Page 15 of The Reason I Married Him
“Amanda . . . and Matt,” Hattie replies.
I feel all the blood from my face drain as I sit back in my chair, completely knocked out from the news.
Amanda, the horrible, and Original Matt. How?
My eyes meet Hattie’s as I say, “Don’t tell me they’re a couple.”
“They’re . . . married,” Hattie says. “And expecting. They moved back to Almond Bay because they thought it would be the perfect place to raise their child.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I say. The fucking irony.Small towns are not for me, Aubree. I’m destined for so much more.He treated this town like a disease, wanting to sprint away from here as fast as he could when, in reality, he knows this is the best place to be.
“Hey . . . language.” Ryland nods toward Mac, who is drinking her milk with two hands on the cup.
“Sorry. But . . . are you fucking serious?”
“Aubree,” Ryland warns again.
Mac sets her drink down and wipes the back of her hand over her mouth before saying, “Uncle Ry Ry, you say fuck all the time.”
“Mac, don’t say the F-word,” he says.
“I didn’t. I just told you that you say fuck. That’s a bad word.”
“Yes, I realize that,” Ryland says. “So don’t say it.”
“I didn’t,” Mac defends. “You said fuck.”
Ryland pinches the bridge of his nose. “Just say the F-word.”
“You want me to say fuck?” she asks, confused.
If I wasn’t so dumbfounded and sick to my stomach at the moment, I’d laugh at the hilarity that is Ryland trying to teach Mac what to say and what not to say.
“I think he means use the term F-word instead of saying fuck,” Hattie says softly.
“Only if you guys say it,” Mac says, a lift to her chin.
Oooh boy, good luck, Ryland.
“We will do better,” Ryland says, staring me down.
“Yes, sorry.” I turn toward Hattie and ask, “They seriously moved here?”
“Yes. Not sure where in town, but they came in for cookies and some almond-scented candles. Said they wanted their new place to smell amazing.”
“I’m sure she does,” I say as I push my watermelon around with my fork.
I doubt she really wanted the candles at The Almond Store. She probably wanted to rub it in my face that she’s married to my ex and expecting a child. What did they bond over? Their hatred for me? The reason they left Almond Bay? Only to come back and live here. Did they gleefully chuckle over the idea of shoving their relationship in my face? Talk about a whole bunch of insecurities racing through my mind.
Both left me for the same reason.
Both caused me heartache.
Both made me question who I am and what I want in life.
And now they’re together.
It settles horribly in the pit of my stomach.
