30

"I'm ready whenever Bryce Collins is ready“ he said

"Timothy..." Chloe began.

"I have to go," he said before she could finish speaking. And then, just as he’d done the day she told him she was leaving years ago, he calmly walked out of the living room, the deafening silence left by his departure confirming what she already knew. They had crossed a line and she was forced to face the fact that the dream she was secretly chasing would never come true. That Timothy Kavell-Packard would never belong to her again. That walking away instead of clinging to false hope had been the right thing to do then, and probably was now.

That really, when it came down to it, he didn’t want or need her....

With a thick swallow, she crossed the living room to retrieve her clutch from the floor where she had dropped it. She paused for a beat, toying with the idea of calling him to confront him, then dismissed it. The best way to tackle an intransigent Timothy was to let him cool off. But if nothing else, th