
“It is a great cottage.” Laura looked at her for a long minute
then frowned and asked, “You sure you don’t want Fiona and me along for the trip
back to California?”
“Absolutely not.” On this, Georgia was firm. “I’m not going to
be there for long, and all I have to do is sign the papers to put the condo up
for sale. After that, when they find a buyer for the place, they can fax me the
paperwork and I’ll handle it from here. Then I’ll arrange for my stuff to be
shipped to Ireland and I’ll be done. Besides,” she added with a grim nod, “when
I leave California, I’ll be stopping in Ohio for the wedding.”
Laura shook her head. “Why you’re insisting on going to that is
beyond me. I mean come on. You’re over Mike, so what do you care?”
“I don’t.” And she realized as she said it that she really
didn’t care about her ex-husband and his soon-to-be wife, the husband-stealing
former cheerleader. After all, if Mike hadn’t been willing to cheat on his wife,
Misty never would have gotten him in the first place.
So Georgia figured she was much better off without him anyway.
“It’s the principle of the thing, really. You know damn well Misty only sent me
that tacky invitation to rub in my face that she and Mike are getting married.
They never for a minute expect me to show up. So why shouldn’t I? At the very
least I should be allowed the pleasure of ruining their big day for them.”
Laura chuckled. “I guess you’re right. And seriously? Misty
deserves to be miserable.”
“She will be,” Georgia promised with a laugh. “She’s marrying
Mike, after all. May they be blessed with a dozen sons, every one of them just
like their father.”
“Wow,” Laura said, obviously impressed, “you’re really getting
the hang of being Irish. A blessing and a curse all at the same time.”
“It’s a gift.”
Georgia glanced down at her ring finger. She still wasn’t
entirely accustomed to the weight of the emerald and diamond ring Sean had given
her for the length of their “engagement.”
The dark green of the stone swam with color, and the diamonds
winked in the light. It occurred to her then that while her new life was
beginning with a lie—Mike was apparently happy with
his. It didn’t matter so much to her anymore, though Georgia could admit, if
only to herself, that she’d spent far too much time wrapped up in anger and
bitterness and wishing a meteor to crash down on her ex-husband’s head.
It was irritating to have to acknowledge just how much time she
had wasted and how much useless energy had been spent thinking about how her
marriage had ended while the man who had made her so miserable wasn’t suffering
at all.
She had locked her heart away to avoid being hurt again, which
was just stupid. She could see that now. Being hurt only meant that you were
alive enough to feel it. And if her soul wasn’t alive, then why bother going
through the motions trying to pretend different? At least, she told herself,
using her thumb against the gleaming gold band of the ring on her finger, she’d
gotten past it, had moved on.
Then a voice inside her laughed. Sure, she’d moved on. To a
ring that meant nothing and planning a fake future with a fake fiancé.
Wow. How had all of this happened
into one wall with two chairs pulled up in front of it. The kitchen was like
something out of the forties, but everything worked beautifully. The staircase
to the second floor was as steep as a ladder, and her bedroom was small with her
bed snuggled under a sloping ceiling. But the windows looked out over the woods,
and the bathroom had been updated recently to include a tub big enough to
stretch out in.
It was a fairy-tale cottage, and Georgia already loved it.
This would be her first night in her new place, and she was
anxious to nudge Laura on her way so that she could relax in that beautiful tub
and pour herself a glass of wine to celebrate the brand-new chapter in her
life.
“It is a great cottage.” Laura looked at her for a long minute
then frowned and asked, “You sure you don’t want Fiona and me along for the trip
back to California?”
“Absolutely not.” On this, Georgia was firm. “I’m not going to
be there for long, and all I have to do is sign the papers to put the condo up
for sale. After that, when they find a buyer for the place, they can fax me the
paperwork and I’ll handle it from here. Then I’ll arrange for my stuff to be
shipped to Ireland and I’ll be done. Besides,” she added with a grim nod, “when
I leave California, I’ll be stopping in Ohio for the wedding.”
Laura shook her head. “Why you’re insisting on going to that is
beyond me. I mean come on. You’re over Mike, so what do you care?”
“I don’t.” And she realized as she said it that she really
didn’t care about her ex-husband and his soon-to-be wife, the husband-stealing
former cheerleader. After all, if Mike hadn’t been willing to cheat on his wife,
Misty never would have gotten him in the first place.
So Georgia figured she was much better off without him anyway.
“It’s the principle of the thing, really. You know damn well Misty only sent me
that tacky invitation to rub in my face that she and Mike are getting married.
They never for a minute expect me to show up. So why shouldn’t I? At the very
least I should be allowed the pleasure of ruining their big day for them.”
Laura chuckled. “I guess you’re right. And seriously? Misty
deserves to be miserable.”
“She will be,” Georgia promised with a laugh. “She’s marrying
Mike, after all. May they be blessed with a dozen sons, every one of them just
like their father.”
“Wow,” Laura said, obviously impressed, “you’re really getting
the hang of being Irish. A blessing and a curse all at the same time.”
“It’s a gift.”
Georgia glanced down at her ring finger. She still wasn’t
entirely accustomed to the weight of the emerald and diamond ring Sean had given
her for the length of their “engagement.”
The dark green of the stone swam with color, and the diamonds
winked in the light. It occurred to her then that while her new life was
beginning with a lie—Mike was apparently happy with
his. It didn’t matter so much to her anymore, though Georgia could admit, if
only to herself, that she’d spent far too much time wrapped up in anger and
bitterness and wishing a meteor to crash down on her ex-husband’s head.
It was irritating to have to acknowledge just how much time she
had wasted and how much useless energy had been spent thinking about how her
marriage had ended while the man who had made her so miserable wasn’t suffering
at all.
She had locked her heart away to avoid being hurt again, which
was just stupid. She could see that now. Being hurt only meant that you were
alive enough to feel it. And if her soul wasn’t alive, then why bother going
through the motions trying to pretend different? At least, she told herself,
using her thumb against the gleaming gold band of the ring on her finger, she’d
gotten past it, had moved on.
Then a voice inside her laughed. Sure, she’d moved on. To a
ring that meant nothing and planning a fake future with a fake fiancé.
Wow. How had all of this happened
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