She chose her dreams.
She ran to her room and dug out his photo, which she set fire to in the kitchen sink. As his image burned, she burned any hope of a relationship with him with it. As far as she was concerned, he was dead.
Already a firm believer in magic and destiny and fairytale endings, she latched on to them even more. She was determined that every boy and then man she met was the one—the exception who would prove her father wrong. In high school, she wrote off the broken relationships to immaturity and youth, but it was the cross-country road trip with Barry, the surfer, that made her question her real destiny. By the time they hit New Mexico, it was clear that she was a short-term relationship for him. He would never take her home to meet his mother.
Had her father been right? Was she so screwed up no one could love her?
And until she met Mitch, a long string of one-night stands and month-long relationships seemed to support that idea. But then Megan’s wedding reminded her of the curse, and she was sure that was her destiny. That was why her soul mate hadn’t shown up yet. It just hadn’t been time. So she kept Mitch around to spur her own substitute groom.
And to her surprise, he turned out to be Noah.
Only she wasn’t sure why she’d been surprised. She was glad they’d started out as friends, otherwise she doubted she would have spent the time to get to know him so well. And she knew he loved her. She could see it in his eyes. But she had to keep in mind that he was still Noah. What if Blair was right? Staying with women wasn’t something he did. Was he capable of changing for her? Was she capable of changing for him?
What if her father was right? What if her genes were her destiny and she would end up alone?
If she lost Noah, she knew she’d give up on love completely.
Chapter Twenty-Six
A ringing phone broke her out of her thoughts and she was surprised to discover it was her own phone since she’d assumed it was dead. She dug it out of her purse and stifled a groan when she saw the name on caller ID.
Megan.
Figuring she might as well get this over with, she answered before it went to voice mail. “Hello, Megan.”
“Don’t hang up on me. I’m not going to give you a hard time.”
Libby didn’t quite believe that, but she decided to hear her out. “Okay.”
“First, I want you to know that I do believe you and Noah love each other. Blair has a hard time seeing it, but it’s been clear as day to Josh and me.”
“So why do I hear a but in there?”
Megan paused. “I just wish you two had slowed down a bit and talked things through more. But that’s not who you two are. You’re impulsive.”
“That didn’t come through as a compliment, so I’m presuming that’s your but.”
“Libs, you know I love you and I want you to be happy, but there are things you need to think about with a marriage. Logistics.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Where are you going to live?”
“I’m moving to Seattle.”
“Even though Noah quit his job?”
She blinked, sure she’d heard Megan wrong. “What are you talking about?”
“Libby, Noah quit his job on Friday.” She hesitated. “I take it he hasn’t told you.”
She didn’t respond. Her silence was answer enough.
“Don’t you think that’s something a husband should tell his wife? Especially before they get married?”
“That doesn’t make any sense, Megan.” She knew she sounded short, but panic was bubbling in her gut. “He’s in the middle of a business meeting right now.”
“In Vegas? His offices are in Kansas City and Seattle. Why would he have a meeting in Las Vegas?”
Oh, God. Please don’t let this be happening. She wasn’t sure she could handle his betrayal. What was he up to? “I have to go.”
“Libs, I’m sorry. I thought you should know.”
“No.” Libby started hurrying toward the hotel. “You wanted to gloat.”
“Libby! How can you say that? We love you!”
“You may love me, but you’ve never tried to understand me.” Not like Noah had. No one had tried half as much as Noah had. “I have to go.” She hung up on Megan’s protests and turned her phone off so she couldn’t be reached.
Noah had to have an explanation. She just needed to let him tell her what was going on.
But what if he lied? He hadn’t said a thing about quitting. How could she trust him?
She was close to hysteria when she got back to the hotel room, equally relieved and upset that he hadn’t gotten back yet. She packed up the few things she had removed from her suitcase, then began to pace the room, waiting for him to come back.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a light blinking on and off on the room phone. She ignored the message, worried Megan or Blair had found out which room they were in, but what if it was Noah? He didn’t know her phone was working, and besides, she had just turned it off.
With shaking fingers, she typed in the code to hear the message, sucking in a breath when she heard a woman’s voice. “Noah, sorry to call you on this phone since I know you’re trying to keep this from your wife,” Libby heard a hint of jealousy in the word, “but just in case you didn’t get my message, come to room 1470.”
No. God, no.
She held the phone in her hand for several seconds, shell-shocked. What was she going to do?