Page 76 of Snow

“Rob said Dad kept saying they’d worked too hard building the relationship between the families to let you throw everything away over a mistake.”

A mistake—that was what everyone kept calling it. Nova stared out across the endless Gulf as the word echoed in her mind, bitter and hollow, because Rick sleeping with another woman had been reduced to a mistake, her father deciding her entire future without consulting her had been labeled strategy, and her humiliation, the thing burning quietly beneath her skin, was treated as nothing more than an inconvenience.

“So they announced an engagement that doesn’t exist.”

“Yes.”

A humorless laugh escaped her. “Unbelievable.”

“Rob and Wallace were going to call you today,” Sophia said. “We all were. We wanted to warn you before Dad tried something. We just didn’t think they’d move this fast.”

Nova rubbed a hand over her forehead. “And Rick?”

Sophia hesitated. “He didn’t know.”

“What?” Nova asked, shocked.

“Rick didn’t know about the announcement.”

Nova turned away from the railing. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Believe it. Rob called him as soon as he saw the article.”

“And?”

“Rick had been in Denver the past two days. The announcement came as a surprise to him.”

Nova’s anger faltered slightly. “He really didn’t know?”

“No. He was pissed, Nova. Like really pissed. Rob said at first he thought Rick was putting on an act, but apparently Merrick called him on his other phone while they were still talking, and Rob heard enough of the conversation to know Rick was blindsided.”

Nova’s thoughts were all over the place. She didn’t know what to do with that. For the past several weeks, anger had been easy.

Rick cheated, he lied, and he had embarrassed her. Everything fit neatly into boxes she understood. Now Sophia was kicking the boxes over.

“Did he say anything else?”

“He told Rob he was sorry for everything. But mainly for hurting you. He knows that doesn’t excuse what happened with Piper. He told Rob he screwed up and that you deserved better than what he did.”

Nova looked down at the steel deck. She didn’t want to hear this.

Or maybe she did.

“Apparently your relationship wasn’t exactly his choice either.”

“What do you mean?”

Sophia sighed. “Rick’s parents were pushing the two of you together just as much as Mom and Dad were.”

“Rick never said anything.”

“Neither did you.”

That made her stop and think. Sophia was right. She never said anything to Rick.

“There’s actually more.”

“More? Jesus, Soph. What more could there be?”