“I want to know why,” Lawrence said. “That’s what I want to hear from you. Tell me why you left me.”
Melanie withered beneath his hard stare. But Lawrence didn’t avert his gaze, because she deserved to wither. She deserved to feel even a morsel of the pain she had caused him to feel.
“This isn’t the time,” she said.
“Then when is the time?” Lawrence asked. “Let’s set a date. Mark me in on your calendar and put it in that phone of yours so you won’t forget. We’re in Fiji, where you can’t hide behind your work. Maybe now I can get some answers.”
“Lawrence, stop.”
“Stop?” he countered. “So that’s just it? You break my heart, you humiliate me in front of my family and friends, and I don’t have a right to know why?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, you didn’t say anything. You just stood me up and never even gave me a courtesy call to say you were sorry, at the least.”
Melanie’s bottom lip trembled. And once again, there was the look of fear in her eyes. But he could see now that it wasn’t the kind of fear that said she was afraid he would hurt her. Rather, it was the kind of fear that came when you were caught in an uncomfortable situation you didn’t want to be in.
But dammit, she owed him closure. She owed him answers, and then he could forget her forever.
“We were supposed to get married,” Lawrence went on. “We were supposed to be husband and wife. Only you didn’t show up. You made an executive decision to change the plans we had for our life together. Fine—maybe you’re not sorry about how you handled the situation, about how you hurt me. But at the very least, don’t you think you owe me an explanation as to why?”
“I—I can’t do this. Richelle...she’s waving me over.”
“Richelle isn’t going anywhere. We’re on island time.”
Melanie was shaking her head. “I—I’m sorry, Lawrence. I—I am. I know I never told you, and, yes, you deserved an apology, so I’m telling you now. I’m sorry. Just know that.”
And before he could say another word, she quickly turned, desperate to be able to escape him, and all but sprinted on the sand over to Richelle and Roy.
Leaving Lawrence standing there like a fool.
Much like he had stood like a fool at the altar of the church on their wedding day, waiting for his bride-to-be who would never show up.
Chapter 3
“Was that Lawrence?” Richelle asked, gazing beyond Melanie’s shoulder to look in the direction of the stretch of beach near the island bar.
Now beside her friend, Melanie finally released a pent-up, frazzled breath. “Yeah.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
Melanie’s heart was beating frantically, and she felt light-headed. She was in a state of shock.
“Why is he here?” Richelle went on, a sense of wonder in her tone.
Melanie threw her hands up in frustration, and then dropped down onto the lounge chair beside the one where Roy was sitting. “Hell if I know.”
“Wait,” Roy said. “That was Lawrence—your former fiancé?”
Melanie nodded.
“I didn’t realize you guys were talking again.”
“We’re not.”
Roy looked confused. “But you must have told him you were going to be here.”
“You think I invited him here?” Melanie asked, her tone incredulous. Then, realizing that her reaction was too harsh, she said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice. It’s just that...I haven’t spoken to Lawrence in nine months. I have no clue why he’s here.”
“I was just gonna say, if you want to bring him to the wedding, it’s cool with me.”
Melanie’s eyes widened. Invite him to the wedding?
“Roy, honey,” Richelle began, placing her hands on Roy’s shoulders. “You said you were going in the water, right?”
Roy looked over his shoulder at Richelle, who smiled sweetly at him, then at Melanie. And he seemed to get that Richelle was shooing him off so that she and Melanie could have some privacy.
Roy stood and dutifully took his shirt off. “Yep.”
Richelle gave him a quick kiss, and then he headed into the turquoise-blue water. Richelle sat across from Melanie on the second lounge chair.
“Wow,” Richelle said, and then chuckled softly. “We come all the way from New York to Fiji and Lawrence is here?”
Melanie looked up from the sand and met Richelle’s gaze. Her friend’s eyes were dancing with excitement. “You don’t have to sound so happy about it.”
“I don’t think that’s a coincidence,” Richelle went on. “Come on, you don’t think it’s a coincidence that he’s here?”
“It’s a disaster, that’s what it is.”
“You didn’t tell him accidentally, did you?”
“Accidentally?” Melanie looked at Richelle in shock. “How could I tell him accidentally if I haven’t spoken to him in nine months?”
“I’m just wondering if he saw the news about the wedding on your Facebook page, or on Twitter.”
“I unfriended him, but even if he had access, I never said where we were going to be. I’ve been very careful about that.”
“Well, maybe he heard about the wedding through a mutual friend, and he decided he’d head to Fiji to get a chance to talk to you. I’m sure he still wants closure.”
“Lawrence isn’t the kind of guy to get on a plane and come all the way here for the sole purpose of talking to me. If he’d wanted to talk to me, he would have done so in New York.”
“If you’re certain that he didn’t find out about the wedding, then it sounds like fate is making a major play.”
“Fate?” Melanie countered. “It’s simply a coincidence.”
“Coincidence?” Richelle shook her head. “No, it’s more like the universe forced the two of you together. I sense a reconciliation in the making....”
Melanie’s jaw dropped. “Don’t say that. Don’t even start on that.”
“Why not? I always thought you and Lawrence—”
“We’re over. He never even called me after the wedding, remember?” Melanie swallowed painfully, remembering how a part of her heart had hoped that he would reach out to her. Reach out to her and beg her to take him back, beg her to come to her senses.
“You mean the wedding where you stood him up?” Richelle said, giving her a pointed look.
“Obviously, he wasn’t too torn up over it,” Melanie insisted. “Because he said nothing to me. Not a call, not a text message, not an email.”
“Because you stood him up—” Richelle stressed.
“He didn’t reach out to me, and I didn’t reach out to him, which makes it very clear that both of us knew we were heading down the wrong path. It was better to leave things as they were than fight for something that wasn’t supposed to be.”
Richelle rolled her eyes. “It’s more like you broke his heart, and he was too hurt to talk to you,” she said. “Everyone has to have their level